How is this a 9??

PaulMaul

The vertical centering appears to be worse than 75/25 to me:



Shouldn't it either be OC or a PSA 7? This vertical centering is not even sufficient for an 8.

sportscardtheory

Doesn't look THAT bad to me. Maybe it's a "4SC 9". lol

PaulMaul

Just measured it again, it's no better than 75/25. Should be a 7 according to PSA's standards. I think PSA's centering requirements for higher grades are odd.
Given two structurally perfect cards, one with 60/40 centering gets a 10 and one with 72/28 centering gets a 7. Pretty extreme dropoff.

Mefer

I don't have a scan handy but there is a picture in the current SMR of a 1933 Goudey Lajoie that is graded an unqualified 9. To the naked eye, that card does not look to be within 9 centering parameters. Turning to the 71 Lemon, to my eyes that particular card has great eye appeal and the centering does not seem as noticeable were it a white bordered issue. In any event, I do wonder if the graders literally measure the centering or just eye ball it.

gemint

Some leeway is given sometimes for top to bottom centering of 1971s due to the design of the card. I bet if you compare the bottom border with the sides, it's 65-35 or better.

NHLfightguy

agree on the design issue and leeway given. You see it on a few issues. BGS even does it on some modern issues.

PaulMaul

<< <i>Some leeway is given sometimes for top to bottom centering of 1971s due to the design of the card. I bet if you compare the bottom border with the sides, it's 65-35 or better. >>



Could you elaborate on this? I'm not sure how the "design of the card" comes into it. Do you just mean that the way the card is designed, vertically off center cards don't look as bad? Because it seems like plenty of '71's are centered properly vertically, and just as many sit high as sit low, so not sure why leeway would be given.

digicat

That card is exactly 75/25.

The grade seems like an error.

Does anyone have an uncut sheet of 1971 Topps cards to see if the cards are supposed to be OC by design?

Mickey71

Gemint,
Why would you compare the bottom border to the side borders? The only time I would compare centering on the side with top and bottom would be to measure a tilt.

CDsNuts

It just is.

jeffcbay

Comparing the L&R border to the bottom border, it really doesn't look that off. Is the bottom border supposed to be bigger than the L&R border or something?

Mickey71

Jeffcbay,
Either I'm losing it or have forgotten everything from 30 years of collecting....the bottom centering has to be compared to the top to get a measurement. The sides have nothing to do with the measurement in regards to top to bottom centering.

epatmythes

Using the side borders as a guide... since it's tough to set a T/B centering guideline on the 71's...

Taking the provided scan and maximizing to 800x zoom, I get L/R of 54.5%/45.5%, and T/B of 63.6%/36.4%...

Just barely, and a tough call just based on the scan provided, making within PSA 9 standards of "centering must be approximately 60/40 to 65/35 or better on the front"

otwcards

Lest we not forget, some issues arent' centered from the "traditional" measuring points... The top of the letters is not the beginning of the top border on 1971 Topps, if I recall correctly just as the bottom of the letters in not the point on 1970 Topps...

Mickey71

I could fit at least 2 of the bottom borders in the top border. That would make it at very best 67/33.

matthewbschultz83

On September 22nd, 4 years from now this thread will be resurrected.

jeffcbay

Sooooooo if the top and bottom were equal distances from the edge, this would result in the bottom gap being larger than the left and right side gaps, thus making the card look off center top to bottom. The 1977 Topps set is the same thing. The frame surrounding the photo makes it necessary for the left, right, and bottom border to be equal distances from the edge of the card, or else it will look off center. Am I the only one who feels this way? Besides, why are we having a debate over such a small scan?

Side note: I bet if this was the OP's card, he would totally stand behind it's grade.

Ironmanfan

buy the flip not the card

IMF

Mickey71

Jeffcbay,
I understand what you are saying in regards to eye appeal. Some issues never have well centered appearance. The 71 Aaron is a card that rarely looks centered.

WinPitcher

<< <i>Using the side borders as a guide... since it's tough to set a T/B centering guideline on the 71's... Taking the provided scan and maximizing to 800x zoom, I get L/R of 54.5%/45.5%, and T/B of 63.6%/36.4%... Just barely, and a tough call just based on the scan provided, making within PSA 9 standards of "centering must be approximately 60/40 to 65/35 or better on the front" >>





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This

shagrotn77

Those guys are always so outrageously overpriced that it'll never sell anyway.

PaulMaul

After looking at a bunch of other '71's, I think the source of the problem is that the team name isn't placed a consistent distance above the player name/position info. On some players, it sits lower (closer to the name/position), creating an abnormally large top border. This being the case, it's difficult to determine the vertical centering in a consistent way.

jeffcbay

<< <i>After looking at a bunch of other '71's, I think the source of the problem is that the team name isn't placed a consistent distance above the player name/position info. On some players, it sits lower (closer to the name/position), creating an abnormally large top border. This being the case, it's difficult to determine the vertical centering in a consistent way. >>



...unless you use the rule of having equal distance around the white frame around the image and the edge of the card.