Poll on centering

wolfbear · August 15, 2004 2:41PM

I've posted the scans of four types of off-centering as examples.

So, not necessarily for this card in particular, but generally,
which type of off-centering on a card bothers you the most :

1 : too little border on the bottom is the worst :

2 : too little border on the left is the worst :

3 : too little border on the right is the worst :

4 : too little border on the top is the worst :

Axtell · August 15, 2004 2:44PM

That's a tough one...I dislike left/right centering issues a great deal more than top/bottom ones...hard to select between left and right.

jrdolan · August 15, 2004 11:06PM

I hate when one border is wider than the other. So I trim to make 'em match.

My favorite graders -- PRO, GEM, and BCCG -- don't seem to mind at all.

CON40 · August 15, 2004 11:17PM

Personally, I think cards with painted helmets are the worst!

Seriously, left/right centering bothers me more than top/bottom.

shouldabeena10 · August 15, 2004 11:24PM

Wolf,

Glad to see you did well on your vending box!

PS - side to side is worse than top or bottom to me.

Mike

Dallas88 · August 16, 2004 12:04AM

Man that '80 set was brutal for centering!

I would have to say L/R off-centering bothers me the most....although a diamond-cut is pretty crappy too.

I hate when one border is wider than the other. So I trim to make 'em match.

LOL @ Dolan - great line!

Dal

CuseSteve · August 16, 2004 12:49AM

left to right is much more important to me than top to bottom...

Griffins · August 16, 2004 1:44AM

Depends on the card- in this case #2 bugs me the most, because of the direction he's looking. Compositionally I"d rather have more border on the left side, as that gives him more room visually. If you're off center anyway it comes down to what works best with that particular card.
I like #4 the best, by far. Tilts bug me the most.

BugOnTheRug · August 16, 2004 2:29AM

I'll vote for #5.

L/R is critical.
T/B is less critical, but to for eye appeal on T/B, it needs to be done on a card-by-card basis. I have a 71 Aaron with min bottom border that's very sweet - it sets up to the eye very well. 1975T's also look ok with min bottom if L/R are right on. Conversely, I also have other min bottom border cards that really, really suck in the eye appeal department.

As an obvious footnote, the absolute worst looking graded cards are those with a min. border on both L/R and T/B combined.

botr

liffeystynx · August 16, 2004 8:01AM

And I thought it was just me who hated L/R and didn't mind T/B ... great minds etc.

Here's one though - does the same apply when it comes to horizontal cards (teams, rookies, league leaders)?

I find I often have to copy the scan and flip it 90 degrees to decide if I like it or not - why don't sellers save us the trouble.

Robby · August 16, 2004 8:18AM

My vote for worst centering is both L-R and R-L....... I despise both ! Would also agree with Dallas 88 about Diamond Cuts ! Griffins makes a good point also on the player direction aspect , in the case of this card , Stabler is looking to the left , so if I had to choose on this card , I would much rather have more border on the left !................Robbie

wolfbear · August 16, 2004 11:33AM

I'd heard people mention that top/bottom off-centering
doesn't bother them as much as left/right off centering,
but now that it's been put to a vote, the results are pretty clear.

Only thing still not cleared up, since the vote is so close,
is which type of left/right off-centering is the worst.

Now I'm wondering if maybe left handed people prefer more border on the right,
and right handed people prefer more border on the left, if those are their only choices.

Stand by for Centering Poll Part II coming to this board soon ...

perkdog · August 16, 2004 10:26PM

I just voted. (right centering)

IMO left/right and top centering issues are nasty. I can deal with bottom centering no prob.

thejam · August 16, 2004 10:30PM

are landscape cards different t-b or l-r ?

nearmint · August 16, 2004 10:41PM

To me, the thin left border is worst. Maybe it's because we read from left to right, so we look at the left side first. Or maybe it's as other people said, that the thin left border on this card is worst because Kenny's looking that way.

Wolfbear, could you post a few pictures of Kenny looking to the right?

Mike

TedSimmonsFan · August 17, 2004 9:22AM

Wolfbear,

I saw your poll and wanted to weigh in on it as well. First off I'd like to say that seeing the snake in anything other than a raiders uniform still hurts, but Plunket took us to 2 more Super Bowls. L-R and R-L centering look the worst to me. I agree with others in the case of the Stabler that scan 2 looks the worst b/c he is looking that way. Great poll.

Drew

bobsbbcards · August 17, 2004 9:56AM

<< <i>Wolfbear, could you post a few pictures of Kenny looking to the right?

>>

I have a rare Stabler looking to the right variation card. Is it worth much?

Scot2 · August 17, 2004 12:43PM

The key factor could be which is your dominate eye? My left eye is dominate and #2, too little on the left border, bothers me the most. Im a lefty to boot (1 in 9 statistically) Left handed, left eyed, left border.

gmoneystyles · August 17, 2004 2:34PM

It depends greatly on the subjects pose on the cardboard. In your example and mine I don’t mind the off centering right, it doesn’t seem to bother me as the subject is looking left, it seems to balance out the offset. Now if the centering was short left and the subject was posed looking left it wouldn’t look very good at all and I would have to pass. Similarly I feel that off center top/bottom looks better with the subjects pose looking dead on.

I vote left short is the worst as most portraits and action shots that arent looking at you dead on are posed looking left; giving the appearance the subject is going to fall off the card. Could be me drinking again though.

Poll on centering

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