Fatal Flaw - What's the one thing that will keep you from buying a card?

[Al C.risafulli]

Holes. Can't stand holes.

I've got cards with writing, tears, creases, bad registration, tape, alterations, wrinkles, poor centering, schmutz on the front, schmutz on the back, scrapbook paper stuck to the back, even a burn mark.

But the only card I have with a hole in it is a 19th Century card of a HOFer thats pretty scarce, and has a tiny pinhole that's tough to see, even close up - and just the same, the hole makes me crazy.

-Al

[bsuttonosu]

In order...

1. Intentional tampering - I'd rather have something that was rolled up into a ball and run through the washer than a card trimmed intentionally to deceive.

2. Writing - Don't know why, I just can't stand the thought of someone writing on a card. Pen or pencil, doesn't matter, just don't like it.

3. Anything that obsures/removes writing or the player - Whether it's paper loss or a miscut, if it messes with the name or player on the front or any important writing on the back, I can't have it.

[celoknob]

Anything that makes the image on the front unpleasant to look at. Creases are ok if they are not deep and through the head. Writing on the front is often unpleasant.

I'll buy a trimmed card if it is one on my very short list of cards that are not commonly available but I need; otherwise I will not.

For some reason, I typically just don't have a big issue with miscut cards.

[rhettyeakley]

For whatever reason I HATE CLIPPED CORNERS! I don't know if I was born w/an aversion to octagon's or something but I hate i when cards have had their corners clipped...this isn't a major problem for most sets but as a Zeenut collector you find them trimmed like that all the time, apparently octagons were popular in Northern California during 1911-38. Many Zeenut guys don't seem to have a problem w/ it but I basically would rather not own the card then own it w/ an octagonal shape... I never realized I was neurotic until right now!

2nd tier pet-peave is the face mutilation. I hate it when there are major creases through the guys face (obviously any damage to the face itself is a deal-killer, with obvious rarity considerations as I'd still like to own the 1911 Zeenut of Bohen even if someone damaged him)

-Rhett

[rholmes]

I haven't put a lot of thought into it, maybe once or twice on seeing a clipped corner octagonal card...but does anyone have a rational explanation as to why anyone would have done that? I just don't get it. Seems very anti-scrapbook, or something. Like, ain't no one gonna put THIS card in a scrapbook (takes scissors to corners)...

Although I did just have the thought that maybe it's the opposite. Were these cards clipped out of scrapbooks? I guess that would make sense.

Originally Posted by rhettyeakley

For whatever reason I HATE CLIPPED CORNERS! I don't know if I was born w/an aversion to octagon's or something but I hate i when cards have had their corners clipped...this isn't a major problem for most sets but as a Zeenut collector you find them trimmed like that all the time, apparently octagons were popular in Northern California during 1911-38. Many Zeenut guys don't seem to have a problem w/ it but I basically would rather not own the card then own it w/ an octagonal shape... I never realized I was neurotic until right now!

-Rhett

[Kawika]

Ray: Folklore has it that kids would trim corners to make them more aerodynamic for tossing and flipping games. Seems to have been done to Zeenuts more than any other issue for some reason. I just love the fact that some ancient youngster slowly beat this card to hell ninety years ago; that trumps all its flaws. Had it have been however, say, a '22 Zeenut Thorpe I might not be so generous in my affections.

[rholmes]

Thanks, David. I actually like the idea of cutting for aerodynamics, but I'm sure glad the practice wasn't more widespread. Imagine all of us having to pay out big dollar premiums for cards just because they have any corners at all.

[drdduet]

A bad seller.

[Kawika]

Any number of the reasons cited by others in this thread (creased face, poor registration etc) put me off but the number one deal killer for me is bad centering. I'm an OCD kind of guy and an off-centered card absolutely bugs me. If it were still the 1930s and we weren't so caught up in all the murder stories and rhetoric of today's hobby I'd have been the guy trimming his cards just to make 'em look pretty.

Hey, Rhett: This one's for you. A genuine archaeological artifact of ancient California. I am embarrassed to admit that I paid SGC six bucks to slab this sorry mother. At least it is decently centered.

[rhettyeakley]

David, I'm not buying it! No way you can be OCD and also have that Prough card in your collection! That card is beautifully hideous!

[doug.goodman]

Originally Posted by Kawika

If it were still the 1930s and we weren't so caught up in all the murder stories and rhetoric of today's hobby I'd have been the guy trimming his cards just to make 'em look pretty.

That made me laugh. Good thing I wasn't drinking milk when I was reading it.

Doug

[Bosox Blair]

Originally Posted by Al C.risafulli

Holes. Can't stand holes.

I've got cards with writing, tears, creases, bad registration, tape, alterations, wrinkles, poor centering, schmutz on the front, schmutz on the back, scrapbook paper stuck to the back, even a burn mark.

But the only card I have with a hole in it is a 19th Century card of a HOFer thats pretty scarce, and has a tiny pinhole that's tough to see, even close up - and just the same, the hole makes me crazy.

-Al

Wow - my brother from another mother!!!

The one thing I can't stand is a hole...not to be confused with an a-hole, which sometimes makes for a nice card: