How important is centering to you

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

My opinion will not be revealed here. Who cares?

Everyone has an opinion and is entitled to it. If centering was all that mattered, we would not need TPGs so I guess that's a good thing.

Perhaps interestingly, the market has clearly determined that the TPGs don't accurately value centering when assigning grades, assuming grades *should* correlate to sale prices.

A somewhat well-centered 51 Mantle in a PSA 4 sold for $48k last night on PWCC. Off-centered copies go for around $20k right now.

[MattyC]

I was watching that one as well. However the various factors we've all noted in this thread come together to create eye appeal, if that eye appeal is there relative to examples in the same and higher grades, the buyers/collectors will certainly bid accordingly these days. In this respect, despite a lot of the... let's just say potentially annoying aspects of the hobby these days, it seems that the concept of "buying the card, not the holder" is as strong or stronger than it has ever been.

[conor912]

It’s important, but not everything. For me, I care much more about L to R than I do T to B.

[mrreality68]

For me it is a combination of things.

First is availability. I like cards that are a little more rare and I cannot control when the card becomes available and as a result I then need to decide if the card available is something I want/need/ cannot wait for the next one.
Second is eye appeal specifically the front is the priority over the back
Third is center and how it’s borders look
Fourth is what I can afford for what I am trying to purchase

[brianp-beme]

For PreWW2 cards, centering is not much of a consideration. When being picky, good registration and great color are the two qualities that are at the top of my list, and I definitely dislike any surface damage/creasing etc. to the player's face. These E90-1 cards are good examples of what would certainly pass my physical exam, centered or not.

Brian

[conor912]

Originally Posted by brianp-beme

For PreWW2 cards, centering is not much of a consideration. When being picky, good registration and great color are the two qualities that are at the top of my list, and I definitely dislike any surface damage/creasing etc. to the player's face. These E90-1 cards are good examples of what would certainly pass my physical exam, centered or not.

Brian

+1

Depends on the era.

[JollyElm]

564. Centerrifical Force
The way your eyes immediately tell you if a card is rightfully centered enough for you personally, independent of what other collectors or TPGs may think.

Seemingly 90% of the graded cards (post-war) I buy have OC qualifiers, but the vast majority of those are ones than no 'normal' collector would've called off-centered in the days before TPGs ruined () everything. If a card looks decently centered enough to my eye, and I can get it at a low price, I jump.
(All of this is thrown out the window with the 1972 Topps set, though, because I hope to assemble a nice one as close to perfectly centered as possible.)