Half point grades?
mlaw215
Posts: 60
How can you tell if a card was graded pre or post the half point grading system implemented by PSA?
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Lou Gehrig Master Set
Non-Registry Collection
Game Used Cards Collection
<< <i>That card was graded before the .5 system was implemented. You can tell by the numerical grade...in this case, the 8. Pre-.5 numbers appear on the same line as the letter grade (NM-MT, EX, NM, etc.). Post-.5 numbers appear below the letter grade. >>
This is mostly true. The half grades actually started a short time before PSA began using the 2 lines. There are some cards that have the numerical half grade on the same line as the letter grade but these are very few.
<< <i>FYI, one seller once told me that the card was graded pre-half point grades even though the numeric grade was on a separate line. He said that he got the card re-holdered after the half point grades were implemented, but the card was not re-graded. >>
This could happen and I do not think there is any way to prove it one way or the other.
flip and font used.
The half-point issue was intended (IMO) as a cash infusion ploy by PSA, no more, no less. What has really happened that perhaps not many collectors have come to realize, is the fact that the POP reports are now and FOREVER skewed. How so?... Let's say I have this really nice PSA 8 and wonder why it isn't an 8.5; or 9. What do I do? I crack it out and submit the card raw. Presto bango, it comes back as a PSA 8.5, mission accomplished.
Now the POP report still has a PSA 8 in its data base and a "new" PSA 8.5 added. Let's also say that we are dealing in cards that are somewhat rare, difficult to find, high end, whatever...the POP report says there are say 12 PSA 8s for that card, well, after the example above, there are really now only 11. If you do your homework and search the Registry and find at least 8 of those cards tied up in sets, the rarity (at that point in time) is 4 available, but really only 3. Merely an example, but I trust the reader gets the idea. Same thing if a PSA 6 becomes a PSA 7 (or highter), the end result is the original card is never deleted from PSA.
When the crack-out for the half-point (make more bucks for PSA and the card owner) is now spread over years, and the cards cracked out run the gamut from perhaps most mid-level and above, say PSA 5-PSA 8, one wonders how many "orphan" or "ghost" cards are left in the PSA data base. How many auctions have you seen that say "POP 1 of 5" for instance? Well, maybe it is and maybe it isn't.
If you think the original red tag is being sent in to PSA for them to delete the original card's grade, I'd wager that is a very, very rare event.
Bottom line...the PSA POP report data base is rife with fallacies and there is no way to fix it.
Late 60's and early to mid 70's non-sports
Unfortunately I have to agree 100% with everything you stated. When one looks at the pop reports they are very important and to not be accurate just defeats the entire process. In regards to the .5 and submissions--why was this not done a long time ago? I could come up with some unpopular answers; but that's beside the point. If the .5 was meant for accuracy then the only way to make this legit would be to review everything which is just crazy. Here's my biggest beef with the whole process......How is it full tier price to review a card. In some instances you are being charged like 7 times the original grading fee.---Example///You send in a 1960 Aaron 3 years ago on the $5 collectors club special and it grades an 8; but you think it has a real shot at a bump. So now when you review it will cost $35 plus S&H. Seems kind of crazy. Reviews should never be more than the original submission because in reality if the .5 was already in place it would not have changed the way I send in a raw card and would have been graded correctly the 1st time.
Just to add: Yes, I do submit some cards for review. The system is in place and I deal with it. I've probably broken even with reviews.
The pop report has always been subject to inaccuracies. The crack and re-sub game was being played before the half-points started, just not as often.
Well said. Also why POP isnt a consideration when I bid on a card. I'm happy letting someone else pay a premium based on a POP that will likely increase over time or at a minimum be invalid.
Good comments.