Are my expectations too high? Creased vintage cards

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by Tere1071

With my 53 Bowman set I have been assembling I began with cards in vg to vg/ex condition and at first there weren't any problems. As I got to the last few I needed to finish the set I began to receive cards that had wrinkles and in one case paper loss on the back that wasn't mentioned in the description. I previously mentioned a 53 Berra that was listed as a PSA 4; the card looked nice but up close there were several wrinkles at the top left corner. I wanted to like the card, but I finally decided to send it back and search for another in excellent condition, instead.

I've learned that a number of sellers are very "liberal" in their grading. There's also a certain amount of laziness when a seller depends solely on the posted image of a card, rather than giving some explanation as to its appearance. For the rest of my upgrades, I am going to purchase cards in excellent condition that I can clearly see and receive answers if needed before I make a purchase.

I need the following upgrades in Excellent condition: Williams, Rizzuto, Wilson, Stanky, Marion, Cain, Nuxhall, Pierce, Hodges, Spahn, Easter, Rush, Drews, Boyer, Mitchell, Berra, Michaels, A. Clark and Abrams.

I'm with you all the way on this...

So frustrating, and seems like 95% of eBay sellers now just rely completely on the scan or the PSA/SGC Grade as the full description, without writing a single thing about the actual card. Very lazy, IMHO...

Their scans rarely show surface wrinkles, and to just say "PSA 3" or "PSA 4" tells you nothing. There are tons of 3s and 4s that are crease-free and just have some honest corner wear. But you'll never know unless the seller takes the obligatory 10 seconds to say so.

That said... I am having an impossible time finding a mid-grade '56 Clemente. The PSA 5s are all way overpriced, and the 4s might or might not have "mystery creases" that you can't see on a screen. Ideally, I'd like to nail down a crease-free example with VG or better corners. You'd think one would be readily available, but the work involved is simply not worth it!

[Leon]

Originally Posted by perezfan

I'm with you all the way on this...

So frustrating, and seems like 95% of eBay sellers now just rely completely on the scan or the PSA/SGC Grade as the full description, without writing a single thing about the actual card. Very lazy, IMHO...

Their scans rarely show surface wrinkles, and to just say "PSA 3" or "PSA 4" tells you nothing. There are tons of 3s and 4s that are crease-free and just have some honest corner wear. But you'll never know unless the seller takes the obligatory 10 seconds to say so.

That said... I am having an impossible time finding a mid-grade '56 Clemente. The PSA 5s are all way overpriced, and the 4s might or might not have "mystery creases" that you can't see on a screen. Ideally, I'd like to nail down a crease-free example with VG or better corners. You'd think one would be readily available, but the work involved is simply not worth it!

+1.
You really have to ask a seller if there are any wrinkles, creases or issues that can't be seen from the picture on ebay.

[jchcollins]

Commonly accepted grading practice before TPG's and going back to at least 1980 if not earlier, holds that "EX" cards should have no creases, or at least not anything resembling a crease on the front of the card. I believe that SGC's standard currently says that a 5 can have a light wrinkle on the front which does not break the surface and does not detract from eye appeal, but in practice it's rare to see that get a 5; many cards like that get lower grades even if they look fairly good and you can't see the wrinkle. I once had a '55 Bowman Kaline in a PSA 5 that had noticeable wrinkling on the front, but otherwise the card was NM-MT+. I guess they bend the rules sometimes. With raw cards, unfortunately you have to find a dealer who is reputable and does not routinely overgrade cards, as so many of them do these days - and especially with vintage. The better advice for anything of substance in midgrade is probably just to buy graded if you like the eye appeal. The vast majority of 5's from a reputable grader will not have a true crease.

[wdwfan]

Thanks everyone for all of the responses. I've got lots of reading to do, haha. But I did catch some points already. Mainly ask questions and don't throw out creased cards, haha. As far as graded, I'm not into it. I'm not going to buy graded. If I do, I would crack it out and put it into my notebook and go from there.