Rush Job

plattech

So I submitted my 15 free and they were received on 12/4. I emailed 2 days ago to ask for a status as the 7 days had passed. I got a reply today and they said they would contact operations. This afternoon my grades popped and I must say they are awful. I almost feel like it was a rush job or someone was upset that I sent an email asking for a status. One of them was a 1978 Topps common that was definitely borderline 10, it came back as not meeting minimum size requirement? WTF? How on earth could it not be the right size, it was a pack fresh card. Another 1973 Bench came back miscut. A perfectly centered 1981 Donruss Bench came back a 6. Unless me and my buddy who carefully looked over every card before sending are absolutely clueless about grading I think I will be cracking and sending these back in.


Anyone have similar experience?

alifaxwa2

Timing starts after log in, not after they receive it.



First submissions are almost always a dissappointment. Ownership adds 2 points.

charrigan

Before you complain, learn.

Stooge

Believe me when I say that everyone on this board "Feels ur pain".



Everyone has had those grades. I have a friend that meticulously goes over each card he sends in and he received a PSA 4 on a card he thought would get a PSA 10. Now I received the card and told him that the card has a wrinkle (Card falls to a 5) and a touched corner (Card falls to a 4), and sure enough, it had both. It took me a solid 10-15 mins. to find the wrinkle, but it was there.



Over the years, I have received countless cards in "Min size req." and it is just what it is. I would take the card and re-sub it.



I could tell you a REAL story about the "Min. size req.", but I would get kicked off of the boards.



Good luck on your future subs...

plattech

Not my first submissions by any means, was just using my voucher for this year.

I have sent enough in to become very good at estimating and even enlisted a friends who sends in cards as well.

I'll post scans when they come in. The 1981 Donruss Johnny Bench had centering of a 10, we even measured it with a micrometer. Not sure how on earth it got a 6. Was pack fresh with perfect corners.

Very weird.

plattech

I agree about the 5 that you thought was a 10, I learned that lesson early on with some 1959 Topps I sent in. I missed the surface wrinkles. That said I have become better and better over the last few years in catching the little things.

Man. I was so hopeful for this batch.

mlbfan2

Originally posted by: plattech

The 1981 Donruss Johnny Bench had centering of a 10, we even measured it with a micrometer. Not sure how on earth it got a 6. Was pack fresh with perfect corners.

A card that looks like a "10" that grades a 6 or 5 almost always has a small, hard-to-see wrinkle.

charrigan

If it's a 6, look on the back.

MULLINS5

Originally posted by: plattech
Not my first submissions by any means, was just using my voucher for this year.

I have sent enough in to become very good at estimating and even enlisted a friends who sends in cards as well.

I'll post scans when they come in. The 1981 Donruss Johnny Bench had centering of a 10, we even measured it with a micrometer. Not sure how on earth it got a 6. Was pack fresh with perfect corners.

Very weird.

Should have used a Grademaster.

OAKESY25

The 1981 Donruss Johnny Bench had centering of a 10, we even measured it with a micrometer. Not sure how on earth it got a 6. Was pack fresh with perfect corners.


I bet there is a print line, like a razor thin line down the middle that is hard to notice.
1989 upper deck is famous for them too

Gemyanks10

I could tell you a REAL story about the "Min. size req.", but I would get kicked off of the boards.

Hmmm...

mb2005

They can sign for a package, have it sit at their place as long as they want, then start the clock. That alone tell you their turn-around times are a joke. I have had orders take 3X what they list as the turn-around time....

DanBessette

You come across as a newbie, especially the comment that a pack fresh card can't be too short. Simply not the case.

ldferg

If it's a 6 on an 81 Donruss, it's more than likely a bend. I've seen this on cards near the gum card. A slight indention or a bend on the 2 or 3 cards near the gum card. A wrinkle or crease is going to knock it to a 5 min. You will notice it in the holder when it's returned.

plattech

Certainly not a newbie Dan, been collecting over 30 yrs.....my point was the card hadn't been run thru the ringer over years of handling, etc. It was right out of a new pack so the chances of it being smaller in size were very slim. I do understand from the factory cards can be cut a little off, I just think it is ridiculous they would give it a less than min size for something the human eye cannot even see.

cardbender

1981 Donruss are all over the place size wise. Your card might be factory cut short 1/32" to 1/16", that will do it and

they won't slab it.

ArtieFufkin

This happens. No sense in getting worked up until you've painstakingly scrutinized each item in question. Personally, this PSA customer has learned a great deal in submitting for the past decade. My last "rush job" yielded a couple of very nice bumps. Pleasantly pleased.

plattech

Well it sucks...haha. Was checking every day hoping for the grades to pop and good news and was so let down.

Sent a 1981 Topps Mike Schmidt I thought for sure was a 10. And a '91 Stadium Club Favre, Stephen Curry rookie, JJ Watt rookie. A 1976 common I thought for sure was a 10 yielded a 7.

Will post when they return and see if you guys can help me find what I overlooked.

Littletweed

It's disappointing when you expect better grades. Through the years I have submitted many cards where I completely missed a minor flaw and gotten a lower grade, but I have also had cards graded lower than expected - sent back in for another opinion and got a higher grade. The speed of the grading has little to do with the quality of grades, my latest order was a "rush job" that turned out very well for me.



The MSQ can be frustrating, but it happens all the time - yes, with pack-fresh cards.



What was the rest of the sub, any hits or cards graded as expected?

grote15

Min size is not uncommon for cards straight out of the pack. I know it's frustrating, but you certainly don't want PSA holdering cards that don't measure up. When you get the cards back, measure them and if they are very close, or you determine they do measure up, you can always resubmit. Some graders are certainly more conservative than others.

plattech

EXCELLENT-MINT 6 1969 Topps 485 Gaylord Perry Last Name in Yellow - expected 7

MINT 9 1981 Topps 540 Mike Schmidt - expected 10

VERY GOOD-EXCELLENT 4 1974 Topps 456 Dave Winfield - expected 6-7

EXCELLENT 5 1970 Topps 350 Roberto Clemente - as expected

NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1991 Stadium Club 94 Brett Farve - expected 10

NEAR MINT 7 1976 Topps 587 Leo Cardenas - expected 10

EXCELLENT-MINT 6 1981 Donruss 62 Johnny Bench - expected 10

NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1993 Bowman 511 Derek Jeter - expected 9-10

MINT 9 OC 1979 Topps 390 Earl Campbell - expected 7

NEAR MINT-MINT 8 2011 Panini Gridiron Gear 175 J.J. Watt - expected 10

N6: MINIMUM SIZE REQUIREMENT 1978 Topps 61 Larvell Blanks - expected 10

NEAR MINT-MINT+ 8.5 2009 Panini Prestige 230 Stephen Curry - expected 10

EXCELLENT-MINT 6 1973 Topps 330 Rod Carew - expected 7

N8: MISCUT 1973 Topps 380 Johnny Bench - expected 7-8

EXCELLENT-MINT 6 1965 Topps 385 Carl Yastrzemski - expected 6-7

totallyradd

I sent in a Rickey Henderson rookie that came back as a min size req, and I was bummed out because that was the highlight of my sub. Nice centering and figure at least an 8. I plan to resub it eventually and hopefully it hits since I paid a fair amount for it raw. I've heard from other board members that have tried 3-4 times on a min size before it finally gets put in a holder. If you think it's worth the effort, keep trying. But I hear ya, it's a bummer.

packCollector

all I can say is that if you are expecting to get 10's on 8 out of 15 cards, you clearly do not have a lot of experience submitting, that is just not going to happen.......



and ditto on the how can the card be minimum size if it just came out of the pack, where do you think minimum size cards all come from originally?



my recommendation is to temper down your expectations and you will then average out happiness and sorrow in your future subs.

dennis07

I doubt if they would give lower grades simply because you asked about the status.

garnettstyle

Originally posted by: plattech
a One of them was a 1978 Topps common that was definitely borderline 10, it came back as not meeting minimum size requirement? WTF? How on earth could it not be the right size, it was a pack fresh card.


Anyone have similar experience?

Yes even worse. How about cracking out PSA cards and sending back in for grading and coming back minimum size. Happens a lot.

LarkinCollector

Originally posted by: packCollector
all I can say is that if you are expecting to get 10's on 8 out of 15 cards, you clearly do not have a lot of experience submitting, that is just not going to happen.......

While this is generally good advice, there are several on this board who regularly get a significantly higher percentage of 10s than that.

plattech

Larkin, I hear ya. The reason I expected so many 10s is that I went through my very best raw cards over and over again to narrow down the ones that looked closest to being a 10. It was quite reasonable to expect that many perfect cards.

I'll just have to wait until they are shipped back to see what I can/should re-submit.

charrigan

I'd recommend that you post large high-rez scans here one by one and get feedback from the group. It helps a lot to learn what to look for.

DanBessette

If you're expecting 10's and getting 6's, your grading eye is not as good as you think. Don't mean that as an insult; I don't have a good grading eye either. But you obviously missed some flaws.

MULLINS5

I've had some I thought were 10s come back 6s and it ended up being slight wear on the edge that I didn't pickup during pregrading.

plattech

Well perhaps I am a crappy grader. But I did have my friend help also....so guess he sucks too!! Haha.

Will wait til they arrive and post scans so the board can help find the flaws.