OT: Beckett 9.5??

[Peter_Spaeth]

What's the explanation here?


http://www.ebay.com/itm/1984-85-Star...p2047675.l2557

[Leon]

Are you talking about the right edge? I don't know new cards/grades very well....

or is it the price?

[Peter_Spaeth]

Top to bottom centering looks off. Upper left has a clear touch. There appears to be a tilt. And the price is absurdly cheap.

[Bruinsfan94]

Yea that doesn't look like a 9.5 to me at all.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Not only that, but the actual card (I cannot BELIEVE this graded a 9.5 how is that possible with a white corner and that centering??) sold for 52K.

http://beckett-www.s3.amazonaws.com/...ordan-Star.jpg

[Peter_Spaeth]

I would like to hear the defense of this grade.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I would like to hear the defense of this grade.

I have seen much worse PSA grades. Defense rests.

[Joshchisox08]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I would like to hear the defense of this grade.

Not a professional but that doesn't seem 9.5 worthy then again I have a Rip Hamilton Rookie graded a 10 and it's not even close. Like I said countless time sometimes I think companies grading lots of pre-war cards tend to get caught up in the newer ones. That looks like a 8 or 8.5 but what do I know.

[the 'stache]

I'd grade this card a 9. There are too many issues for this to be a 9.5. First of all, this card has nowhere near 9.5 centering. Not only is there an obvious tilt left to right (thinner to the top left), the top to bottom centering alone should disqualify it from a 9.5. The corners and edges are not bad, but the top left corner, and what looks like some very minor chipping on the middle-right edge should bring both to a 9. That leaves the surface sub grade. I wish I could see a pre-slab picture of the card to get a better idea of just how clean it is. But if the surface is as nice as it appears, it could hold a 9.5, in which case, an 8.5 from centering (which is the sub I'd assign) would be enough to keep the overall score at a 9.

One thing I often see when cards similar to this one are critiqued is that, while it's a modern card, it's still an older modern card, and production standards were not the same as they are now. A very, very small allowance for flaws like these is made. The touches on the corners, the white seen on the right edge-these could be typical of the set, and not a sign of wear or damage.

[Peter_Spaeth]

If anything, given this card's significance, the grade should be tougher, not easier. I would grade this card no higher than an 8. Someone truly bought the holder at 52K not the card.

As an aside, Beckett grading makes no sense to me, because I do not believe a card's overall grade can be higher than the corners. A card with clear corner wear (e.g. an 8.5 subgrade) is NOT Mint but there are a million BGS 9s with 8.5 corners.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

If anything, given this card's significance, the grade should be tougher, not easier. I would grade this card no higher than an 8. Someone truly bought the holder at 52K not the card.

As an aside, Beckett grading makes no sense to me, because I do not believe a card's overall grade can be higher than the corners. A card with clear corner wear (e.g. an 8.5 subgrade) is NOT Mint but there are a million BGS 9s with 8.5 corners.

I would disagree. The card's significance should not at all enter into consideration. You judge a card on its merits, not the name on the card. An 8.5 card is an 8.5 card, and shouldn't get a bump one way or another because of who it is.

[Peter_Spaeth]

If some stupid common gets a too generous gem mint grade, it's no big deal. If a Jordan rookie potentially worth 50K gets a too generous gem mint grade, it's a very big deal. In a perfect world, all cards would get equal treatment, but it's a flawed world and therefore I stand by my statement that megacards deserve exceptionally strict scrutiny.

[mark evans]

To beat a dead horse, this just shows the foolhardiness of the enormous differences in value at the upper end of the grading scale, in my opinion of course.

By the way, can I assume that Beckett (other TPGs?) has determined how to distinguish the original issue of this card from those printed some years later by the same company and owner? I was under the impression that, at least at one time, the TPGs were declining to grade this card.