surface wrinkles

AwfulBits

I know there have been some threads in recent times that have talked about surface wrinkles taking what would normally be an 8 or 9 down to a 5. Is this also true of a surface wrinkle on the back of the card or just the front? Does a surface wrinkle on the front get a 5 and one on the back get a 6?

Also would you rather have a card that has an almost invisible surface wrinkle but otherwise looks like a 9, but is in a 5 holder, or say a 6 that has the corners ect. of what a 6 usually looks like?

-Mike

scottsusor

In my admittedly short term experience with PSA (about 400 cards submitted) I've concluded that they are much more lenient on the backs of cards, than they are on the fronts. Of course, the front is the BIG THING, and the "glossy" stock that's used on vintage card fronts is far more subject to factory defects (i.e. surface wrinkles) than the "non-glossy" stock that's used on vintage card backs.

All things equal -- I'd rather have the 9 in a 5 holder -- But if the defect is that slight, it should have been put in an 8 holder.

Scott

downgoesfrazier

Interesting point you bring up. This is a difference of opinion that I have with PSA or other third-party authenticators. While my standards for MINT or better is considerably higher than PSA's, I feel that an otherwise MINT example of a card with a slight, almost imperceptable surface wrinkle, should grade NM 7. A 5, in my mind, denotes graduating corners or some advanced surface wear, 80/20 or worse centering with sharp corners, or something that makes the card visually unappealing. The 5 seems to be more about making a point than getting the grade right. There are cards straight from vending that are chock full of "spider wrinkles" that I would lower in to the 5-6 range (assuming the card is NM/MT or better otherwise). Basically, the light, hard to notice without 100 watt scrutiny wrinkles should lower a grade by 2, in my opinion...but then no one has paid me to encasulate their cards--so who gives a crape what I think...


dgf