First time grading with PSA, Does the surface really have to be flawless for a 10?
CardEater54
Posts: 3 ✭
I am organizing a submission of cards and I have kept super good care of them from the pack to the sleeve to a safe place to store them. However, when I self grade them I notice at least a small (but noticeable) defect on the surfaces of almost every card. Is this normal and does psa cut some slack for sets that are hard for grading (chrome sets, prizm, etc.)? Thanks!
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really no such thing as a perfect card. imo, at least.
for a 10, there's allowances for everything from centering to surface issues.
and yes, for certain issues where production issues are common, psa tends to be forgiving. i believe 2019 bowman for instance, several key rookies were cut short. initially a lot were kicked back as MINSIZ but eventually psa realized the common defect and started grading them as normal.
There should be no surface defects on a 10. Centering doesn't have to be perfect, everything else better be.
You don't give up much in the way of details.
"I have kept super good care of them from the pack to the sleeve to a safe place to store them." This is good, however 95% of the cards aren't 10's when they come out of the pack.
take a look at the back of just about any prizm or optic card.
surface lines / scratches a many.
and dimples. common in both prizm and topps chrome. plenty of PSA 10's with dimples. some cards have dimples in the same spot, probably indicating debris on a printing plate or whatever lays the clear coat layer on chromium stock cards. @JoeBanzai im gonna have to disagree with you here as PSA 10 cards, by their definition, are "virtually perfect" and "an allowance can be made for a slight printing imperfection, so long as it doesn't impair the overall appeal of the card".
there are plenty of PSA 10's you can easily spot something wrong with, as there are many arbitrary PSA 9's that are defect free. its part of the subjectiveness of it. which is why they say buy the card, not the holder.
as for the OP, the surface issues you see, or may think you have, depend on the card and year. for example, 1987 Topps have a very bumpy and grainy surface by nature. so what you may think is a defect just may be part of the normal cardstock for that year. however an obvious indent or abnormal coating on a chrome card may indeed be a defect. perhaps a picture or more info could help us help you.
myslabs.to/smzcards
oh gawd yes. totally forgot about the dimples! don't even get me started on '18 luka optics.
I don't collect the new shiny stuff.
so cool. what about knowledge?
What's that supposed to mean? OP didn't really specify only the shiny stuff. Although he did mention chrome and prizm.
Maybe if the people asking questions would be a little more specific, maybe even post a scan or two, the answers would be better.
well you did kinda contradict yourself stating that he mentioned "prizm & chrome" and, well, there are 10s w surface issues in every segment of cards. pre war, vintage and even the shiny. even cards outside of baseball cards, too.
and since you don't do modern, i'll break out a joke from your time period to mirror your shiny comment and help you comprehend...
i think it's cool you only collect vintage.
not.