How Much More Will You Pay For Great Centering?

[Doc]

Most of the time I am just glad to own the card. There is always a chance to sell and upgrade later.

Doc

[G1911]

Nothing. I will pay a premium for a heavy miscut, but centering is both a natural defect from the techniques of a century ago, and doesn't really impact a cards visual aesthetics to my eyes. I don't do high grade, but things like registration, brightness, etc. have a much greater impact on how a card looks.

I will take a creased up, pinholed and wildly off center Old Judge with a bright image over a PSA 6 with 50/50 centering that's fading.

[thatkidfromjerrymaguire]

For me, it depends on the card. If it is a high dollar card that is notoriously off centered (i.e. the majority of the cards are off centered like the 52 Bowman Mays) then I have no problem adding an off centered version of that card to my set...I will not pay a premium for a rare centered copy.

However, if a higher dollar card can be found fairly easily with decent centering, I will NOT try and save money by finding an off centered version...I'll buy a reasonably centered card for market price.

And for common cards to fill my set...centering is not an issue. While I wouldn't want an entire set of off centered cards, i don't mind my commons being a mix of centered and off centered...and sometimes I will intentionally pick up a cheaper common that is very off centered to allow me to check it off the list at a lower price.

The 1952 Bowman set is great example. I'm fine with an off centered Mays (because the majority of them are off centered....but I held off on buying a Mantle until I found one with decent centering (not 50/50, but not bad)...here are my copies of both of those cards from my set...and I'm very happy with each one):

Mays.JPG

Mantle.JPG

[JollyElm]

It's all about sharp corners for me. Centering (as long as it's relatively decent and not a smack in the face) is much further down on the list.

[DJCollector1]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

It's all about sharp corners for me. Centering (as long as it's relatively decent and not a smack in the face) is much further down on the list.

I'm pretty much on the same track Darren, especially for my PC-type cards.
I've written about it before, but I tend to go for "overall appeal", and that includes everything, corners, centering, registration, print etc etc.
(any projects I may do, are a bit different though.....)

Give me a sharp card that is "respectable" in all areas, and I will take that over a beautifully centered card, that has other notable problems.

I said it a few years ago, but I think the trend may ultimately move in that direction, and not strictly for the centering purists....but thats just my opinion.

All that aside, it sure is nice to find a beautifully centered mid grade (and up) card.
Its getting harder and harder as time goes on to find the extremely well-centered cards, as thats what so many have been going after for years now.

[IgnatiusJReilly]

Originally Posted by DJCollector1

I'm pretty much on the same track Darren, especially for my PC-type cards.
I've written about it before, but I tend to go for "overall appeal", and that includes everything, corners, centering, registration, print etc etc.
(any projects I may do, are a bit different though.....)

Give me a sharp card that is "respectable" in all areas, and I will take that over a beautifully centered card, that has other notable problems.

I said it a few years ago, but I think the trend may ultimately move in that direction, and not strictly for the centering purists....but thats just my opinion.

All that aside, it sure is nice to find a beautifully centered mid grade (and up) card.
Its getting harder and harder as time goes on to find the extremely well-centered cards, as thats what so many have been going after for years now.

I’m mostly a 1956 Topps collector and I strongly agree with the above. It’s all about overall eye appeal, and the human desire for centering is a big part of that. I recently added this centered Williams and I probably paid an additional 20% compared to an average 6 without a second thought. I had been looking for a nice example for at least two years so I jumped at the chance for this one.




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[CJinPA]

That's one gorgeous '56 Williams there!!! Thanks for sharing.

Originally Posted by IgnatiusJReilly

I’m mostly a 1956 Topps collector and I strongly agree with the above. It’s all about overall eye appeal, and the human desire for centering is a big part of that. I recently added this centered Williams and I probably paid an additional 20% compared to an average 6 without a second thought. I had been looking for a nice example for at least two years so I jumped at the chance for this one.




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[robkas68]

As a favor to all of you, I will send you this perfect centered card for your garbage 73/30 Mantle rookie or perhaps a miscut t206 Wagner. No need to thank me.

[notfast]

Glad we all like different stuff.

Leaves more centered copies for me.

[ZiggerZagger]

The '52 Mays example made me laugh. It's tough. So tough that even after I finally found one centered, I couldn't pass up a nicer raw second one I found, just because it was centered

And I'm not an impartial party here -- when I started really collecting vintage about 10 years ago, I made my primary focus on centering, so that's how my collection has been built.
It's right for me -- as long as the eye appeal is good as well. I can handle a soft corner, no problem...

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