Have PSA centering guidlines changed through the years?

mojorob

Being fairly new to PSA I am trying to get the grading thing down as far as centering.
When ever I see a high grade PSA card listed on ebay I like to bring it up on the computer screen for a close up.
What I have noticed numbereous times is that there are a lot of cards that do not meet the centering guidlines for PSA 8, that have PSA 8 slabs around them.
So I am wondering has PSA gotten stricter in there centering guidlines??
I have some very nice pack fresh cards that are perfect other than just missing on the centering guidllines and are coming back PSA 6 NQ and I am seeing the exact same cards, some not even centered as well as mine in PSA 8 slabs.
Now, I am not trying to bad mouth PSA, I am just trying to figure out if the centering has tightened up in recent years??
Can anyone clue me in??
Many Thanks!!

RayBShotz

Mojo - you wrote:

"I have some very nice pack fresh cards that are perfect other than just missing on the centering guidllines and are coming back PSA 6 NQ and I am seeing the exact same cards, some not even centered as well as mine in PSA 8 slabs."


Being new to PSA you may see perfect in hand but when the graders get it it may be a NRMT/MT card. Those OC's in straight 8 slabs may well have been potential 9's if not for centering issues. If your centering is not to guidelines this could cause anywhere from a 1 to a 2 grade bump downward revision. Typically however PSA should and would go 8OC on a card like this but if you request on an invoice for "no qualifiers" PSA will honor this and revise accordingly.

Personally, I have always felt they shouldn't have yielded to the pressure of straight line, NQ requests to step along with the other grading companies. OC is OC and should be noted. I dont even happen to really despise OC. As you know, thats the way they come new out of the pack sometimes.

Keep in mind that PSA does also retain the right to defer to eye appeal when it comes to borderline centering issues as well.

So in anwer to your question, no I dont believe centering criteria has changed, but you should either specify NQ or roll the dice on OC related submissions.
Hope some of this helps.
rayBShotz

aro13

Every so often somebody raises the issue on whether or not standards have changed with PSA and other grading companies. In my latest SMR I noticed on page 53 a part about grading entitled - THE IMPORTANCE OF EYE-APPEAL AND SUBJECTIVITY IN GRADING
Quoting from page 53 - "For example, while most cards fall cleary within the the centering guidelines for a particular grade, some cards fall either just within or outside the printed centering standards. THE KEY POINT TO REMEMBER IS THAT THE GRADERS RESERVE THE RIGHT, BASED ON THE STRENGTH OR WEAKNESS OF THE EYE-APPEAL, TO MAKE A JUDGEMENT CALL ON THE GRADE OF A PARTICULAR CARD.
What does this mean exactly? Well take this example. Let's say you have a 1955 Topps Sandy Koufax rookie card that is right on the edge of acceptable guidelines for centering in a particular grade. The 1955 Koufax card has a yellow background that tends to blend in with the border of the card. In other words, the contrast isn't so great so poor centering may not be much of an eyesore - the borders are not clearly defined. In this case, if the card exhibits extremely strong characteristics in other areas (color, corners, etc.) an exception may be made to allow an otherwise slightly off-center card to fall within an unqualified grade (no OC qualifier). This is a rare occurance but it does happen. "
It goes on to state that it might be different with a 1957 Topps Koufax because an off-center card is more noticeable.
Not certain if this statement applies in your case at all but it is something newer in regards to centering that might have been in place years ago but it is the first time I have seen it in print.

murcerfan

THE GRADERS RESERVE THE RIGHT, BASED ON THE STRENGTH OR WEAKNESS OF THE EYE-APPEAL, TO MAKE A JUDGEMENT CALL ON THE GRADE OF A PARTICULAR CARD.

sounds like legal mumbo-jumbo to me.....would this allow PSA to back-pedal away from the buy-back guarantee program ? ..............certainly not

mojorob

What is the PSA buy it back policy??
I have never heard of this before.
Thanks!!