Star Wars PSA question

xaos01

Hello all!
I'm a long time lurker and a first time poster. I used to collect Star Wars cards as a kid, and about a year ago I was bitten by the bug again. I have all 5 sets in top loaders. Now recently my addiction has taken new form with PSA's. I have about 80 now, all 8's, that I've bought from eBay. Now for the question.

Lets assume a hypothetical vintage series 1 box. 36 packs, each pack has 7 cards and 1 sticker. So we do a box break and are left with:

252 pack fresh cards
36 pack fresh stickers.

Now, the stickers I realize will probably have gum stains, so we won't consider those.

Out of those 252 pack fresh cards, If they were to be sent in to PSA and graded, what is everyone's best guess as to the grade breakdown?

like how many 10's? 9's, 8's etc...

ArnyVee

It depends on so many things.

For instance, if the sheets were cut perfectly centered....and then the wax packaging didn't cause any corner damage....and then the stuffing into the boxes didn't cause any issues with the chipping....and then the guys and gals handling the boxes/cases and throwing them around before/during/after shipping......and then after it got into the hands of the 2 or 3 or 100 owners of that box in the aftermarket didn't make the conditions worse......well then, you might have some PSA 10s on your hands!

The problem is that there is no way to tell what you have without seeing the individual cards. I know that there are very few 10s out there (especially when using SGC as opposed to PSA) when it comes to Star Wars cards. I'm not an expert on the Star Wars cards (although I collected them as a child), but some of the other experts might know.

I hope that all of the ones that you pull are 10s! Good luck!

thedutymon

Good Morning,
Then throw out another 100 for centering, random gum stains/bleed, spots, pack dings, other random defects. Then your down to 150 or so, then after looking at them for hours with a X10 loupe you should eliminate another 50 or so cause they just don't look top shelf and/or you don't need to submit 5 copies of card # 27. Now you should be down to about 100 or so. Of the 100 you submit depending on your luck of the draw with your PSA grader it could vary in the following ranges:
Grader Of Doom: 2-5 Gem MINT 10's, 15-20 MINT 9's, 45-50 NM-MT 8's, 20 NM 7's, and those 3-5 cards that come back as EX-MT 6's and the one that comes back as a VG-EX 4 and no matter how many hours you look at it still looks like a MINT 9 with a shot at a 10 !!!!
Reasonable Grader who isn't fighting with his Wife/Girlfriend, is gettin' Some, and is not Hung Over: 7-10 Gem MINT 10's, 35-40 MINT 9's, 40 NM-MT 8's, 10 NM 7's and that one that comes back as VG-EX 4 and no matter how many hours you look at it it still looks like a MINT 9 with a shot at a 10 !!!!!!!!!
Hope this helps, keeping in mind I've never sub'd any Star Wars, but have sub'd ovet 5000 Vintage Cards and a thousand Modern. So while this may be said tongue in cheek, it is closer to reality than exageration!!
And That's a Fact Jack !!!!!!
Neil

transparent

I've busted entire boxes and gotten no gradable cards. Just so you know, that's a distinct possibility.

I've heard that if you buy boxes from states with dry climates, you have a better chance of getting good cards (less moisture on the packs over the years).

And, as was previously mentioned.... sometimes the cards are all centered well - or none are. Basically, it depends on how the sheet was cut.

Paul H.

ColleSystem

Crap shoot. My best guess:

10s - 1
9s - 10 to 17
8s - several

It is very possible to have a box that has almost no gradeable cards as suggested by Paul and Arny.

It is possible to get 9s and maybe a 10 on stickers as well, although the odds of the gum being on the top of the sticker (thus no gum stains) are less than 50/50. If you do get stickers that have the gum on the top, they are almost always stuck too tight, causing damage when removed. If you are lucky enough the get the gum off of the front, you then have roller marks to worry about, along with centering, corners, etc. From my experience, you can have real good luck buying raw stickers and grading them.

The huge problem once you recieve the cards back from PSA is selecting cards actually worth keeping!!!!!!! Unfortunately, third party graders are not real good at giving an indication of the photograph clarity and color. This is unfortunate because afterall, they are picture cards! You might get back a stack of 9s that are completely useless because they have bad color or have fuzzy focus. Send those suckers to Ebay! For about 75% of the 10s that I have recieved, I have been able to find 9s with better picture quality. I have found numerous 8s that outshine 9s.

You will eventually run into a box with incredible photo quality, nice centering, and corners! That is the good news. When you do, grade the cards that look the best and keeeeepppppppp them, even if you get low grades.

scott