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Please Grade My Magic Johnson/ Larry Bird 1980 Topps Rookie Card
MartinH
Posts: 29 ✭
Thanks for all your help with my Gretzky Rookie.
Would you kindly give me feedback on this one? Potential Grade/Positives and negatives and advise on the appropriate tier this should be submitted.
I am new to grading cards and would be grateful for all the advice I can get. Thanks again for sharing your expertise!!
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That is a very nice card a little off top to bottom, I don’t think it has a tilt from your pictures. I will guess PSA 8.
Join the Rookie stars on top PSA registry today:
1980-1989 Cello Packs - Rookies
That is a nice card with a real shot at an 8.
I hate to say it.... but I think it might be trimmed. the top and bottom look wavey to me.
+1
Thanks,
David (LD_Ferg)
1985 Topps Football (starting in psa 8) - #9 - started 05/21/06
Well I guess first get a ruler..... I'd say a 7 or 8. It's nice that it does not have the print line mark on the bottom right corner like many do.
Sub it for $300
Thanks for the input guys. I am relatively confident that it has not been trimmed.
I purchased this set for 9 dollars in 1984. Card has been untouched since then. Were they trimming cards then? I would think that the chances are slim but anything is possible ant that would be my worst nightmare. Kindly advise . I have attached my inventory notes from the time. Notice I stopped basketball right before MJ hit the scene. Ugh!
^ that coulda been written yesterday. just saying and either way has no bearing on the card itself. and yes, they were trimming cards back in ‘84. along w w several other things. bird & magic were pretty well known back then. mighta only brought the seller an extra buck or two vs $100k today, but theres been unscrupulous folks in the hobby that predate 1984. and these guys will do anything for a buck. key words here are “a buck”.
anyways, not saying it is. didn’t click on the pics. hope it’s not, but I still got that 13 month back log going. might be 14, now. 😉
This card looks terrific to me. Since you bought the complete set -- just measure it up to a few of the commons. I think the angle of the picture and the edge of the Magic card has a slight "curve" upwards, and that's causing an optical illusion. Assuming it's not trimmed (I don't think it is), this looks way better than alot of the 8's I see on eBay -- especially the 8's that have the excess black ink running across the middle.
Do you happen to have one of those UltraPro One-Touch holders (or any holder) that has a recessed area for the card, and also diamond corners so the corners don't touch anything? I think providing pictures of the card in one of these can eliminate the question of trimming (you basically see how the card fits in the recessed area to determine if it looks too "small"). NOTE: some holders have a very slightly wider/longer recessed area than a standard card -- so they will show a tiny bit more "space" around the card (which is normal for that type of holder). Just take a few common cards from today's packs and throw it in the holder to see what type of space should still show around the card. Also be careful with the BIrd/Johnson -- sometimes straight from the factory a card can be slightly "oversized" -- and in that case you don't want to force it into the recessed area and put the top on it.
Here's an example just for illustration purposes of what the card would look like in one of these holders. Dark vs. lighter background is just the top of the scanner Open vs. Closed.
Thanks to all for your input.
Dotstore- I only have the hard cases because after learning that psa only accepts card saver 1 for submissions I removed some baseball cards from them. These cases are old and some have screws. I also read on the blogs that they potentially squash the cards. Needless to say this made me nervous and when I pulled this card and the the fact that hard plastic were not recommended it was promptly placed in a penny sleeve and then a card saver. I am not going to even risk removing it at this point. My experience is limited and I am fully aware that I can damage it.
All- I have a picture in the card saver.Is there a way to determ
ine trimming by looking at it?
I only use the hard cases with the recessed area -- the cases with screws and NO recessed area can squash the corners especially if you tighten the screws too much.
Understandable you don't want to keep pulling the card out for fear of accidentally touching a corner or something.
Use a ruler and place the card (still in the card saver) right on top of the ruler to measure it.
Or take a few commons from any set you know would not be trimmed, and just "eye-ball it" by placing the common cards on top or below your card -- just see if it lines up both ways (length / width)
NOTE: be careful for little dimples on penny sleeves - sometimes they might leave a permanent dimple on your card surface. The right edge of your current picture shows a potential dimple -- not sure if it's the penny sleeve or the card saver...
I saw the same thing. Hopefully that isn’t on the card.
Ugh- I will check this tonight. I will also measure the card. It’s amazing the things that more experienced sets of eyes can spot. Thank you- I knew that reaching out these forums would be of great help to me.
Thank you
you can run your finger over the edge, the sides look good, so feel those first, they will feel rough as you run your finger over it. Then try the top edge if it feels razor smooth is one way to tell. Also if you blow up the magic side you can see the corner end "dog ears" slightly upwards. The dog ear was the first thing I noticed.
Thanks oakeay25. At this point I don’t think I will be removing it ever again from the card saver. The next time it gets removed is for encapsulation and grading. I am betting that it was not trimmed. I have had this set stored since 1984 when I bought it for 9 bucks. Tonight I will measure against a few commons to see if they differ.
I will be submitting as is . Assuming this is an 8 or better- Can you guys tell me what tier to submit this as?
Also do you mail it with specific insurance?
Well you can only insure it for what you paid (at least with USPS), so I guess divide 9 bucks by the number of cards in the set
Sub it at $300 for a PSA 7. If it PSA 8's, let them charge you extra.
Also, you are going to have to pull up your big boy pants and switch out that penny sleeve if that dimple is NOT on the card. Otherwise the penny sleeve could put a dimple into the card.
Very Funny Rufus. Thanks for the advise.Working now. I will be checking for the dimple first thing this evening. I am hoping that it is just the photo. If not I will get the gloves on and take it out. If it is there, it has only been there for a week. Hopefully no damage🤞
Hello again- Good news
Dotstore there was no dimple on the card or the penny sleeve.
I removed the card and placed it on top (first pic)of a Maurice cheeks card. They were the same size. Please excuse the shadow on the bottom.I also did top to bottom and side to side comparison and they match up. I also checked against another card from a different set. Look perfect.
That being said,do you guys give this an 8? Of course I am hoping higher but I guess PSA will make the call.
I would guess 7. Nice card anyway. You paid $9 for the set? Hey that works.
Also obviously make sure your hands are clean and dry when handling the card but I would not put gloves on. I think your odds of dropping the card because you fumble it with gloves on or higher than your odds of soiling or staining the card with clean dry hands. Obviously don’t be touching the surface of the card only touch the edges for the most part.
HOF SIGNED FOOTBALL RCS
8-9 my guess send it tomorrow
Nice card, good luck on the grade.
Why does the Cheeks look bigger on the side by side??
I hate to say, but I'm a little suspect now. It definitely looks too small next to the other card. Bottom still looks iffy, but the only reason I can see someone trimming the bottom (because it's already centered low) is to hide severe edge damage or the black crop mark line? Good luck, I would definitely send it in.
I have two of these, one raw and the other a BVG 7, corners 8.5, edges 8.5, surface 8 then centering 6.5. I have been looking at the auctions the last few weeks, both 8s and 7s. Yours looks like a 7 in my opinion. I have seen a few 8s that are well centered but surface has some snow PDs. My card is off centered to the right, yours to the left it seems. As was said before sub it as a 7 and see what happens.
It will not get an 8 but has a solid chance at a 7.
i see the dog ear and it does look noticeably smaller. both on the overlay & side by side pics.
just being honest in what i see.
dp.
Great feedback. Thanks all.
You guys are saying sub it ASAP . Being new to PSA , I am rather nervous.
So I should sub this as a 7 FMV and if it grades higher they will charge me accordingly- correct?
Can anyone tell me if they add additional insurance and how to go about it?
Really would like to sub in person. I would feel better about that.
Blurry I am not sure what do means.
Please advise
i would definitely sub it. a couple times even.
i would send it in as an "express" level minimum. i would also ship it via fedex or ups next day to keep it in as little hands as possible. psa also has a "psa" on its site about issues w the usps.
it's a gorgeous card. i sincerely hope that it's not trimmed. don't let us thwart you bc as in another thread currently here on the top, we are merely going off scans. in hand is a completely different thing. i, was just being honest on the information provided. and feel free ask my wife, i'm wrong constantly.
btw: and "dp". just meant duplicate/delete post. basically nothing.
^this^ 100% spot on advice.
Thanks Blurry- I truly appreciate the honest input. I can tell you anything about comics but cards is a different world. Every one here has taught me a lot in a just a few days.Pictures can be sketchy for sure. The card is really nice in person.
Funny thing is my wife is the same as yours. Lol
So I guess that it should be mailed with full insurance?
im not touching the insurance thing. tried it in the past and what i propose is way too long to go through. there's another thread here recently about an OPC gretzky and how to insure recently that goes over everything.
but should you get to the point you need collectibles insurance, esp if this grades well (which covers shipping to & fro from authentication services), feel free to reach out.
To me, this card looks better than any of the ugly PSA 8's I've seen that have the black ink spots running across the middle of the card.
I've also seen some 8's with similar (and sometimes worse) centering than this card. Heck, I"ve seen a couple of 9's that had worse left-right centering than this card (but maybe those 9's had 50-50 Top-Bottom centering).
When this card is on top of the Cheeks card, you can still see the top of the Cheeks card (just look at the 2 perforation dots that show from the Cheeks card).
But overall, the card looks ok in terms of amount of border space all around (just can't tell for sure unless it was in hand and could measure it).
I agree with others to sub as a 7, and be happy if they call to charge more because it was given a higher grade.
Put a different way, if I saw this card in a PSA 7 slab I would be thinking that's a terrific looking 7 and I would pay more for that 7 vs. the regular 7's...
One Note about dimples - the angle/glare from one of your latest pictures does show a potential dimple. I guess it was there in your original pictures, but could not see it until the glare caught it in your latest picture...
Thank You- Once i get my act together with some other cards - I will be asking the boardies to help with- after that I will reach out - Much Appreciated
Hmm, Yeah maybe the bottom is trimmed is my guess now.
Thank You, You are very insightful with your advice and in what you see.
I couldn't see the cheeks card when I measured. I see what you are saying and I think its maybe camera angle.
At this point potential dimples and all it will be going in as a 7 . I am confident it is not trimmed. The more I look at it and with all your advice the nicer it appears.
Thank you- Listening to all your advice and measuring in person makes me confident that it is not. All of your input is regarded and much appreciated. I pray that it is not. I will keep you guys posted
Only looking at the centering, here are a couple of examples of an 8 and a 9 with this card in the middle...
Good luck with the submission! I'm hoping you get a call for upcharges
That is an awesome comparison . For some crazy reason I was narrowly looking at my card alone and never even thouhgt to put it side by side with others. When I see it compared to other graded cards, mine looks great. For centering alone it looks better than the 8 as good as the 9.
Thanks for the well wishes and I will keep you posted
Just keep in mind that these 2 centering examples probably push the outer limits on acceptable centering for the grades. And I have read on this forum that grading standards today might be a little tougher than in the past...
Good luck!
Yes, sub it ASAP because it will be worth nothing soon
If you plan to sell, sooner rather than later so the current rise in demand doesn't curtail as we emerge from our homes!
I would do a 7 at $300. If it 8's they will maybe charge you $600. The only thing is, IF it is trimmed according to them, you lose the $300. So if you want to gamble less per se, you could go $150, but will take longer.
And no, you will NOT sub it in person period!
I submitted my card for grading to PSA and just received it back with what, to me (total novice), a friend (serious collector), and a local retailer, is a very surprisingly low grade of 3 - I feel like I wasted $600. I'm trying to figure out how/why it received the grade it did, and how to proceed. We (the friend and retailer, really), thought this was a 7 or 8. After comparing to ones found on Ebay, I found 6s, 7s, and 8s that (again, to my novice eyes) looked very comparable to mine. What do you guys see that we are missing? If you feel that the PSA grade is unwarranted, how would you advise I proceed? Thank you VERY MUCH!!
For that card to grade a 3, there has to be a tiny wrinkle or crease that you missed.
Yeah, maybe some wrinkles on the back that don't show to the front???
Wow. That's a beautiful 3. Couldn't even garner a 3.5...
You could use it as a bookmark for the next ten years and it still might be a 3 afterward.
It amazes me that the card above that got a 3 would get the same grade as this one.
Yeah welcome to the GOD, Crack, Sell Raw world we are now living with....
Think it has to be paper loss or a mistake??? Eye appeal even with any tiny wrinkle/spider creases is still 4+
That surely doesn't look like a 3 to me. Wow. I feel your pain.
That's unfortunate.... It almost seems like the back could have had contact with a slightly damp surface once upon a time.
If it was me, I'd probably crack it and send it to BGS for $150 or $250. You could also send it to CSG for $125. I'd be dumbfounded for you to get a card back with subs of 8's and 9's and a 3 or 4 for surface.
I have seen cards with faint spider wrinkles covering the back similar to the one pictured above. Could be like that from the factory. Psa 3-4.5 is appropriate.