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Rank in order of importance: 1. Centering 2. Corners 3. Edges 4. Surface
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For me it's : 2, 1, 3, 4
Collecting high graded modern cards (PSA 10) centering doesn't have to be "dead on" otherwise I'd have Centering as top priority....on lower graded Vintage cards Centering is definitely NO 1 for me.
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Used to focus on corners but have become a centering junkie to the point where I won’t buy a card that’s not well centered.
2,1,3,4
I collect mainly late 70's to present so if the corners aren't super sharp centering doesn't matter one bit. Thus, centering is a TWO. Once corners pass that test centering becomes most important lol
ISO 1978 Topps Baseball in NM-MT High Grade Raw 3, 100, 103, 302, 347, 376, 416, 466, 481, 487, 509, 534, 540, 554, 579, 580, 622, 642, 673, 724__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ISO 1978 O-Pee-Chee in NM-MT High Grade Raw12, 21, 29, 38, 49, 65, 69, 73, 74, 81, 95, 100, 104, 110, 115, 122, 132, 133, 135, 140, 142, 151, 153, 155, 160, 161, 167, 168, 172, 179, 181, 196, 200, 204, 210, 224, 231, 240
1,2,4,3
Just can't stand a poorly centered card.....
From what I gather, it seems that for grading purposes PSA values it: 2,3,1,4
1, 2, 4, 3
I've passed on so many high grade examples (including 10s) in which #2, #3, and #4 were as ideal as you could get, but because #1 wasn't quite there, I moved on. Now, to be fair, I move on from these types of cards because I believe there are examples out there in which all four criteria exist, so I am not being a fool and irrationally picky. That being said, I've certainly picked up plenty of cards that had less-than-desirable centering, but only because I believe there are very few examples out there with perfect centering.
My conclusion: the order of the criteria above is relative to the card in question.
Andy
Contrarian here. I think centering is overrated. It’s the easiet defect to see in a digital image, so it gets more attention than it deserves. I’d much rather have a card with perfect color, registration, and print quality and 60/40 centering than a dead centered card with a minor print defect.
For me it's 4,2,1,3
Surface is the largest area of the card, it's what catches my eye first.
Next I look at corners, followed by centering. I'm ok with a tad off center. Lastly its edges.
This is based off of what I am collecting now (48 leaf boxing)
The order would change for me on modern cards to 2,1,4,3
For me centering and image quality/focus (so I suppose surface) together form the top priority. I need the image I am looking at to be clean, sharp, and framed properly— as the card was intended. I can tolerate a small print dot or fish eye/PD if it is away from the central image. Then come corners and edges. (For certain years, i.e., '62, '71, I put a premium on clean edges and that quality can make a card extra desirable.)
As someone posted they do above, I pass on any high grade card that is not centered. Happy to wait and slug it out at auction for one of the few that are.
Years back it used to be that you could get lucky when a few poorly centered specimens of a card you were shopping for sold first, before a centered one came up for sale. The first few would sell for the average price or lower, and then when a centered one came up the recent sales data would keep the centered card's premium somewhat depressed.
Those days are long gone; now a few poorly centered examples can hit the market, and it only serves to create pent up demand by illustrating how rare the centering is. Then a centered one hits the block and sells for nearly double the others.
I'd add that absolute last for me is the back of the card. This one pictured below is my favorite example of great centering on a usually OC card, with a back issue causing a low grade. (It's a crime to have an arbitrary "rule" knock a card down so much, in my opinion.) A very small (few millimeters) patch of scuffing/paper loss on the text on back causes the grade. Bottom line, something's off in the game when a 2.5 can hit the eye better than some 7s and 8s, lol.
The middle 8 below has pretty noticeable surface scuffing in the blue and cap along with bad centering left/right. The left 8 has quite poor centering issues both ways, a patch of top edge wear, and also something under Mick's eye along with a print dot in the blue sky that would really nag me, especially at that price point. Makes you wonder how few of the existing 8s are actually lights-out gorgeous.
Instagram: mattyc_collection
I’m not sure what you would include it under, but no tilt and corners are my two primary concerns. Slight off centering in the absence of tilt does not bother me.
1 - Surface - covers the entire card. #2/3 - Centering/corners (i am forgiving more on centering for older/scarce cards so it depends on the card, can go either way, #4 - Edges -
Edges is a clear #4. The other 3 can make up for each other to some extent. If surface is strong - super bright picture for the card and corners are razor sharp than I am a little more lenient on centering. If centering is spot on and corners are razor sharp slight surface issues become more livable. If surface is bright and the card is centered a soft corner seems like less of a big deal.
The back is a bigger deal for me than most. Maybe because growing up pre Internet it was the means of seeing a players stats. Would pore over Cards to see who had good seasons and learn about the players.
Centering first followed by overall eye appeal. Corners next, then surface and edges last. A card that is a 9 but way OC is like a good looking girl with a great body but messed up teeth. You will always notice the flaw first and never get past it.
Mine is probably 1, 2, 4, and 3. I'd much rather have a centered 5 than an off centered 7. Even if the 7 didn't get an O/C designation. Older cards with some corner wear just doesn't bother me that much is it nicely centered.
1st - centering...can allow for a little off-centering, as does PSA
2nd - corners and edges tied...treat the the same way...if there is a notch on an edge, a pushed in corner -- same thing to me...
4th - surface...especially with chrome cards and modern shiny stuff...if it has to be tilted and held up to light to see the minor scratch, then it isn't a big deal to me....if it is displayed in a case and you can't even see the scratch, then to me that is the least important of the potential maladies...
A slight tangent, if you will - since centering does seem to be a bigger concern, on a typical vertical card which is framed (i.e 84 donruss. 67 topps bb, 72 topps FB etc.), is it l/r or t/b off centering that bothers you more? Then, specifically, does one direction bother you the most - off centered to left, to right, to top or to bottom?
I found that being off centered l/r bothers me more than t/b and that I would prefer any t/b off centered card to be centered more to the bottom with a top border that is closer in size to the sides.
Thanks. Tom
I might be in the minority but I like the 2.5 Mantle pictured above better than the 8's because it is centered so nice.
Tom, that's pretty much how it is with me, too.
Andy
Andy
When I opened a box of 83F to do the set?
The "first" characteristic I noticed was centering. It would be natural for me to do "corners" next.
1, 2, 3 or 4
This is probably close to where I'd align, in short "it depends on the card". I could probably write a book on my decisions when picking between two cards, and there's no absolutes. Edges in general are pretty low, but if the set is black/dark bordered, they become my number one concern. If the set has really wide borders, centering importance drops a couple notches, really thin, near the top.
Bold, crisp colors w/no PD or fisheyes on vintage seems to be a really difficult combo that I'll keep over decent centering/corners with a faded/slight OF/small PD image.
I was just looking at a card last night, and I was deeply in love with it. Everything was in alignment. The angels began to sing. And then I saw it. The evil fisheye. I cried a little. And then I hit "unwatch."
Andy
Personally, the first disqualifying element for me is the a card's appearance of having been trimmed, something these days I'm finding is so common now that it causes me to buy raw cards less and less frequently.
I hope I'm not insulting anyone, but the center card is obviously shorter than those at either side, and it's top edge appears to me as not being uniformly straight.
PSA often rejects cards for Min Size and altered, but increasingly, in my observation there are a lot more which seem to slip through and are graded.
For anyone to spend $6,400 to $8,500 or more for a PSA 8 '53 Mantle and it not be high end seems foolhardy.
It is human nature to draw upon information that is primarily objective. There is little or no dispute that a card is 60/40 or 15/85 for example. As a result, subjective virtues are valued less by graders. However, there are plenty of well or dead centered cards graded highly that don't have good registry, have print-lines or fisheyes, etc.
Backs of cards aren't to be dismissed. How much more appealing to build a set of Bowman's without the distraction of wax stains, reading the narratives without distraction? With Bowman selling most of their cards through 1 cent and 5 cent wax, I'd guess at least 30% or more have brown wax stains. Why put up with them if you don't have to if you're patient.
For many many collectors it always goes back to "Buy the card, not the holder". The 2.5 above is stunning, DM23HOF, and for about $5,000-7,000 less that either of the 8's you've shown, it would be quite an attractive addition to most collections, including my own. Great illustration.
Surface, Centering, edges and corners. I will take a well centered card with minor surface issues over a perfect surface that is way off center
Price
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I have never understood this question. I need all of those things to be good in order to like a card, assuming there are examples available in NM condition and above.
If forced to accept a card with ONE of those flaws, I would be most OK with a card well centered side to side and SLIGHTLY to the top.
Corners, edges and surface issues translate to damage to me. A card being slightly off center (to the top) is acceptable, but not desirable.