1958 Yellow variations- PSA's Embarrassing Weak Point

RG58

I have now encountered about 5 mistakes just in the last year regarding the grading/labeling of Low # yellow variation cards of the 1958 Topps set. The last one I saw is posted on this board about two months ago (Bob Lemon mislabelled)

Here is the white letter variation of #24 Hobie Landrith mislabeled as yellow letter because the grader doesn't understand the concept that some cards have a variation of the team color while others have a variation in player name color!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=55917&item=4125264579&rd=1

Another board member pointed out that the pop reports for these variations are highly inaccurate due to these mistakes at PSA. Since many of these cards have very low pops, the consumer has to be really aware that the population may be actually considerably higher for one of the variations, and exceedingly lower for another!

Come on guys, it ain't that difficult. Maybe slow down a little while grading! We are paying for accuracy and precision!

Vargha

True -- But there must also be a corresponding misunderstanding among the collecting populace as well since PSA does not charge to have the card reholdered properly with the correct label.

Bearsnum34

Here you go...

link

Glynparson

The problem is that the graders are not the ones entering the information into the systems and printing up the labels these are done by people with a much much much more limited knowledge of cards and that is where the problem lies.

RG58

That is a quality control problem and needs to be fixed if your theory is correct that the blame lies with a secretary or data entry person, and not with the grader! The grader should be responsible for such an error! I hope PSA reads this thread!

bill7549

I've noticed problems with the 1952 Topps BB set as well. Apparently, they just started designating the BLACK BACK variety, as the population report on these is WAY off. I have around 10 black back variations which do not specifically say "Black Back" on them. In addition, I have seen two Joe Page cards that say "SAIN BIO" on them that are obviously the corrected bio. I know I can send the cards off to them to have it fixed for free, but it's still a pain in my butt to have to deal with this.

thejam

same thing for M116s -- some are labeled blue back as the labeller believes the blue back refers to the back of the card rather than the blue background on the front

Mantlefan

Good point RG...I have several of the mis-labelled Yellow letters. And, I admit, David, that I've been too lazy to send them in to be changed.

Mistakes tend to occur, understandably, with lesser know issues [the one on the left is correct from 1961, the one on the right is from 1962]:

qualitycards

FRANK - Sometimes the problem of a mislabeled card results in the submitter writing the wrong info on the submission form. Which could have happened w/ the Maris stamps since they aren't dated. I'm sure PSA hopes to catch these mistakes, since re-holdering and fixing the error then sending it back via registered mail at their expense must indeed be costly...jay

Alfiewt

This has been a problem with PSA for a long time. I have had problems even when I have submitted it with the correct info. I submitted a 1984 Topps sticker and an 1984 OPC sticker together with the correct labels, and they both came back labeled as topps stickers. I brought it to a show and they fixed the label for me free of charge on site, but they should have labeled the card correctly the first time, especially when they had both verions in the same submisson, and the difference is clearly noticeable. I thought that this problem might have been because it was the first 1984 OPC sticker submitted to PSA, but the leader in the Mattingly registry recently added both the topps and OPC stickers to his set, and PSA again mislabeled the OPC sticker as the topps sticker. I can't be that hard for PSA to make sure all the cards it grades are labeled correctly, but they consitantly make mistakes like this.

bill7549

Jeeze..if the problem is the submitter writing the wrong information on the submission form, then I'm going to submit a bunch of Honus Wagner 1909 card reprints as original and make some serious $$! Seriously, it shouldn't matter what you write on the submission form. PSA should check and verify the information. After all, they are supposed to be the experts.

qualitycards

BILL - I said it could be what was written down on the submission form in the case of the Maris stamps where they are similar in size and not dated. And I stated its not in their best interest, since they must fix the problem and ship it back at no charge. And remember the value is the card not the screw-up in the flip, if you wrote MICKEY MANTLE down on the form for a MICKEY VERNON card and say in a worst case scenerio they marked it as a MANTLE - its still a MICKEY VERNON card! You can't get MANTLE type money on it. It doesn't change the card and the condition 1 bit. ...jay

NickM

bill - actually they stopped designating back variety on '52 Topps a long time ago.

Nick

bill7549

Nick, why would they have stopped designating the BLACK BACK on the 1952 Topps a while back? They just included a 1952 Master Set in the registry that requires you to collect both red and black back varieties of numbers 1-80. Seems to me like they have just started designating them.

bill7549

Jay, yeah I was just kidding about trying to fool the PSA graders with a mislabel on the submission form. But it does lend credence to the fact that they still should verify the information, just strictly from a business standpoint.

qualitycards

BILL - I agree! When a card comes back mislabeled, no one wins. Its a hassle for the customer and an added expense for PSA.
With that said, the % is very very small that it happens, and it goes with the territory for the huge amount that goes through their hands daily. No grading company is 100% correct in this dept too! Well maybe except for PRO as they seem to have a handle on pleasing the customer w/ a favorable grade and possibly not mentioning a vintage card is a repro...jay

Mantlefan

Jay...I sent that stamp in myself, clearly labelled 1962. In addition, I sent in 2 1961 Maris stamps and another 1962 Maris stamp. I got back 4 Maris stamps labelled 1961.

NickM

bill - this is what I was told by a PSA rep at a show:
PSA stopped listing the back type a few months after they started because they realized that people were taking advantage of the fact that they had done a significant number of '52 Topps before the listing and most graded cards did not have the back variety shown in the pop. report, and selling cards as low pop. that actually weren't.

Nick

qualitycards

FRANK - That sux! If you are going to Ft Washington in 2 weeks, bring the pile to them and they can correct it on the spot or they will bring it back to PSA and ship it corrected at their expense...jay

pc

what makes it even worse is the pop report shows
a pop of only 4 psa 8 for the card in question.furthermore
they list some cards without any difference as to white or yellow
name,team letters or whatever else is out there.if this is
the WL variety it is scarcer than the yellow name.
24 HOBIE LANDRITH WHITE NAME 0 0 0 2 4 0 4 0 0 0 0 10
24 HOBIE LANDRITH 0 0 0 2 1 0 10 1 0 0 0 14
24 HOBIE LANDRITH YELLOW NAME 0 0 5 7 12 0 13 0 0 0 0 38

pc

while we're on the subject what's this one?!?white letter,white name,yellow team somebody help!

RG58

PC,

1958 topps Morrie Martin #53 was issued either with White Player's Name letters or Yellow Player's Name letters. (top letters)

The team letters on the bottom are always yellow and there is no variation in this.

I have this exact card in PSA 7 and it is not labelled either way just like the link. You can assume the pop report for most of the unlabelled Morrie Martin cards are likely the white player name variation!

Rob

pc

thank you