Poor Condition Cards - But Necessary

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I have a set, which is really really hard to piece together. After significant investment, and using all of the sources that I could possibly find, I did piece together a complete set. It's a 66 card set, and all but 5 were graded by PSA.... but the last 5 were returned for various reasons. I believe that PSA didn't grade them because of the exceptionally poor condition .... glue and paper on the backs because of having been pasted in an album and then torn out, severe gum stains or warping from water damage, and/or being cut incorrectly (undersized or even diamond cut).

They may not be as bad as it sounds, but I wanted to make the point.

I would really like to have these graded, however, for several reasons. One is that I want all 66 cards to be in PSA holders, just so that they look uniform in my collection. Also, it would be really nice to just see my set in the registry at 100% so that I can be done with it!!

PSA has returned all 5 cards twice when submitted for grading. My question is, would I do better to submit them to be holdered and marked "authentic"? If I did that, would they still go into my set registry (with value zero)?

Paul H.

Southsider

You should call PSA to make sure they will holder them "Authentic" before you send them. An Authentic card is a "3" on the registry weighting, I believe.

perkdog

What set are you putting together?

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I'm a non-sports collector, actually Star Wars only. This is the set I am referring to; if you read my description of the set you will see why their is such a problem with condition:

http://www.psacard.com/set_registry/display_cards.chtml?rsetid=39194&alltime=yes&rank=1&tied=0&requesttimeout=9999

Paul H.

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Can anyone point me to a set on the registry, that has "authentic" cards registered along with graded cards?

imafishinnut

Paul,

Below is one example. Check out the Palmer card. It is authentic and given the value of a "PSA 3". The remaining cards are graded. Offhand, HOF autograph sets are the only ones I know about where this has been consistently done.

My HOF Autograph Set

Regards,
Mike

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Excellent! Thanks for the help, it is much appreciated - I never would have found that example!

I will definitely try it... I'd love to just finish my set, and a "PSA 3" designation in the set registry is more than fair (even a zero would have worked for me).

One issue it does bring up though... for purposes of set registry competition... wouldn't this encourage people with cards graded "1" and "2" to have them reholdered as "authentic"?

Paul H.

Griffins

They show up as a 3, but compute as 0 for GPA purposes.
PSA in the past has been very selective in what cards they grade authentic, I'd be surprised if they graded these as such.

Edited- here's an illustration of the GPA with an authentic card. Although my set shows a 3 in there, the GPA is 0.00 with 4% completion.
T9 with Authentic graded cabinet

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Again, thanks! This answers about all of my questions. I called PSA to ask about it, and as you guys mentioned it appears to be by special request. They asked that I just send the cards in with a request that they be graded "authentic". They will review the cards when they receive them, and make the determination at that time. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Paul H.