How to value an "oc" card

murph

any ballpark ideas out there on what an off center
qualifier will do for value? for example, a 1955 oc psa 7
koufax? should i look at smr in a 6 ?

any help would be appreciated...

thefootballcardstore

Take it down two grades, a PSA 7 OC would be a PSA 5. This is as PSA had outlined in the Set Registry.
Jeremy

jaxxr

What PSA has outlined in the registry, is for the registry. It makes registry numerical values standard and fairly simple.

The retail value is NOT always going to be two grades less !
Is the OC top to bottom, or the usually more value-lessening left to right ? Is the OC both ways ? Is the centering 74/26 or is it 85/15 ?

A 55 Koufax in 7 OC may be "slightly" off top to bottom, whereas a 5 could be off center even more, and have lesser corners, gloss etc. No doubt that 7OC will go for more than the other described 5. It is quite possible the 7OC could go for more than a low-end 6 also.

The two grade points deducted for a qualifier, for all cards (high-end blazers and low-end overgrades have the same point value) in the set registry, is not at all intended to indicate real market value differences. The idea of dropping the value two grades would probably give you a reasonable idea of the LEAST the card might be worth.

kimo75

As a collector, I believe that centering is in the eye of the beholder. I've seen many PSA 8oc vintage cards that can be had for ridiculously low prices. A prime example was a 1958 Topps Ted Williams. PSA 8oc sold for about $250. Centering was about 70-30 left to right. Take the OC qualifier off and the card is worth I believe about $800-$1000.
Of course when I'm selling, I prefer no OC qualifier.

packCollector

I think it depends on the card itself and the eye appeal. Example, I sold my psa 9 oc butkus rookie for more than a psa 8 becasue it was right out of a pack and there are only 2 stright 9's. If a card is borderline miscut then it will probably be detracted more that 2 grades in value as it has terrible appeal. If a card is off top to bottom then it can probably be picked up for a good deal but not 2 grades lower. some people prefer the other aspects of a card and if they are looking for the card then it may sell as if it is 1 grade lower.

and after all that rambling, it's worth what you want to pay. if you think the 7 oc looks better than a 6 then bid like it was a 6 and be happy

packCollector

oh by the way, there are a lot of unqualified cards that are borderline on centering. being a koufax collector, I recently passed on a 57 koufax straight psa 8 that was on ebay for $700 because it was too oc for me. If you don't mind centering, look for unqualified psa 7's that are o/c , usually the other aspects of the card are blazing.

1420sports

I enjoy mid grade cards, so I would much rather have a PSA 6 or 7 that is centered with typical 6-7 characteristics than a PSA 8 OC.

helionaut

I find that an OC knocks at least 75% off the price of an unqualified card for vintage, and makes modern stuff virtually unsaleable. I've never much studied the SMR since almost every post on these boards talk about how inaccurate it is, so I couldn't tell you what level to look at, but just get a feel for the market in various grades if you are looking for something specific.

And I'm coming around to the idea that qualified cards are undervalued price-wise. For higher grade cards, this can make for great bargains if you can live with this flaw and ugly label. I'd rather have an 8OC than a 6 or 7 since the centering standards for 6s are worse than 7s or 8s. If you buy a 6, then you might get a card that could be as off-center as an 8oc, and you get the added flaws that make the card a 6. If the only thing keeping a card from being a straight 8 is centering, then you've still got a decent card. If you want an unqualified card and have it graded a 7 or 6 based solely on centering, I don't think that would reflect the true quality of the card.

Check out this old thread. The images, no longer visible, showed 2 copies of a 1951 Bowman card that were 8 and 8oc. They were both off-center to the right, and as best as I could see, the oc was farther to the right by the distance of the width of the thin black borderline. Though the quality of the scans was different, it looked like the straight 8 was a nicer card in general, it was tough to say for sure. Anyway, the result was a 92% discount for the buyer of the oc card.

SUPERPUNK813

kimo75 said, "As a collector, I believe that centering is in the eye of the beholder. I've seen many PSA 8oc vintage cards that can be had for ridiculously low prices. "


This is a great point! Im working on a ungraded Near Mint or better 1962 Fleer football set and ive bought a few PSA 8oc and PSA 9oc cards just to crack out of the holders and put in my "raw" set, they look razor sharp and i got them super cheap but the centering may be 75-25 s/s or t/b. For an ungraded set i don't mind 75-25 centering when you get razor sharp corners, no print spots and thick gloss.


Paul