Constructive Criticism: PSA Grading Of 1981 Fleer Star Stickers

Mefer

Greetings All--

I am a staunch PSA supporter and PSA is my go to grading service. PSA generally does a good job on grading BUT there are times when I feel PSA and its graders do need some re-calibrating as to particular issues. In this case, such is needed in regards to the 1981 Fleer Star Stickers issue.

Let me first note that I have opened a ton of this product and am working on a registry set. That could put me in the "biased" category but also in the category of gaining some familiarity with the issue. As I would rather look to constructively better the grading process on this issue, rather than simply complain on some random discussion forum, I offer this here. Moreover, the issue is rather plentiful and not particularly valuable; that may explain in large part as to why PSA does not have a large enough sample size to go off of.

Starting with the border, the cards are blue in color. There are, however, various shades of blue-- I have seen examples range from a very light blue to a rich dark blue. I assume such variations occurred due to the inking process. I have identified four basic variations, from dark to lightest. While I have not added up numbers, my experience is the "light blue" is the most difficult to find with the darker shades being more common. The last two on the spectrum are actually pretty close in color so one could even knock the rainbow down to three colors. I would not, however, label any variant a "variant" (albeit I personally find the light blue the most aesthetically pleasing).

Examples of each (all are PSA 10 graded examples):

Rick Burleson, light blue:

Jerry Koosman, mid-level blue:

Ron LeFlore, dark blue:

Tom Seaver, darkest blue

You will note (I hope you can note it from the scans) that there can be slight color variations as you approach the side borders of the cards that run from top to bottom. Those can be what I call "faded streaks" that are slightly lighter in color than the balance of the blue. All four of these PSA 10 examples exhibit such characteristic (it might be easiest to few in the top right corner of the LeFlore). There are some card examples that have fairly extreme "rainbow" patterns on the cards and these should not, and rightfully so, be put into a 10 holder. As almost all of the cards have the slight rainbow stripes, it is acceptable in my view for such to be in 10 holders so long as such is modest.

Where things get interesting are the borders. Almost all of my 10 examples exhibit some slight chipping on the back card stock. As you can see in the bottom right card of my 'ole Tommy 10, here is what I am talking about:

Speaking first to the reverse, I find light chipping to be more than acceptable. It does not distract from the aesthetics of the card and is part of the "normal" stock and composition of these cards. I dare say it is pretty much impossible to find any example without any light chipping on the back. Allowing for this is a correct call for the PSA 10 grade.

Against the above backdrop, my current criticism lies in the front treatment of the card. While I agree any significant "rainbowing" as explained above should drop the grade down, I disagree that minor chipping along the front borders "will" disqualify a card from the 10 grade. These are stickers and not on the best of stock. The chipping seen on the front is akin to the beloved "rough cut" in the early OPC issues and should not be a negative if in the minor category. You could also call some of it "peach fuzz" or a "hanging chad" (sorry, no better description) that give this fun issue a lot of charm.

Unfortunately, in my experience, PSA has downgraded some 10 quality cards to 9s due to very light chipping and/or peach fuzz borders. Here is an example here of what, in my opinion, should be a PSA 10 card that I submitted, 'ole Marky Mark:

This card is a rich blue color, lacks any rainbowing, and is 50/50 all the way around. This minor chipping on the border should not, in my view, knock this down to a 10.

While I disagree with the above, my experience with submission of the Belanger and those like it led me to believe that PSA would not allow for "any chipping" on the front border for a 10 (the 10s I have lack chipping). Two recent PSA 10s that sold on eBay however do exhibit front chipping.

First up, Mr. Grich:

This one to my eye has clear chipping across the top border and it appears the blue on the upper left corner has chipped off. While I would not put this in a 10 holder due to the corner, the border chipping would be acceptable to me for a 10.

Next up, Jim Palmer:

Again, to my eye, I see chipping but would still put this card in a 10 holder despite the chipping.

The point being, and the main beef of my post, is that I am asking PSA to be consistent in their grading of this issue. Currently, chipping sometimes counts and other times appears to be ignored. While I certainly agree it should not be ignored entirely, there is charm and pleasing aesthetic with these cards (they are stickers, for goodness sake) to account for and allow some fuzzy front borders and modest chipping. Such in my view should not necessarily be a bar to the 10 grade.

(Note that looking at the scans I posted of my 10s, there does appear to be some light chipping on those; in hand I do not see such; regardless, my point still remains that chipping/peach fuzz/hanging chads should not automatically disqualify a card from this issue from receiving a 10).

So, in summary:

1. Four different color variants. All should be graded the same with no variant labeled a "variant."
2. Rainbowing from top to bottom on the side front borders of these cards is common. Light rainbowing is fine for a 10 grade; highly noticeable rainbowing should drop the grade.
3. Back chipping and border fuzziness is acceptable so long as not extreme.
4. Tolerance should be given to front chipping and border fuzziness and such minor attributes should not automatically disqualify a card from the 10 grade. These, for lack of better words, need to be given treatment akin to the lovable peach fuzz borders in early OPC issues.

Off my soap box on this, lets face it, cheap and not very valuable issue. I do however love the issue and encourage PSA to revisit their calibration of grading on this issue.

Cheers all!

Matt

ldferg

Good info. I’ve also noticed with this set, the white on the borders is not always chipping, but a light wax that can be removed with nylons. Nice looking cards and good luck on your set.

Kep13

I too like this set...bought some boxes many years back...I have a Bob Horner sticker that is very sharp but still hasn't made the trip to PSA. I think with that Belanger sticker, some of those chips are a little too big for my liking, like the one about halfway down the card. If I saw that sticker in a PSA 10 holder, I would not like it...the example chipping you show on the back -- that amount could be okay on the front, but those chips on Belanger are much bigger than I think would be tolerable to most...just my 2 cents...