What is your prescreening process before submitting cards for grading?

Black00SS

Just as the title says, what is your pre-screening process for cards to be submitted to PSA/BGS/SGC?

Do you like to use a scanner, loupe, lighted magnifier, a combination of things, or something else altogether? Do you like to use a ruler to check centering, or count pixels, or something different? When looking at surface issues, what is your method of choice. Sunlight, halogen, black light? Do you allow a small flaw if the rest of the card is flawless, or do you eliminate it completely?
Very interested in hearing what some of the other board members do in their pre-screening process.

otwcards

Eyes . . .

I seriously think that many that resort to using a myriad of extraneous tools over-think the process. A few simple examination techniques should be all that is necessary.

Knowing what your looking for, how to view it and doing it consistently works far better than lights, cameras, action... And knowing what is acceptable and what isn't helps, too. There's no such thing as a flawless card.

bking

Great desk light, 4x magnifying glass, and a thorough check of corners and centering. A review with a loupe for iffy corners, and final check for surface issues by using the 4x glass and the light while tilting the card in various angles.

... and I still miss an average of 1-2 wrinkles per sub.... sigh...

Black00SS

<< <i>Great desk light, 4x magnifying glass, and a thorough check of corners and centering. A review with a loupe for iffy corners, and final check for surface issues by using the 4x glass and the light while tilting the card in various angles.

... and I still miss an average of 1-2 wrinkles per sub.... sigh... >>



What type of bulb do you use, if you dont mind me asking?

bking

<< <i>

<< <i>Great desk light, 4x magnifying glass, and a thorough check of corners and centering. A review with a loupe for iffy corners, and final check for surface issues by using the 4x glass and the light while tilting the card in various angles.

... and I still miss an average of 1-2 wrinkles per sub.... sigh... >>



What type of bulb do you use, if you dont mind me asking? >>



Regular desk lamp, a high intensity one on a swing arm that I've had for years.

Yankees001

I usually don't. I just put them in the Card Savers and send them off.

I've had mixed results.

Dave

hookem

<< <i>Eyes . . .

I seriously think that many that resort to using a myriad of extraneous tools over-think the process. A few simple examination techniques should be all that is necessary.

Knowing what your looking for, how to view it and doing it consistently works far better than lights, cameras, action... And knowing what is acceptable and what isn't helps, too. There's no such thing as a flawless card. >>





I just use my eyes. Many of my subs however. I just want them slabbed regardless of grade.

54topps

For me nothing beats natural sunlight. I try to wait for a sunny day on the weekend and sit by the kitchen window to review my cards.

RonBurgundy

+ 1 to what Scott said.

Good post, Scott.

leadoff4

I agree with 54Topps. To me, nothing beats natural sunlight.

itzagoner

i used to do it like a beauty contest.....bikinis, evening gowns and then a question designed to help separate the less cerebral.....it worked out fine for awhile, but then the winners started getting big heads and demanding stuff like personal consultants and booking agents.

now, i do it like Survivor and just vote all the weakest ones off the island.

epatmythes

Honestly, for vintage stuff and/or cards I just want slabbed... I use nothing more than my eyes. However, and it's probably 80-90% of what I submit, for modern cards I use a loupe to check corners & edges and I'm very picky about centering. With modern, most of the time a 9 is rarely worth the grading fee and anything less is just wasted money.

JoeBanzai

I check corners with a 10x lighted magnifier, really shows wear and recoloring that I would not detect otherwise.

Everything else I trust my eyes.

Joe

Black00SS

Anybody using a scanner to prescreen? What do you guys use to see a fingerprint on a card? Some cards, obviously, fingerprints are not nearly as noticeable.

Black00SS

<< <i>Honestly, for vintage stuff and/or cards I just want slabbed... I use nothing more than my eyes. However, and it's probably 80-90% of what I submit, for modern cards I use a loupe to check corners & edges and I'm very picky about centering. With modern, most of the time a 9 is rarely worth the grading fee and anything less is just wasted money. >>



+1 on the moderns being a waste at 9 or under. Thats basically the reason I started this thread, to see what you guys do to minimize the risk of under 10 moderns.

Nascar360

When I find the ones I want to grade and I put them to the side. I give it a few days then I will go over that stack again for final submission.

fiveniner

First I look at the Purse (the Contours late 60s).Then I look over them closlely with my eyes under a strong lamp and away they go.

brendanb438

I like to rub them on my junk and wish for a gem mint 10 for said card. For some reason this doesn't seem to work well for myself.

53BKid

I go through a process over time. I select cards and put them away for a while. A few days or weeks. Then I pick them up, and look at them again, filtering out cards for issues I hadn't seen before. I may set them aside again for a while and come back to them.

I tilt them in the light to see if there are surface imperfections I may have missed, and then do a final check looking at their backs more closely, filtering a one more time.

Once in a rare while I'm stunnded I miss something ( a mark or erasure). But generally, they pretty much as expected.

Black00SS

Thanks to everyone for the input, ideas. Keep em coming!

Just thought I would share my process that I am using, and possibly get some input on it, and ask a few questions. Here we go.

1) I start by naturally weeding out all the cards that are not gradeworthy because of who they are. I am looking for stars, and lop pop commons.

2) Depending on who I am going to submit the cards too (PSA, BGS, etc), and how many cards I have to submit of a particular issue, I TRY to find low cost graded cards in a few different grades. If i am going to submit to PSA I will try and find a low cost 10, and 9 of that set...player is meaningless. If I am going to submit to BGS I try to pick up a couple cards of that set with 9.5-10 subgrades, to see what I am looking for.

3) Now I have my examples, and have weeded out the commons, its time to start weeding everything else out. I start by obviously eliminating any cards with very noticeable flaws. Badly damaged corners, way off center, wax stains, etc.

4) Now that I have eliminated all the real stinkers, I like to go through and examine every card that is left and scrutinize them as best as I can. I start by eliminating any cards that are not close to dead centered by eye. Any noticeable edge dings, corner softness, fish-eyes, etc are eliminated as well. This step eliminates a large chunk of the pile.

5) I now have a pile of well centered cards, with no major issues. The next step I take is to go over these cards with a 10X loupe to check the corners and edges. If the card does not have razor sharp corners, it goes to the no-grade pile. If there is any noticeable edge chipping by eye, it goes into the no grade pile. I allow a little chipping to be visible under the 10X loupe, but it cannot be noticeable just by eyeballing it. I also check the edges to see if there is any "raised edge" to them at all. Finally I check the centering with a ruler, and eliminate anything that is not dead on. I allow it to be very very slightly O/C if the rest of the card is absolutely flawless.

6) Next, I like to look at each of the remaining cards under my light and tilt it back and forth to let the light hit the card at many angles. Any surface wrinkles, indentations, bubbles, scratches, etc are eliminated. Finally, after all those issues have been checked for I like to lay the card down flat, and go over the entire surface with the 10X loupe. I am looking for printing dots, focus imperfections, snow etc, and eliminating accordingly. Finally, I like to take the remaining cards, and put them under a black light. This shows me any loss of surface gloss, surface chipping, etc. Any of those issues gets the card a one way trip to the no-grade pile.

7) I place whatever is left in CS2's, and set them aside for a few days. After a few days, I like to look at each card again in the CS just to make sure everything is Kosher.


Sorry about the long winded post, any thoughts or suggestions?

Black00SS

Oh, I forgot the questions.

How do the grading companies treat edge/corner flaking? Lets use a 1987 Topps FB card as an example. A white bordered card that has razor sharp corners, but under a loupe, you can see where some of the "paint" came off the card because of the cutting process on a corner or 2, and on the edges.

Secondly, is it even possible to get a 1980's topps card with perfect edges, if its not sheet cut after the fact? It appears to me that they used dull blades at the factory, or something.

I picked up a 1987 Topps John Elway BGS 9.5 with 10 edges, 10 corners, 10 centering, and 9 surface. It is obviously a sheet cut card, but it looks night and day different under a loupe than any cards I have pulled from wax/rack/cello/cut card cases/vending boxes, etc. The edges are perfect under a loupe, no chipping whatsoever. I have yet to see any of my other cards with edges so clean.

I also have a few odd and end BGS 9.5's with 9.5 subgrades, and I can definitely see the difference between them and the sheet cut Elway.

Thanks in advance, I appreciate all the responses so far, and look foward to any more!

JoeBanzai

After seeing results of my "free" 15 submissions, I think I'll just wear a blindfold next time.

Went through about 150 cards weeding out any with corner/edge damage using loupe, at the same time watching for recolored corners, measured every card, all were centered better than 60/40, checked surfaces under bright light. Figured one card (highest valued) might be a 6.5 or 7, the others HAD to be at least 8's.

Had to wait for my voucher and membership to come in the mail and when it did, went through the process again to double check my choices.

Results; High buck card got evid of trim, five 7's, eight 8's and one 9. No half points on any even though I am a centering nut.

I was hoping for more than one upgrade and to sell the others to pay for more grading fee's to try to complete my Killebrew master set. Bummer. Will have to re-examine and decide if I want to crack a few out and resubmit or go for a review. Either way cuts into any profits.

Still having fun with the hobby.

Joe

bking

<< <i>After seeing results of my "free" 15 submissions, I think I'll just wear a blindfold next time.

Went through about 150 cards weeding out any with corner/edge damage using loupe, at the same time watching for recolored corners, measured every card, all were centered better than 60/40, checked surfaces under bright light. Figured one card (highest valued) might be a 6.5 or 7, the others HAD to be at least 8's.

Had to wait for my voucher and membership to come in the mail and when it did, went through the process again to double check my choices.

Results; High buck card got evid of trim, five 7's, eight 8's and one 9. No half points on any even though I am a centering nut.

I was hoping for more than one upgrade and to sell the others to pay for more grading fee's to try to complete my Killebrew master set. Bummer. Will have to re-examine and decide if I want to crack a few out and resubmit or go for a review. Either way cuts into any profits.

Still having fun with the hobby.

Joe >>



Interesting you should mention centering - my free sub plus a 64 card CC sub popped this month with ZERO half point grades. Since I also really lean toward centering when screening cards to send, that kind of shocked me.

JoeBanzai

I worked for 24 years at a company that manufactured computer printed circuit boards. We had to hold some tight tolerances, +-.003 at times. I became very good at inspecting items much smaller than baseball cards, with MANY more areas to check than the eight or so you need to look at on a card. If you missed any defect and ran your parts and they came out bad, you had a problem. No one (even myself) is infallible, but I am very confused at my results.

Joe