What do you prefer, off-center with sharp corners or?

[pawpawdiv9]

its all about eye appeal..going with centered.

[brewing]

Originally Posted by pawpawdiv9

its all about eye appeal..going with centered.

I concur. Although some off centered cards still have good eye appeal.

[Brianruns10]

Eye appeal all the way. Even if they were the same price, I'd take a PSA 6 centered over a PSA 8 off center every day of the week.

Besides, qualitatively, they are two different beasts. Rounded corners are the result of good honest wear, which I find gives the card a bit of character. You know some kid once owned that card, looked at it, got it in a trade, loved it.

Centering, or a lack thereof, is a manufacturing defect, and rather unsightly.

Now, when I can't get perfectly centered, I'll give some leeway on the top to bottom centering, but it's the left-right centering that's a killer. If a card doesn't have that, the eye appeal is shot for me.

[t206blogcom]

Originally Posted by Brianruns10

Even if they were the same price, I'd take a PSA 6 centered over a PSA 8 off center every day of the week.

+1

[savedfrommyspokes]

Recently, I was flipping through an old binder of cards I have had for a while...many of these were the first cards I collected as a kid 30+ years ago. These cards absolutely meant the world to me as a kid, however, in looking back through them, I never realized how OC some of them were. But all of the creases and rounded corners were just how I remembered them.


So I guess that puts me in the "I can deal with less than perfect centering" camp.

[digdugdig]

Originally Posted by Brianruns10

Eye appeal all the way. Even if they were the same price, I'd take a PSA 6 centered over a PSA 8 off center every day of the week.

I still scratch my head when I see a grade sticker that points out the very flaw that should keep the card from even being graded an 8!! Of course, I'm kind of a centering nut, so ....

[Zach Wheat]

I think this is what you are talking about.....a great example of 95/5 centering with 4 relatively sharp corners. Wonder what this would grade out?

Z Wheat

[67_Palmer]

How does that work, does PSA give you the option of the higher grade with the "OC" designation or a lower grade without the "OC"?

[Brianruns10]

Originally Posted by digdugdig

I still scratch my head when I see a grade sticker that points out the very flaw that should keep the card from even being graded an 8!! Of course, I'm kind of a centering nut, so ....

Others disagree, but I remain adamant there ought to be some kind of grade for centering. Or heck, just make it a qualifier. PSA 8 centered.

This would be invaluable when it comes to assessing populations, and what percentage of a card's population comes graded as centered.

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

I have to agree. It's been a process for me, but centering and general eye appeal has come to mean a great deal to me. For a while, I fell into the trap of buying the holder and not the card.

[okmaybent@aol.com]

Well... I will join the minority. My #1 priority is 4 sharp corners.

[67_Palmer]

Originally Posted by okmaybent@aol.com

Well... I will join the minority. My #1 priority is 4 sharp corners.

Exactly. There is something about finding a sharp card that looks the way it did fresh out of the pack. Off-center or not.

That being sad I understand the appeal to 50-50 cards.

[MattyC]

I'm a centering guy. I don't mind some corner or edge wear-- for me, that comes naturally with time. It can even add character.

Eye appeal is what I go for, and an OC card is a non-starter for me. Some cases in point in the "centering but wear" category...







All relatively cheap buys compared to their higher-graded brethren, but good centering hits the eye nicely. And some corner wear means it doesn't hit the wallet too hard, either

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Originally Posted by MattyC

I'm a centering guy. I don't mind some corner or edge wear-- for me, that comes naturally with time. It can even add character.

Eye appeal is what I go for, and an OC card is a non-starter for me. Some cases in point in the "centering but wear" category...

Beautiful cards...couldn't have said it any better. I have the same outlook....

[rcp1936]

Going with the centered posters

[CamaroDMD]

Centering for me. OC cards stick out like crazy to me.

[67_Palmer]

Well as it stands its roughly 7-4 for the centered cards. Not as lopsided as I would have thought.

[horzverti]

I believe that since we are dealing with easily damaged cardboard, sharpness of corners means more to me.

Out of the pack a card can be OC, but will almost always have razor sharp corners. As collectors, we cannot preserve centering, but we can preserve sharp corners.

So if I have a choice of buying a sharp, yet OC card or a centered card with touched corners...I will usually choose the sharp OC card.

Curt

[JollyElm]

Originally Posted by horzverti

I believe that since we are dealing with easily damaged cardboard, sharpness of corners means more to me.

Out of the pack a card can be OC, but will almost always have razor sharp corners. As collectors, we cannot preserve centering, but we can preserve sharp corners.

So if I have a choice of buying a sharp, yet OC card or a centered card with touched corners...I will usually choose the sharp OC card.

Curt

I definitely agree with Curt's approach as a general rule. But in the end for me, it all depends on the specifics of a particular card. Some o/c cards don't look too bad at all, while others just make me cringe. When I'm seeking 1961 high numbers, for instance, so many of the All Stars are waaaaay o/c and still have ridiculous BIN prices. I just pass and would have a problem adding them to my set even if they were incredibly cheap. No eye appeal, as others say.

Now, for my 1969 set, it's almost impossible to find a centered Roberto Clemente. There are 8 billion Clementes available out there, but they are all tremendously o/c. So, I eventually found this one with nice, sharp corners and, of course, o/c, but not enough to be too troubling. Not too bad in my mind at all. I have since removed the wax/gum stains.

69clemente.jpg

[hangman62]

I don't mind slightly off center cards..to a degree...I wouldn't want a card cut off so much as to chop the cap off the player...almost to make it appear he had no hair..or the hint of possibly wearing a wig or something

[JollyElm]

Originally Posted by hangman62

I don't mind slightly off center cards..to a degree...I wouldn't want a card cut off so much as to chop the cap off the player...almost to make it appear he had no hair..or the hint of possibly wearing a wig or something

Why do you keep mentioning hair, wigs and toupees in your posts?????? What the heck are the rest of us missing?????

Originally Posted by hangman62

I don't mind slightly off center cards..to a degree...I wouldn't want a card cut off so much as to chop the cap off the player...almost to make it appear he had no hair..or the hint of possibly wearing a wig or something

That would be a miscut

[39special]

Being a low budget collector,I'm happy when I get cards that have corners!!

[Bestdj777]

Originally Posted by 39special

Being a low budget collector,I'm happy when I get cards that have corners!!

+1. Although I've gotten pretty excited about some pickups that did not have corners.

[MikeGarcia]

........I would crawl on my hands and knees over broken glass to someday finally finish my 1957 Topps set , all perfectly centered........BGS/BVG stopped putting subgrades on pre-1979 and the old Red-Label SCD ceased operations , so it's a challenge......soooooo if you have any ''Centering 9 '' '57's and you need lots of money.......thanks , MikeGarcia

[HOF Yankees]

eye appeal for me, the card can have some defects wont bother me too much as I try to own the card/cards. So I guess centering.

like these for example

[Bigdaddy]

For the same money, I'll take a better centered card with soft corners vs an OC with 4 sharp corners. To me, it's all in the eye-appeal and the centering draws my eyes sooner than the corners most of the time.

And like someone else said, the soft corners are really just added 'character' from a life well-lived.

[Rickyy]

When I was building ( well always still upgrading) my topps sets 70-79... I looked for sharp corners... I could live with a little OC... one thing I hate though is those diamond cuts... for my type card collection... I've become less strict... as long as its not a diamond cut, I can live with soft corners...

Ricky Y

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by pawpawdiv9

its all about eye appeal..going with centered.

Agreed. An off centered card flairs up the OCD in me.