Buying my first Old Judge (OJ) card - advice?

[Baseball Rarities]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Both Kevin Cummings and John Dreker worked with me on the player profiles. Please don't forget John.

Thanks Jay. I am out of town for a few days and totally whiffed.

Sorry John!

[alywa]

Totally agree with Jay about buying the OJ book... it is the single best hobby resource I've ever seen. It really is the OJ Bible.

Agree on image quality. TPG grades mean very little when it comes to N172/3/5 cards.

If you're on FB, Old Judge Collectors is a great group. There are many passionate, knowledgeable and helpful collectors there.

A word of warning... N172s are addictive.

[BioCRN]

Originally Posted by alywa

Agree on image quality. TPG grades mean very little when it comes to N172/3/5 cards.

They're really all over the place if you compare the treatment of OJ's to other cards.

There's more than a few cards with obvious chips of the front image missing (with the background cardboard still intact) getting a number grade that would get knocked into AUTH or 1 territory with other card issues.

Also, because of how we (and they) accept how they were cut you see cards that would be considered "miscut" if they were other cards issues getting a number grade.

Example...

[oldjudge]

Originally Posted by BioCRN

They're really all over the place if you compare the treatment of OJ's to other cards.

There's more than a few cards with obvious chips of the front image missing (with the background cardboard still intact) getting a number grade that would get knocked into AUTH or 1 territory with other card issues.

Also, because of how we (and they) accept how they were cut you see cards that would be considered "miscut" if they were other cards issues getting a number grade.

Example...

The cards were hand cut so a miscut here or there is not surprising. Your example illustrates two other things though. First, the card is obviously from 1890. When it comes to putting the correct issue date on the cards graders are either ignorant of the facts or lazy or a combination of both. Second, photo quality, the most important thing for Old Judge cards, is largely ignored in the grading process. It's not that your card has a bad photo for its' type, most 1890 cards have bad photos, but that fact should be reflected in the grade nonetheless.

[BioCRN]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

The cards were hand cut so a miscut here or there is not surprising. Your example illustrates two other things though. First, the card is obviously from 1890. When it comes to putting the correct issue date on the cards graders are either ignorant of the facts or lazy or a combination of both. Second, photo quality, the most important thing for Old Judge cards, is largely ignored in the grading process. It's not that your card has a bad photo for its' type, most 1890 cards have bad photos, but that fact should be reflected in the grade nonetheless.

Bad labeling on years is so rampant. Skipping the obvious ("1948" Leaf), there's a ton more...such as 1927 W560 which has a Rogers Hornsby - Chicago that could only be a 1929 at the earliest.

Fading is also something long ignored by TPG. I've seen some hardcore sun damaged and faded 60s cards go out to be slabbed and the graded ignoring the fading. The images weren't only weak, they had practically become another color in some areas because of the sun/display lighting damage.