Hand Cut Cards - Card border or not?

NGS428

I don’t deal with hand cut cards too often. I noticed this card has a border, but the border is not included in one of the cards below. Both are a 9, but the border is certainly much different.

What is typically preferred with hand cut cards?

PopeyesSpinach

I personally like seeing hand cuts cut on the outside of the black border with a little white showing on the outside. The card looks more complete to me this way and doesn't come off as butchered.

ldferg

I thought borders were always supposed to show on hand cut cards if a border existed??? imo, the borders look better.

emeraldATV

I've been a cutter in the industry, ( Printing, Offset. ) HAND CUT ? Wow ! But why try it ? My thoughts about the first one, The border selected by corporate is a Mistake waiting to happen. but wow, great job. You have guts I must say

vols1

The second one is the right size. It was cut it to the standard card size so it fits the holder.

Gemyanks10

I purchased this one awhile ago and love the clean borders without the black lines. I just think it’s a matter of personal preference when it comes to hand cut cards. I can see the appeal either way for sure, but prefer the second example shown above.

NGS428

Thanks for the replies here. Differing opinions for sure. I went and dug up a pic of the original panel. It looks like the borders are not shared, so I would think they should be included.

NGS428

@Gemyanks10 said:
I purchased this one awhile ago and love the clean borders without the black lines. I just think it’s a matter of personal preference when it comes to hand cut cards. I can see the appeal either way for sure, but prefer the second example shown above.

Pop 6. Nice!

LarkinCollector

I would go for the 9 with the extra border personally. If you know someone good with a cutter, it could be turned into a 10. The other is at it's max already.

1951WheatiesPremium

@LarkinCollector said:
I would go for the 9 with the extra border personally. If you know someone good with a cutter, it could be turned into a 10. The other is at it's max already.

This is correct if you’re looking to max out on grade. Personal aesthetics should be the deciding factor. If you like the border, keep it on. And yes, traditionally the cut line or border should be visible.

If you want to check it out, I cut all my DiMaggio Wheaties panels myself. Exacto knife and with the Sheetrock method - cut into the good side in three steps - score, cut, finish. I thought I improved the look of each one by doing so and bought them specifically with ‘extra borders’ for the purpose. I also left every Gehrig untouched, as they were sharp enough already and cutting would improve grade but not the ‘look’...

https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/996781/1937-wheaties-dimaggio-run-and-1935-36-gehrig-wheaties-panels-new-scans#latest

LarkinCollector

@1951WheatiesPremium said:

@LarkinCollector said:
I would go for the 9 with the extra border personally. If you know someone good with a cutter, it could be turned into a 10. The other is at it's max already.

This is correct if you’re looking to max out on grade. Personal aesthetics should be the deciding factor. If you like the border, keep it on. And yes, traditionally the cut line or border should be visible.

There's still plenty of excess border on that one to do both, keep the black border and potentially improve the grade

NGS428

Went with the border baby.

Kep13

I wrote an email to PSA back in January asking them this very question, because I had sent in sharp cards where I cut right along the black lines so that a bit of the black borders were showing...nothing else wrong with the cards, yet they got 7s...I wanted to know if it was because I didn't have the entire border showing, which made no sense, cause I saw plenty of cards on Ebay which were cut like I did and they got 10s...I prefer the top example in this thread which has a bit of white around the entire border....the ones I submitted with this style of cut got 10s...so I was just seeking clarification from the graders on what they look for with hand cuts...I got an emails today, after 3 months, apologizing for the delay, and it stated I could call into customer service for an answer to my email...somehow I have trouble believing that if I call customer service I am going to get transferred to a grader to answer my question, and the customer service person isn't going to be able to answer my question about how hand cut cards are graded...ugh.....the other thing in regards to cutting right at the border is that many times that will remove the border entirely on the back of the card, because they weren't printed correctly in a lot of cases...