1983 Fritsch sizing discrepancies?

lancecat

hey guys, anyone have any experience with the 1983 Fritsch baseball cards? I've been eyeing a graded Canseco card, but noticed some odd stuff while looking at auctions on eBay.

see below:

one card seems the fit the PSA casing perfectly, but the other seems to 'float' within the case. I recently bought a raw card and it is noticeably smaller than a standard baseball card. Were there different print runs for these cards? Is one perhaps a counterfeit? any info would be appreciated.

mrmopar

I don't believe the Fritsch minor league cards from that set were 2.5" x 3.5". If memory is correct, they were as tall, but thinner across than a standard card. There are a number of minor league sets that fell outside the standard size, both larger and smaller, through the years.

lancecat

thanks for the reply. you're right, my raw card that i recently picked up is def narrower than a standard card. here's a pic of it overlaid a '65 topps:

i have no way of knowing if that card is legit, but it seems like it wouldn't be worth the time to produce a forgery for the price that i paid for it.

so that leaves my scratching my head about the first picture in my initial post. if the cards from the set are narrower, why are there some floating around that appear to be standard-card size? this might be a stupid question.. but does PSA make different sized cases for smaller cards? also, i'm assuming that all of the cards that they grade are examined/inspected to ensure that counterfeits/reprints aren't being passed off as the real thing?

nam812

They are 2 different types of holders.

There are some sets that PSA grades where, for reasons probably known to only PSA, they slab some of the cards in what I call "tighter for the card" holders, and some in looser holders with the plastic baggie included.

JoeBanzai

ALL cards from this time period can vary in size. It looks like the Fritsch card was cut a little narrower than a standard Topps card.

What people should remember is the companies making these cars, including Topps, weren't inspecting and measuring their product with a micrometer. As long as they fit in a pack......in they went.

Throwing away product ($) would have been idiotic.

I don't believe PSA makes two different holders that are this close in size.

lancecat

@nam812 said:
They are 2 different types of holders.

There are some sets that PSA grades where, for reasons probably known to only PSA, they slab some of the cards in what I call "tighter for the card" holders, and some in looser holders with the plastic baggie included.

Well I’ll be damned. Looking closer at my pics in the first post, it does appear that the PSA casing is a bit thicker on the edges.