Assessing PSA Grades - old and new subs - Expert Opinions Sought

mattinglymint23

Hi All -

Question for the experts and anyone who wants to chime in -
Understand there are ranges within the grades (a nice 8 vs. a not so nice 8) and the use of half grades -

Question is do you find that cards submitted earlier on - say +5 years ago - are slightly less prestine than more recent subs in same grade? or has it been pretty consistent over time, with the subtle variations consistently present as well? From what i've read you can maybe tell if a card was sub'd a while ago based on cert # (sometimes) and font on the flip.

thanks in advance for any insight.

gstarling

I've been looking at a lot of 1986 Fleer basketball over the last year and a half and at least in terms of centering there is much less tolerance in the more recently graded cards. There are a lot of older flips sitting in PSA 8 that would be 7.5 (maybe even 7) based on centering alone. That being said, there are some older cards sitting in those same PSA 8 flips that would look fine in an 8.5. On a whole thought, at least for this issue, newer flips have much less tolerance for centering, fish eyes, etc.

JoeBanzai

I am no expert, but I recently sat down with a sports card dealer who has been around for 20+ years and showed him several cards that I felt were undergraded by PSA.

In almost every instance, he showed me (using a high intensity light) some minor imperfections in the card that justified the grade.

Being the argumentative person I am, I pushed my point a little harder, and he admitted that about two out of the fifteen cards in question would have (in his opinion) graded higher in the past. His opinion, and I had to agree with him, was that PSA was grading the cards more correctly now than in the past.

As far as the half grades go, it's my opinion that PSA's graders are still not comfortable with them, so they don't automatically think of them, at least on some of my better centered submissions. This should hopefully change over time.

Of course cards that were submitted before the half grade was added can have a good opportunity to "bump" a half grade (or more) if they are a high end, well centered card for the grade.

I also believe that the years with white borders on the cards, PSA is a little more likely to overgrade. The 62's 63's 71's and 75's seem to me to be much harder to get high grades.

I would say that there were many more cards submitted 5 years ago that are slightly less pristine than recent subs.

Joe

handyman

I submit about every month and from what i see is that they grade very strickt for like 3-4 months in a row and then they have about 2 months where they are not so strickt. They seem to cycle this. I might be crazy but thats my feeling with them month by month.

Maurice

<< <i>As for the numbering it's pretty simple. The lower the number the "older" the slab. >>



It's not that simple, and that's incorrect.

Pre-2002 certs started with zero. These are in hologram holders.

Post-2001 certs are all over the board. For a long time, they started with 1. But onsite grading certs started with 5. Mega-bulk submissions started with 8. Then many regular subs started with 3. There was a period where they went back to certs starting with zero. Then they went back to the certs starting with 1. There's also a bunch that start with 9. The majority start with 1.

The best way to tell when a card was graded is by the style of the holder and the flip. Obviously, the exception being cards that have been reholdered.

Cakes

<< <i>

<< <i>As for the numbering it's pretty simple. The lower the number the "older" the slab. >>



It's not that simple, and that's incorrect.

Pre-2002 certs started with zero. These are in hologram holders.

Post-2001 certs are all over the board. For a long time, they started with 1. But onsite grading certs started with 5. Mega-bulk submissions started with 8. Then many regular subs started with 3. There was a period where they went back to certs starting with zero. Then they went back to the certs starting with 1. There's also a bunch that start with 9. The majority start with 1.

The best way to tell when a card was graded is by the style of the holder and the flip. Obviously, the exception being cards that have been reholdered. >>



Good info, thank you.

bking

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>As for the numbering it's pretty simple. The lower the number the "older" the slab. >>



It's not that simple, and that's incorrect.

Pre-2002 certs started with zero. These are in hologram holders.

Post-2001 certs are all over the board. For a long time, they started with 1. But onsite grading certs started with 5. Mega-bulk submissions started with 8. Then many regular subs started with 3. There was a period where they went back to certs starting with zero. Then they went back to the certs starting with 1. There's also a bunch that start with 9. The majority start with 1.

The best way to tell when a card was graded is by the style of the holder and the flip. Obviously, the exception being cards that have been reholdered. >>



Good info, thank you. >>



Just to add to what Maurice posted; You CAN tell if a card was holdered pre- or post-.5 change by where the grade and number appear. Post-.5, the number is below the grade; before they were on the same line. There are other changes, but that is a pretty good starting place.