How Important Is The Back Of The Card?

Machodoc · June 20, 2003 11:54AM

I have seen some cards graded PSA 8's and 9's where the front is obviously very nice, but the backs are clearly off center or stained. Maybe these were flukes, but in general, how important is the condition of the back of a card - both to you personally and in your experience with grading?

Virtualizard · June 20, 2003 12:17PM

PSA 10 requires 75/25 on the reverse but any grade lower only requires 90/10. I've always wanted to "beat up" a card with 95/5 reverse centering and submit it to see if I get a PSA 1 OC.

Personally, I don't care about the back as much as the front, but I don't particularly care for a PSA 9 that has 90/10 reverse centering, regardless of the characteristics of the front. I have some candidates for upgrades based on this alone. I also have 9's that have 50/50 front and back centering that I can't figure out why they are not 10's. I submitted one about a year ago that I was sure would pull a 10 - perfect centering front and back, razor sharp corners - it came back an 8. It was a high pop common (20+ in PSA 8 with 1 or 2 10's at the time) so I didn't bother resubmitting it. I looked at it for a while and couldn't figure out what downgraded it to a 9 let alone an 8. Oh well.

JEB.

waittilitstartstosmell · June 20, 2003 1:19PM

Could someone email Greg at BOTN for his opinion?

Smelly

wolfbear · June 20, 2003 1:22PM

Smelly - I'll supply the corked bat if you wish to beat this dead horse any longer.

As to the original question - Have a 1961 Topps Jim Brown that I submitted to PSA,
came back an 8 MC. I'm thinking WTF, the centering is nearly 50/50 l/r and t/b.

Turn it over and take out the magnifier, and sure enough,
the back of the card is missing 1/10,000 of its border on one corner.
Oh well ... rules is rules ...

waittilitstartstosmell · June 20, 2003 1:34PM

Wolfie,

If Machodoc would've thrown a few scans up of the off center or stained backs, maybe he should be banned?

Smelly

Machodoc · June 20, 2003 2:18PM

Don't quite understand your last post, Smelly - the examples I refered to were actually a couple of graded cards I bought on eBay.

waittilitstartstosmell · June 20, 2003 8:29PM

One of the boards beloved board members got booted for questioning centering on PSA 8's and posted a few links to EBAY auctions.

Smelly

GATOR5 · June 20, 2003 10:25PM

I myself don't care for a card with a 9010 reverse...I do like reverses and think it is
part of the card not as important as the front.

A couple of exceptions I've found with 81' Rusty Staub alway has a reverse of 95-5 if
the card is centered in the front now if the staub on front is 70-30 the reverse is 75-25.
So with my figuring with 300 examples. A ten will never be obtained. Just a little from
the guru...

Wolfbear-I'm with you though not happy whats done is done.

Machodoc · June 20, 2003 10:26PM

Hmmmm...... I'm still fairly new to this site so thanks for the head's up....

BigKidAtHeart · June 21, 2003 12:47AM

While admittedly the back of the card Centering
is not as important as the front of the card,
ANY Staining, Front or Back, will count off the grade
the same (or result in the dreaded Qualifiers; ST or MK)

jackstraw · June 21, 2003 1:59AM

the back of the card is just as important as the front!! i don't understand why there is an exception for the back of the card?

Tipem · June 21, 2003 3:00AM

The back is 1/2 of the card.I will not buy cards that have bad backs unless there is not a better one available.
BOTN's input would be nice.

Vic

PS,

I like riding a dead horse,After you get tired of riding em,you can always eat em.

BigKidAtHeart · June 21, 2003 6:24AM

<< <i> BOTN's input would be nice >>

Vic,
Don't worry,
He will be back soon....

Wabittwax · June 21, 2003 9:03AM

Honestly I could almost care less about the back of a card. The only thing I try to avoid is gum stains and miscut backs. 90/10 on the back doesn't bother me at all. I'd rather have a 9 with a gorgeous front and 99/1 back than a PSA 8 with a pretty nice front and back. Front is everything to me.

wolfbear · June 21, 2003 10:58AM

Wabittwax - for a minute there I almost thought you were talking about girls ...

Basilone · June 21, 2003 1:35PM

Whenever I look for raw 1965's (the set I know most about)....I start by looking at the backs first. If the backs look pretty clean then I check out the front. The blue backs of the 65's make it a lot easier to go through cards the first time around and are much easier to see defects (corner wear, etc)...thent he white boarded fronts.

John

Wayne8348 · June 21, 2003 10:26PM

I'm pretty sure John does the same thing with girls also.

Wayne

mikeschmidt · June 22, 2003 8:11AM

With 1955 Bowman, I honestly do not care much about the back of the card, as long as it is not miscut or have significant staining. It is so hard to find nice cards that are worthy of PSA 8 or PSA 9 -- that I think downgrading a card simply because of the reverse centering is a bit over the top -- especially with an issue that has a significant amount of front/back card alignments. Also -- for what it is worth, I have found that historically PSA has been somewhat inconsistent with their grading of PSA 8 and PSA 9 examples from this set as it relates to back centering. I have seen (and have no problems owning) numerous examples of high-grade unqualified cards that are clearly miscut on the reverse.

MS

Basilone · June 22, 2003 10:20AM

Thats a good one Wayne.....

John

BigKidAtHeart · June 23, 2003 10:33AM

I wonder if the back of this card is important?

How Important Is The Back Of The Card?

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