The ol' Fish Eyes and PSA Grading

flcardtrader

While I have been on this board, "fish eyes" has been a term which I never fully understood - until now.

I recently acquired a 74 Topps Baseball Factory set less the Beckett listed stars. The set is in amazing condition from a corners perspective, however, many of the cards have fish eyes. In some cases its a school of fish eyes staring at me on the factory set card while non-existent on the card in my PC.

I am in the process of assimilating those cards into my collection set and wondered the effect/impact fish eyes have on grading.

For example, many of the existing cards in the set are Ex to ExMt w/o fish eyes while many of the factory set would grade NrMt to NrMt-Mt w/Fish Eyes.

Would the grade come back as 7PD or 8PD - thus making it an Ex to ExMt card once the qualifiers are factored in?

What is your opinion = 74 Topps with no fish eyes and a few soft corners or 74 Topps with fish eyes and incredible corners?

Thanks for your help.

Flcardtrader

Dpeck100

You have any scans?

flcardtrader

This isn't a particularly good example, however, it should provide some bit of framework.

The images on the left are from the factory set while the image on the right is the card I had picked up over the years for my set.



While both of the Coggins have fish eyes, the card on the left displays better centering and stronger corners - but do the family of fish eyes put a PD qualifier on the card? My quess - 7PD or 8 PD on the left and 5 NQ or 6 NQ on the right.

The Cubs Manager card, the one on the left displays only a few but its counterpart has none so I am thinking 7 or 7 PD for the left and 5 or 6 for the right.

What if the Cubs Manager on the left had a few more - what is the lynchpin before a card acquires the qualifier?

Dpeck100

In my experience having only one on a card it can still grade high but in the case of four like the Coggins has I would think that card could grade no higher then a PSA 7. When I sub cards I ask for no qualifiers. I can't see the back corners but I could see that card grading a 9 if there were not the fish eyes so a two point deduction seems reasonable to me.

The second card isn't anywhere near as bad and I think it presents just fine. I would rather a card like that in my set that is sharp and centered over a card with worse centering and corner wear. I could see that card grading a straight 8.

I think you are going to have to look at each card and just determine if the fish eyes are to bothersome when you look at the card. If there are more like the second example it sounds like you bought a great raw set.

DanBessette

I agree with every word Dave typed. Not all fish eyes are created equal.

tsalems1

The singles from the factory set look very sharp!

grote15

There was a PSA 10 74 Schmidt that recently sold in the HA auction that had two fairly prominent fisheyes, though it was in an older flip.

I don't think a fisheye negates a possible PSA 9, at least. It's all dependent on how distracting they are, and how the grader views them.

I would personally take a fisheye (or two) over an OC card or card with a tilt.

scooter729

I had listed this Ryan for sale recently, and listed it as admittedly a weaker 9 because of the fisheye above the "Y" in "Ryan" on it. Also an older graded card.

craig44

I prefer sharper corners and good centering over no fish eyes

BaltimoreYankee

I can't do fish eye cards. Once I see it, that's all I see on the card. I'd much prefer off center cards or tilts. I do usually require sharp corners though.

olb31

eye candy usually prevails. centering, no fish eyes, with a slightly touched corner or two, should give you a 9.

lawnmowerman

A board member shared this one back in Dec.

CW

Living in a fisheye lens
Caught in the camera eye....

LarkinCollector

I would keep the cards on the left in both of those instances, regardless of what a TPG would say. I don't think either gets a PD qualifier (2 point hit), though the fisheyes on the first are probably distracting enough to lower the grade by one over what it would have otherwise graded. In the end, keep whichever you like the best (or both if you can't decide)

flcardtrader

Thanks for all of the input/comments - very helpful and insightful.

While distracting, it is a simple choice to keep the sharper cornered, better centered cards.

Oh, and the flashback to Rush a few lines up was classic - thanks for that!

Mike

Dboneesq

While fish eyes can be a bit distracting, in your two examples I would take the cards on the left over the poorly centered ones that are already in your set. As someone mentioned, all fish eyes are not created equal. I think you need to go card by card and determine which cards you want to swap out. GOOD LUCK!!!