Grader of Death--75 Kelloggs, 79 Topps, 81 D Golf

Galveston

I did get a 10 on a 1975 Joe Morgan Kelloggs card, but overall, I was very disappointed in the grades....These were hand-picked and scrutinzed closely. Apparently not closely enough....

Galveston

Sorry, I didn't put in the submission number. Cry with me.

It's 8034508

spacktrack

Congrats on the 10. There are still some nice cards in that submission, but I can understand the source of your pain.

GATOR5

Galveston,

Wow!!!!!!!! All over the board not sure what to say about that one. Looked as
if you were on a circus ride

mrc32

How did the 1979 Topps Bill North sneak by you? a PSA 5?

mikeschmidt

<<How did the 1979 Topps Bill North sneak by you? a PSA 5? >>


They are almost always surface creases -- sometimes only visible on the back. They always slip by people who submit en masse.


If you want to see some Mike Schmidt cards, from various years, that all look like PSA 10s but suffer from this fate, I can e-mail you a scan...

Galveston

I imagine that is what happen: a surface crease on the back. I don't have the cards yet.
My opinion is that knocking down any card to a PSA 5 for a microscopic surface crease on the back is a little severe, if the card is otherwise a PSA 9. However, PSA 5 or PSA 6, doesn't make that much difference anyway.
Ever the optimist, I'm excited about the Morgan card. He was MVP that year (if memory serves).

Synthsense

Just further proof that all 1979's PSA 9 and 10's are undervalued. I plan on submitting some 79's in a couple of weeks but after seeing this and having conversations with sellers on Ebay I am having second thoughts.....

Galveston

I don't blame you. I picked those cards out of a near mint set. So, basically I selected the best 27 out of some 550 cards. Out of that 27, I got 6 PSA 9's and no 10's. I'm telling you, those 27 were nice cards.

Late1970sTopps

Synthsense:

What have you heard from eBay sellers that is giving you second thoughts about submitting your 79's? Just curious.

Frank

LuxuryWines

Galveston,

Just out of curiosity what kind of grades were you hoping for on the cards? It seems to me to be a solid submission, with a couple of hiccups... Jeff

Synthsense

Well, basically I think 5 to 8 years alot of dealers are going to be kicking themselves for selling 1979 Topps PSA 9 cards for anything below $15.00. Over the past two months, I have been buying the cards in PSA 9 anywhere from $3 to $9 which to me sounds like a bargain. I always ask the sellers ( some do not reply) on whether not they got the cards from rack packs or vending. The typical answer is that they came from a vending box. Then I ask them how many 9's or 10's did the box produce. One guy told me that for every 20 cards he sent in that he considered to me a 9 came back an 8 if that. He was happy to get 5 PSA 9's out of one box if that. I have been buying rack packs off ebay for the last 2 months and I can say that after spending alot of money on the packs before grading that I probably have not gotten a 9 out of 500+ cards. I am done with that, for now on I will buy it already graded. I am not saying that these cards will ever be selling what the star players are fetching now, but this set is difficult and collectors will want the cards in PSA 9 rather then PSA 8 which seem abundant. There is a huge difference when you compare a 8 to 9 with this set.

Galveston

Lux, you asked what I was expecting. I guess the answer is better grades all the way through. The 81 Donruss golf were carefully selected (over a two day period while I watched the Masters) out of wax case that I had bought, opened, and preserved since 1981. Centering is tough on that series and I only picked out the best. Some of those 81 Donruss Golf Registry sets have so many 9's and 10's that I assumed those types of grades were very realistic.
The 1975 Kelloggs's were selected from three complete Near Mint sets. I'm wondering if the 'hanging chads' were hangin' a little bit too far.
I've already gone over the 1979 Topps.
I also got the results from another submission yesterday and they are much, much better. But to be fair to the graders, the cards from this second submission were much better too.
Bottom line-I don't see how someone could have 81 Donruss golf cards that were better than mine. Pretty much the same story on those 79 Topps. As for the 75 Kelloggs, it's pretty obvious that they are tough to find in PSA 9 and mine are just more evidence. The grades on the 75K are pretty much in line with the population report so I shouldn't have been as surprised as I was.

Wabittwax

I've come to the conclusion to send as small as submissions as possible to help limit huge losses all at once. Do the math on that big submission as to how much money you lost because of that ignorant grader. PSA is very consistent except for that guy. 4 out of 5 come back consistent and then that 1 is horrible. Lately I send exactly 100 cards to catch the deal but not even one more than 100.

waitilltheytrytosell

Synthsense's example of the dealer pulling 1979's straight from vending and just hoping to get a 9 makes a good point.
Galveston, you did say - I picked those cards out of a near mint set. So, basically I selected the best 27 out of some 550 cards. Out of that 27, I got 6 PSA 9's and no 10's. I'm telling you, those 27 were nice cards.
Now I know you really didn't mean to say "a near mint" set, but it obviously isn't the same as pulling the stuff right out of vending. Typical sets come from cards that have been handled many times while sorting to make the sets. They are thrown together without too much concern over normal handling problems. What you end up with is your typical near mint set. You may be able to pull a few 9's and 10's but you shouldn't expect for it to be loaded with perfect cards. You probably did okay on your 79's considering what you pulled them from.

Galveston

I hear you. The set was put together from vending, but you're right they had been handled.