Grade or Not to Grade? Clemente w/Scratches on Back

[JollyElm]

I've found yet another candidate. This one is sweet as heck,* but waaaaaay O/C top-to-bottom. Think it's worth sending in to SGC??

1969clemente50gradeornotOCsm.jpg



*All the darkish areas (crossing his bat towards his face, the lower left corner, etc.) that appear to be gum/wax stains are not. As bizarre as it seems, those areas are under the gloss and were printed that way. I had a similar card to this awhile back with the same 'non-stains,' and it got a proper 6.5. Strange but true cardboard tales.


Edited to add (I hate acronyming it to "ETA," because that's something else entirely) - Here's the link to the thread about the other one: https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=325571

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

I've found yet another candidate. This one is sweet as heck,* but waaaaaay O/C top-to-bottom. Think it's worth sending in to SGC??

I would think you are probably starting with an outside chance at a 4 given that centering. The 4 standard is 85/15; 3 is 90/10.

Other issues on the card acceptable for the grade (i.e. a wrinkle...) should not result in a compounded lower grade, although I have seen PSA more or less do that to people before. Depends on the name on the order form, I suppose.

SGC used to be a haven for otherwise nice cards with centering issues to get a fair shake, but that ship more or less sailed around the time of Covid. If they are consistent in any area, it shows in their universal love for centering. I've (recently) had cards come back as much as a full grade higher than I was expecting, and the only thing I can attribute it to is good centering. I don't have to like this, but it is more reflective of market reality. People do love them some centered-up cardboard.

[Beercan collector]

Check the sharpness of Clemente‘s image compared to the first one .. wow

[JollyElm]

Thanks for the input, you two!!

Centering and image focus are definitely the main issues, so I guess it's another Clemente pass for me (I knew there was a reason I never sent this Bob in before ). It's the right move, but what a serious bummer to waste those sharp ass corners!!