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CSA/ASA Crossover Results

After procrastinating for years, I finally cracked open my CSA/ASA cards and submitted them to PSA. The cards were purchased from Teletrade phone auctions circa 96-97. I thought about cherry picking the ones I thought would get good grades, but eventually said to heck with it and cracked them all, save one I kept as a souvenir.

Overall I submitted 25 cards (22 CSA/3 ASA):

20 were holdered
5 were rejected

Of the 20 holdered:
1 came back with a higher grade
4 came back the same grade
15 came back with lower grades

The average grade of the 20 cards in their CSA/ASA holders was 7.65; the average in their new PSA homes is 6.8.

The results:

57 Mantle (#95) CSA7.5 - PSA8
Was happy about this. I always thought this was a nice card - great centering and nice corners. It's the slightest bit out of register, but still worthy of an 8 I think.

69 Ryan (#533) CSA8 - PSA8
Very nice card and deserving of the grade.

59 Maz (#415) CSA8 - PSA8

79 OPC Gretzky (#18) CSA7 - PSA7

85 OPC Lemieux (#9) CSA8 - PSA8

66 Topps Kemp (#166) CSA7.5 - PSA6

69 Topps Orr (#24) ASA8 - PSA7

1972 Topps Staubach (#200) CSA8 - PSA6

51 Ringside Graham (#74) ASA8 - PSA6

62 Clemente (#10) CSA7.5 - PSA7

60 Mays (#200) CSA7 - PSA6

61 Mantle MVP (#475) CSA7.5 - PSA7

61 Topps Mikita (#36) ASA7 - PSA6

68 Tigers Team (#528) CSA8 - PSA7

63 Topps Ditka (#62) CSA7 - PSA6

58 Unitas (#22) CSA7.5 - PSA6

59 Mantle Homer (#461) CSA7.5 - PSA7

63 Topps Snider (#550) CSA9 - PSA7

67 Topps Mantle (#150) CSA8 - PSA7

59 Mantle (#10) CSA7 - PSA6

60 Yaz (#148) CSA7.5 - altered

52 Garagiola (#227) CSA7.5 - evid Trim

62 Mantle (#200) - CSA7.5 - recolored
A 6 at best anyway because of centering.

58 Maris (#47) - CSA8 - altered
This one hurt. I thought this would easily cross to an 8.

66 Mantle (#200) CSA8 - altered.
Another one I thought had a chance to cross to an 8.

Overall, I can't complain. I'm sure some people who purchased non-PSA cards back then were burned worse than me.

I agree with PSA on the cards they graded, but can't for the life of me find what's wrong with the cards they rejected. I have a halogen light and a loupe, but still couldn't detect the recoloring on the 62 Mantle (the corners look NM at best with wear). As far as the altered cards, I'd guess the borders were bleached but for the life of me I can't detect it.

Anyone ever get back altered cards and not know what was wrong?

Comments

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    Congrats on the 57 Mantle PSA 8. Very nice!

    Mark
    1981-82 Topps Basketball PSA 9 or 10
    1992-93 Topps Basketball PSA 9 or 10
    1976 Topps Baseball PSA 9 or 10
    1981 Topps Los Angeles Dodgers PSA 9 or 10
    1982 Topps Los Angeles Dodgers PSA 9 or 10
    1986 Topps Los Angeles Dodgers PSA 9 or 10
    1975 Topps Wacky Packages Series 15 PSA 9 or 10
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    SDavidSDavid Posts: 1,584 ✭✭
    You could try sending the rejects to Beckett. If they reject the cards, they'll tell you exactly why and indicate where the problem on the card exists. You could also try looking at the cards under a black light.
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    theczartheczar Posts: 1,590 ✭✭
    too bad about the rejects. at least the rest are in respectable holders.
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    aro13aro13 Posts: 1,961 ✭✭✭
    You did pretty well on the crossovers. Re-submit all of the rejected cards and see if they come back rejected again.
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    Bosox1976Bosox1976 Posts: 8,535 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Nice collection. Way to go. Definitely don't assume the "altered" cards really are - resubmit!
    Mike
    Bosox1976
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    I have been a reader of the message boards for a while now and I think that if you had started a thread on what you were going to do with your CSA/ASA cards before they came back no one here would have given you a snowballs chance in hell of a 80% rate of crossover. Combine that with the grades you received and I think there is a lot of stunned people reading this thread in total disbelief. Congratulations on your success and thanks for sharing your results, it has opened my eyes to the possibility of getting some quality cards (Cheap) that are not in the PSA/SGC/Beckett holders.
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    ken61ken61 Posts: 55 ✭✭
    Goodlieu - good observation.

    One thing I will say to counter your argument is that these cards were all bought by me while CSA was still a semi-respectable company in the mid-to-late 90s. I think when the writing was on the wall about their future, their grading standards dropped.

    Also, I think what has happened in the ensuing 10 years is that the vast majority of CSA cards have been cracked and sent to PSA. In many cases, the cards have been carefully screened by some very savvy people. Those that still pop up on eBay have probably been looked over thoroughly. I'd say these cards are much more likely to have issues.
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