August Special: The Story of Raw vs Actual Grades
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August Special: The Story of Raw vs Actual Grades
I had quite a bit of trouble finding enough decent cards (re: value > grading fee) from my collection for the years 1972 on up to submit for the $5 August Special. I came up with about 10 cards, plus a few older mid-grade cards that I wanted to get graded. But I needed to submit 25 and I really had to scrounge around just to fill the order. So below is kind of a story of where the cards came from, what I thought the grade would be vs. what came back from PSA. I wanted to do this submission for fun since it wouldn’t cost that much since all of these cards were either part of my childhood collection or bought new in the 1980s. Let’s start with the lower raw grades then work up to the better cards.
EX-EXMT
1 90524019 1972 TOPPS 200 ROGER STAUBACH N/A Not Holdered, Miscut
6 90524026 1973 TOPPS 615 ROOKIE 3RD BASEMEN R.CEY/J.HILTON/M.SCHMIDT 5
14 90524034 1972 TOPPS 79 RED SOX ROOKIES GARMAN/COOPER/FISK 6
15 90524035 1974 TOPPS 456 DAVE WINFIELD N/A 6
16 90524036 1972 TOPPS 433 JOHNNY BENCH N/A Not Holdered, Miscut
17 90524037 1972 TOPPS 441 THURMAN MUNSON N/A 5
The Schmidt Rookie came in as expected, would not be worth much but I didn’t pay much for it either. The Fisk/Cooper was one of the few holdovers from the packs I bought in 1972 and it actually got a better grade than expected, despite being handled quite a bit. Same thing with the 74 Winfield, it was just one of those cards I threw in just to get to 25. On the other hand, the 72 Munson came in a little worse than expected. I had the Staubach down for a 5 and the Bench a 6 but I guess I do not understand the difference between Miscut and Off-Centered. Oh well.
NM
13 90524033 1972 TOPPS 777 HOYT WILHELM N/A 7
22 90524043 1985 TOPPS 401 MARK McGWIRE 84 USA BASEBALL TEAM 7
18 90524038 1982 TOPPS 21 ORIOLES FUTURE STARS BONNER/RIPKEN/SCHNEIDER 8
The first 2 came in as expected. The 72 Wilhelm was from a high# unopened pack I traded for in 1984 (not going to tell you what I traded away though). I knew I didn’t take good enough care of this card over the years. The 85 McGwire is hard to find centered, if my perception is correct, and this one is no exception.
Now the 82 Ripken was a surprise. I looked and looked at this card many times over the years and saw four very rough edges. I actually thought it would get a PSA 7 grade but happy with the PSA 8.
NMMT
9 90524029 1984 FLEER 131 DON MATTINGLY N/A 9OC
10 90524030 1985 TOPPS 181 ROGER CLEMENS N/A 8
19 90524039 1983 TOPPS 83 RYNE SANDBERG N/A 8
20 90524040 1983 TOPPS 482 TONY GWYNN N/A 8
20 90524041 1983 TOPPS 482 TONY GWYNN N/A 8
21 90524042 1983 TOPPS 498 WADE BOGGS N/A 8
These are the cards that I believed would be graded PSA 8 and pretty much nailed them. When I went through my stack of 83 Topps, these were the ones I really didn’t want to get graded (because they would not be Mint) but again, just threw them in to complete the order.
Also, this is the second submission where I clearly stated “No Qualifiers” and got a qualifier. I had measured the 84F Mattingly to be within PSA 8 centeredness but I guess the grader got distracted by the very sharp corners. All of these cards were pulled from vending boxes way back when.
MINT
2 90524020 1983 TOPPS 498 WADE BOGGS N/A 9
3 90524021 1983 TOPPS 482 TONY GWYNN N/A 9
3 90524022 1983 TOPPS 482 TONY GWYNN N/A 9
4 90524023 1983 TOPPS 83 RYNE SANDBERG N/A 9
4 90524024 1983 TOPPS 83 RYNE SANDBERG N/A 9
5 90524025 1982 TOPPS 90 NOLAN RYAN N/A 8
11 90524031 1984 FLEER 46 PETE ROSE N/A 9
12 90524032 1987 TOPPS 362 JIM KELLY N/A 9
7 90524027 1984 DONRUSS 324 TONY GWYNN N/A 9
8 90524028 1984 TOPPS 8 DON MATTINGLY N/A 9
Date Received: 09/01/2005
Date of Grades Posted: 09/08/2005
Date Shipped: No Date Specified
Now to the decent stuff. I expected each of these to be PSA 9 but I guess like everyone else, had hoped there would be at least one PSA 10. I supposed I breathed on these too much not to be perfect. No big deal. Nine of the ten cards came in as PSA 9 with the 82 Ryan coming as PSA 8 (which I knew would be borderline because of the L/R centering). I remember getting each of these cards from the wax or vending boxes when they first came out and luckily I took good enough care of them all of these years.
In all, I did as expected with the exception of the two miscuts. I don’t know if I’ll get my grading fees back when I sell but that’s no big deal since nearly all of these cards cost, at most, 1-cent to purchase.
I had quite a bit of trouble finding enough decent cards (re: value > grading fee) from my collection for the years 1972 on up to submit for the $5 August Special. I came up with about 10 cards, plus a few older mid-grade cards that I wanted to get graded. But I needed to submit 25 and I really had to scrounge around just to fill the order. So below is kind of a story of where the cards came from, what I thought the grade would be vs. what came back from PSA. I wanted to do this submission for fun since it wouldn’t cost that much since all of these cards were either part of my childhood collection or bought new in the 1980s. Let’s start with the lower raw grades then work up to the better cards.
EX-EXMT
1 90524019 1972 TOPPS 200 ROGER STAUBACH N/A Not Holdered, Miscut
6 90524026 1973 TOPPS 615 ROOKIE 3RD BASEMEN R.CEY/J.HILTON/M.SCHMIDT 5
14 90524034 1972 TOPPS 79 RED SOX ROOKIES GARMAN/COOPER/FISK 6
15 90524035 1974 TOPPS 456 DAVE WINFIELD N/A 6
16 90524036 1972 TOPPS 433 JOHNNY BENCH N/A Not Holdered, Miscut
17 90524037 1972 TOPPS 441 THURMAN MUNSON N/A 5
The Schmidt Rookie came in as expected, would not be worth much but I didn’t pay much for it either. The Fisk/Cooper was one of the few holdovers from the packs I bought in 1972 and it actually got a better grade than expected, despite being handled quite a bit. Same thing with the 74 Winfield, it was just one of those cards I threw in just to get to 25. On the other hand, the 72 Munson came in a little worse than expected. I had the Staubach down for a 5 and the Bench a 6 but I guess I do not understand the difference between Miscut and Off-Centered. Oh well.
NM
13 90524033 1972 TOPPS 777 HOYT WILHELM N/A 7
22 90524043 1985 TOPPS 401 MARK McGWIRE 84 USA BASEBALL TEAM 7
18 90524038 1982 TOPPS 21 ORIOLES FUTURE STARS BONNER/RIPKEN/SCHNEIDER 8
The first 2 came in as expected. The 72 Wilhelm was from a high# unopened pack I traded for in 1984 (not going to tell you what I traded away though). I knew I didn’t take good enough care of this card over the years. The 85 McGwire is hard to find centered, if my perception is correct, and this one is no exception.
Now the 82 Ripken was a surprise. I looked and looked at this card many times over the years and saw four very rough edges. I actually thought it would get a PSA 7 grade but happy with the PSA 8.
NMMT
9 90524029 1984 FLEER 131 DON MATTINGLY N/A 9OC
10 90524030 1985 TOPPS 181 ROGER CLEMENS N/A 8
19 90524039 1983 TOPPS 83 RYNE SANDBERG N/A 8
20 90524040 1983 TOPPS 482 TONY GWYNN N/A 8
20 90524041 1983 TOPPS 482 TONY GWYNN N/A 8
21 90524042 1983 TOPPS 498 WADE BOGGS N/A 8
These are the cards that I believed would be graded PSA 8 and pretty much nailed them. When I went through my stack of 83 Topps, these were the ones I really didn’t want to get graded (because they would not be Mint) but again, just threw them in to complete the order.
Also, this is the second submission where I clearly stated “No Qualifiers” and got a qualifier. I had measured the 84F Mattingly to be within PSA 8 centeredness but I guess the grader got distracted by the very sharp corners. All of these cards were pulled from vending boxes way back when.
MINT
2 90524020 1983 TOPPS 498 WADE BOGGS N/A 9
3 90524021 1983 TOPPS 482 TONY GWYNN N/A 9
3 90524022 1983 TOPPS 482 TONY GWYNN N/A 9
4 90524023 1983 TOPPS 83 RYNE SANDBERG N/A 9
4 90524024 1983 TOPPS 83 RYNE SANDBERG N/A 9
5 90524025 1982 TOPPS 90 NOLAN RYAN N/A 8
11 90524031 1984 FLEER 46 PETE ROSE N/A 9
12 90524032 1987 TOPPS 362 JIM KELLY N/A 9
7 90524027 1984 DONRUSS 324 TONY GWYNN N/A 9
8 90524028 1984 TOPPS 8 DON MATTINGLY N/A 9
Date Received: 09/01/2005
Date of Grades Posted: 09/08/2005
Date Shipped: No Date Specified
Now to the decent stuff. I expected each of these to be PSA 9 but I guess like everyone else, had hoped there would be at least one PSA 10. I supposed I breathed on these too much not to be perfect. No big deal. Nine of the ten cards came in as PSA 9 with the 82 Ryan coming as PSA 8 (which I knew would be borderline because of the L/R centering). I remember getting each of these cards from the wax or vending boxes when they first came out and luckily I took good enough care of them all of these years.
In all, I did as expected with the exception of the two miscuts. I don’t know if I’ll get my grading fees back when I sell but that’s no big deal since nearly all of these cards cost, at most, 1-cent to purchase.
0
Comments
I too, like to "guess the grade" before I submit. I tend to hit about 75% dead on and the rest I tend to grade 1 lower more often than I grade 1 higher so I like to think my hit rate is much closer to 90%
You got some nice cards there. I think you ended up with the same grader I did this last time. I had 4 cards out of 20 come back miscut and 1 come back "Did not meet Min. Size Req" first time that's happened in about 20 submissions. Not sure what happened to the (MC) qualifier as I allowed qualifiers on my last sub which was for a buddy who doesn't care about qualifiers and would rather see the higher grade. (don't ask)
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