What is PSA smoking sometimes?

[aljurgela]

Originally Posted by Chuck

Yet another example of why you should buy the card, not the holder. I know I'm in the minority, but to me "eye appeal" is everything, and not just one of many other equal factors that go into determining the value of a card. I don't know about everyone else, but I buy cards for their visual appeal, not because of the integrity of the cardboard slab. A minor crease here or there, or a rounded corner, or a bit of paper loss in an unobtrusive section of the card, to me pales in comparison to how sharp the image is, coloring, and centering - but the grading companies just evaluate the quality of the cardboard - and for some people, that's all that matters (cardboard collectors). Again, I see cards graded 6-8 all the time that I wouldn't even have in my collection (even if I could afford them), due to some appearance issue that the grading companies don't take into consideration. But the grading companies have come to have a stranglehold on the hobby, and we've let them do it, so that little number on the upper right is now much more important than the actual card itself. Sad.

+1

But I do like the way cards look in the (especially SGC holders)... In my area, I would rather have a Billiken with a bug hole and a nice image to a light image great "card" in an SGC 80 holder, but the higher graded one will almost always sell for more.... I see this as an opportunity to get a "better" card (from my perspective) at a lower price. But we need to be aware that MOST will focus on the graded number, so our "exit" will likely never bring what the higher graded example gets...

It is just important to understand and work around to the place where you feel comfortable. In this case the 2.5 is a card that I would want in my collection (congrats) and the 2 is not.