New to Board -- Looking to submit 1975 Baseball to PSA

thekramers5

I'm new to the forum/board -- was referred here by another card forum.

Anyway, I'm looking to break up my 2nd set of 1975 Topps Baseball and submit any cards that "appear to qualify" at least as a PSA 9 for grading. A lot of the cards are in really good shape, but I don't want to waste any of my submissions (aka, $$).

A couple of quick questions:

I've seen commons selling anywhere from $200 down to under $10. Is this based on the Population Report? Obviously, I'd prefer to only submit those that have a chance for selling for the most money.

How does the rotation of images affect the grading (those rotated slightly clockwise or counter-clockwise)? If still centered close to 50/50ish, are these worth submitting? Or, if this is visible to the naked eye, do these immediately drop to PSA 8 at best?

How do the small "print circles" affect grading? I know the grading standards say "minor printing imperfection" for PSA 9, and even "slight printing imperfection" for PSA 10. I wasn't sure if only one of these dots/spots appeared on the card if there is still a chance for PSA 9. I have several where that appears to be the ONLY thing that looks like an issue.

Any other preliminary/obvious advice for these cards?

Those are my main questions up front ... I'm sure more will follow.

Thanks in advance for any input/advice.

bking

<< <i>I'm new to the forum/board -- was referred here by another card forum.

Anyway, I'm looking to break up my 2nd set of 1975 Topps Baseball and submit any cards that "appear to qualify" at least as a PSA 9 for grading. A lot of the cards are in really good shape, but I don't want to waste any of my submissions (aka, $$).

A couple of quick questions:

[snip]

Those are my main questions up front ... I'm sure more will follow.

Thanks in advance for any input/advice. >>



None of us really know for sure exactly WHAT influences grading the most, or by how much: moon phases, grader's sex life, etc.

However, here's a couple of things:

First, the tilt will kill you if it is pronounced. Yeah, that word is pretty vague, but that's the way grading standards are written. This much is true - when a card is tilted, measure the centering at the tilt's worst. You'll be surprised how much a card that looks centered but is tilted actually measures OC. If a card's tilt bugs you, it will bug the grader too, and may just get you a MC qualifier.

Second, there's a distinct difference between a print dot and a "fisheye", which looks more like a ring. In my experience, a single fisheye will kill you much more than a few dots will.

Third, watch out for little tiny wrinkles on the front. An otherwise great looking card ends up in a 5-6 holder if you miss those.

My best advice? Spot grade a few, then post scans here for others to grade, and then learn to set your expectations based on how that goes. I think every new submitter has to learn to change their hope into realism. It was a rite of passage for me without a doubt.

Oh, and yes, the Pop report plays a huge part in the prices you're seeing.

thekramers5

bking ... thanks for the detail. It's MUCH appreciated. I'll keep this board updated as I go through the process.

Quick follow-ups ...

(1) what about the small imperfections on the surface of the card. That sort of look like a drop of water hit the card -- VERY small, yet the surface of the card appears raised?

(2) What if a card appears flawless all the way, except one corner doesn't look sharp? It doesn't look nicked or damaged, just not a sharp corner?

Thanks again for the input.
Tim

Dialj

Welcome to the Jungle!! The board members here are experts in almost every area of both sports and non-sports cards and great to talk to. I look forward to seeing you on the boards.

Treetop

You really need to find someone close to you that has sent cards in for grading before and sit down and review the cards together. You just can’t get a good understanding on what to look for especially when shooting for 9’s only. Can be a fine line between an 8.5 and 9. It will also save you lots of pain and suffering fees. Posting scans on line, can get you close, but once again a very fine line between 8.5 and 9.



Definitely need to have access to the population report since many of the 75’s in 9 don’t really bring much of anything after you subtract grading, ebay and paypal fees. Let alone your time.



With 75’s PSA can be forgiving on top to bottom centering and I’ve seen many 9’s with the fish eye print defect. Then again, at times so much can ride on who the grader is and what type of mood he is in. The experienced grader is the one who will or can get it the grade it deserves, while the newbie might be more hesitant to give it the grade it should receive when it borders between an 8.5 or 9. And in the majority of cases, PSA does not use a loupe to grade the card. they only use loupe to shot alterations.

thekramers5

I think I'm going to join as a platinum member ... submit 15 of my best cards and see what happens (and hope and pray that I don't get a grader on a bad day !!!). I have probably over 40 or 50 that appear to be flawless in every category: centering, corners, edges, surface, focus, etc.

Does PSA do minimum grades -- i.e., where they don't slab it if it doesn't meet a minimum?

Again, thanks for all the input so far ... definitely helps out.

Tim

Treetop

<< <i>Does PSA do minimum grades -- i.e., where they don't slab it if it doesn't meet a minimum? >>



I believe they do, but its the same price has if it was slabbed.

You should probably let PSA grade and slab everything you submit, so you can see where you might have misgraded (your grade verses PSA's grade).

lostdart58

Please do not take offense:

If you think you have 100 cards that would "qualify for a PSA 9", you will probably end up with

30- PSA 7
40- PSA 8
25- PSA 9
1 or 2 PSA 10
3 or 4 less then PSA 7

DO YOUR HOMEWORK and PREPARE TO BE DISCOURAGED!!

thekramers5

<< <i>Yes, PSA does minimum grades. You can also request no qualifiers, so a card that would get a 9oc would get a 7 instead. >>



Exactly how do the qualifiers work, and when are they recommended? For example, I saw a '75 Nolan Ryan that was terribly off-centered, rec'd a grade of 9 OC ... and sold for $60ish.

My Nolan to grade is the same way, way off-center, but in awesome shape in every other aspect.

thekramers5

<< <i>Please do not take offense:

If you think you have 100 cards that would "qualify for a PSA 9", you will probably end up with

30- PSA 7
40- PSA 8
25- PSA 9
1 or 2 PSA 10
3 or 4 less then PSA 7

DO YOUR HOMEWORK and PREPARE TO BE DISCOURAGED!! >>



Point well taken !!! Now you have me very curious as to how my submission will grade out. I'm not sure how many I'll have total worth grading, but I'll have to calculate the %s and see how close they are.

rlange5

<< <i>

<< <i>Yes, PSA does minimum grades. You can also request no qualifiers, so a card that would get a 9oc would get a 7 instead. >>



Exactly how do the qualifiers work, and when are they recommended? For example, I saw a '75 Nolan Ryan that was terribly off-centered, rec'd a grade of 9 OC ... and sold for $60ish.

My Nolan to grade is the same way, way off-center, but in awesome shape in every other aspect. >>



The way the qualifier works is the card is given the grade and the qualifier would be added for OC, MC, PD... So the example you gave the Ryan was a 9 quality except that it was too far off center for that grade. A qualifier will drop the grade 2 points, so a 9OC becomes a 7 or a 8PD becomes a 6. So if the card you want to grade is perfect in every other respect it would get a 9OC.

I do not like qualifiers myself, but everyone is different in that respect. Your best bet is to look at the criteria for each grade and then judge if the card may fall within the 8 range without the qualifier or if it would be a 7 or worse.

Bob

Brick

Hi, hello, how are ya?