What is policy for what is in composites? ; How is it decided not to grade certain cards anymore ?

ArmourPhil

This has been sent to Joe Orlando for a reply......

No to go off on a rant, but...I am pretty pissed off about the recent decision of PSA to no longer grade what Ill call "hang tags". These are the cards that hang from BB gloves and other products.

My 1984 Rawlings set is here ...see [http://www.psacard.com/PSASETREGISTRY/Composite.aspx?c=10100]

So I get the complete set award 2 years in a row and then I'm deactivated.

Same thing for the Wilson hang tags: http://www.psacard.com/PSASETREGISTRY/alltimeset.aspx?s=112563. The PSA answer to both of these is "We don't grade these anymore"...no reason why...to bad you cant complete your set...period.

Lets look at this in more depth.

I have an active Mantle Master set as do many of you. How is it decided what is in the set and what is not. What about the following items :

- 1950 DAIRYLEA MICKEY MANTLE REFLECTOR DECAL (a pic of Mantle to be decaled onto a bicycle)
- 1953-55 DORMAND MICKEY MANTLE-BATTING LEFT - (a postcard )
- 1954 NEW YORK JOURNAL AMERICAN MICKEY MANTLE (a picture of MAntle cut from a newspaper)
- 1961 BASEBALL PLAYER KEY CHAINS-INSERT MICKEY MANTLE ( are you kidding me !!)
- 1961-1963 BOBBIN' HEAD DOLLS MICKEY MANTLE (AD PHOTO) ( completely unbelievable an ad photo of a bobbin head - I am flabbergasted)

My questions are:

1. what the hell are these doing in the Mantle Master set (just an example I can pull out loads of others as well)

2. Why did PSA decide "we don't grade hang tags anymore" they certainly belong in a set way more than a picture from a newspaper or key chain insert or a ad photo of a bobbin head !

csakers

Phil,

I completely understand your frustration. I cannot figure out PSA's thought process either.

In the past, I have sent in cards to be graded and added to the Mattingly registry only to have them returned as "we do not grade these items." Now, these items are being added to the registry composite.

The same can be said for quite a few other items, which I had sent a request to PSA pertaining to grading and adding to the composites. Again, I was informed they would not be graded. So, I passed on buying the items. Now, they are part of the composite and I can no longer find the items to have them graded.

On the flip side, I have also had quite a few items (costing quite a small fortune) removed from the composite or made optional (many times the deletions appear to coincide with the complaint(s) of a particular collector). These were all items that were either in the composite (so, I bought them) or I had checked with PSA before making the purchase. When I have contacted them and included the amount of money lost on the purchases, they continually reply with something along the lines of:

The composites are always in flux and regularly reviewed for additions and deletions. Additionally, the collecting of sports memorabilia should be fun and not cost more than one can afford.

However, they have never really answered the same question(s) which you pose.

If you are able to get an answer, please share with us all.

Good luck,
Chris

JoeBanzai

I am not going to get into it other than to say I can't figure out the logic of some of their decisions.

Good luck!

NickM

<< <i>This has been sent to Joe Orlando for a reply......

No to go off on a rant, but...I am pretty pissed off about the recent decision of PSA to no longer grade what Ill call "hang tags". These are the cards that hang from BB gloves and other products.

My 1984 Rawlings set is here ...see [http://www.psacard.com/PSASETREGISTRY/Composite.aspx?c=10100]

So I get the complete set award 2 years in a row and then I'm deactivated.

Same thing for the Wilson hang tags: http://www.psacard.com/PSASETREGISTRY/alltimeset.aspx?s=112563. The PSA answer to both of these is "We don't grade these anymore"...no reason why...to bad you cant complete your set...period.

Lets look at this in more depth.

I have an active Mantle Master set as do many of you. How is it decided what is in the set and what is not. What about the following items :

- 1950 DAIRYLEA MICKEY MANTLE REFLECTOR DECAL (a pic of Mantle to be decaled onto a bicycle)
- 1953-55 DORMAND MICKEY MANTLE-BATTING LEFT - (a postcard )
- 1954 NEW YORK JOURNAL AMERICAN MICKEY MANTLE (a picture of MAntle cut from a newspaper)
- 1961 BASEBALL PLAYER KEY CHAINS-INSERT MICKEY MANTLE ( are you kidding me !!)
- 1961-1963 BOBBIN' HEAD DOLLS MICKEY MANTLE (AD PHOTO) ( completely unbelievable an ad photo of a bobbin head - I am flabbergasted)

My questions are:

1. what the hell are these doing in the Mantle Master set (just an example I can pull out loads of others as well)

2. Why did PSA decide "we don't grade hang tags anymore" they certainly belong in a set way more than a picture from a newspaper or key chain insert or a ad photo of a bobbin head ! >>



I have no idea why they stopped grading hang tag cards. No reason comes to mind.

As to the 5 Mantle items you listed, postcards have always been graded and included in Master Sets. They're a legitimate card set in the price guides. The New York Journal-American cards were not cut out of newspapers, but were giveaway items with newspaper purchases. The Dairylea reflector decal I'm not familiar with, but that would seem to fall under the category of stickers, which are routinely graded. The key chain insert is catalogued in the Standard Catalog, and is a stand-alone paper collectible item featuring the player. That you were supposed to put it in a plastic keychain frame (probably sold separately) doesn't matter. IMO the only one I agree with you on is the ad photo. Chopped up pieces of periodicals weren't originally intended to be separate items and shouldn't be graded or added to sets.

Nick