@SoxPatsFan said:
I wonder why value modern is nearly a month slower than value ultra modern since they are both the same service level. Why is PSA favoring ultra modern?
less info to teach data entry personnel/graders perhaps? further you go back, the more ya gotta retain...start w current cards, once they get familiar w 2019 - 2017, then get them acquainted w 2016 & prior?
Grades Popped this morning on my Express Sub sent off before the 3/1 Price Increase
PSA 9 MINT
1990 MARVEL UNIVERSE 106 SPIDER-MAN VS. VENOM
1990 MARVEL UNIVERSE 20 BLACK PANTHER
1990 MARVEL UNIVERSE 23 WOLVERINE
1990 MARVEL UNIVERSE 41 ROGUE
1990 MARVEL UNIVERSE 64 BULLSEYE
10 GEM MINT
1990 MARVEL UNIVERSE 60 DOCTOR DOOM
1990 MARVEL UNIVERSE 79 THANOS
Sent 2/12 UPS 2-Day ( Was a weekend)
Received: 2/17
Entered: 3/8
Research & ID - 3/8
Grading - 3/9
Popped 4/19
Also got good news on the CC Free Sub that was hanging in Anaheim since 4/12 that it is at least in my local PO right now and is out for delivery today - fingers crossed it was just held up by mail tsunami and not damaged
@BigMK said:
It Moved...After 6 months in Grading, my 15 Free CC economy order finally moved to Assembly this weekend. Logged 9/28 and has been stuck in grading since mid October. It Moved !!
Hopefully mine is right around the corner then. Mine logged in 9/29. Some of those aren't below the threshold anymore (Jim Brown rookie for one).....so we will see what happens.
@BigMK said:
It Moved...After 6 months in Grading, my 15 Free CC economy order finally moved to Assembly this weekend. Logged 9/28 and has been stuck in grading since mid October. It Moved !!
Out of curiosity do you know what date it moved to grading ? Have an economy logged 9/27 into grading 10/24. Seeing economy movement on this thread has my hopes up that mine should see some movement any day!
I believe mine went to grading on 10/15, yours should be moving soon.
So I just received my CC Free Sub and I have to say that I do not disagree with any of the grades received aside from one I'm going to look at a bit closer
These were sent off last Summer prior to me taking some time to totally screen and making notes, something I did with my last two subs sent off
I did review the grades that popped from the Express I just got notified about and went to check my notes on those. The Thanos and Dr Doom were dead on ( Perfect Centering confirmed via measurement) while the remaining ones could have been brought down from a 10 to a 9 simply by centering. I am currently using a caliper and did so on those but my unofficial data is pretty close to the allowance that puts the centering from the 10 to a 9 so I am eager to see if that was the only issue - if so, then I'm really looking forward to when they open the gates in July to maximize my subs / fees
Felt good to actually get something back today, now my other two subs - a Value Modern that was sent back last July and only recently got moved to Research late January and a 6 card Regular Sub sent in right before they pulled the drawbridge up - Received in March but still not logged as Entered - are in their hands and Ill have to pop a few extra patient pills and start screening for the next sub
...I'm really looking forward to when they open the gates in July to maximize my subs / fees
Felt good to actually get something back today, now my other two subs - a Value Modern that was sent back last July and only recently got moved to Research late January and a 6 card Regular Sub sent in right before they pulled the drawbridge up - Received in March but still not logged as Entered - are in their hands and Ill have to pop a few extra patient pills and start screening for the next sub
I am in the same boat. I took notes and "expected" grades on my sub that I'm waiting on from September. I did the same for the 5 submissions I sent in February. Once they open the flood gates again, assuming prices are back to normal (<$12) then I have another 400+ cards to send in that are for various set registries. If they don't drop, then it's a sub-100 card submission.
As for centering, I use the ruler one of the graders gave me back in 2007. It's an 6" "Arthur H Gaebel Inc" two-sided metal ruler. It has inches, pica, metric and points. I use the Points when determining centering as it is the most finite scale on the ruler.
...I'm really looking forward to when they open the gates in July to maximize my subs / fees
Felt good to actually get something back today, now my other two subs - a Value Modern that was sent back last July and only recently got moved to Research late January and a 6 card Regular Sub sent in right before they pulled the drawbridge up - Received in March but still not logged as Entered - are in their hands and Ill have to pop a few extra patient pills and start screening for the next sub
I am in the same boat. I took notes and "expected" grades on my sub that I'm waiting on from September. I did the same for the 5 submissions I sent in February. Once they open the flood gates again, assuming prices are back to normal (<$12) then I have another 400+ cards to send in that are for various set registries. If they don't drop, then it's a sub-100 card submission.
As for centering, I use the ruler one of the graders gave me back in 2007. It's an 6" "Arthur H Gaebel Inc" two-sided metal ruler. It has inches, pica, metric and points. I use the Points when determining centering as it is the most finite scale on the ruler.
Previously I had been using the grademaster tool and that hasnt been too bad but decided to try the digital caliper and recently got myself one of those really nice magnifying lamps. I also use a loupe and to be very honest, Im glad I did as that alone has saved my bacon more than a few times
Like I said I cant complain I mean Im talking about cards that are between Mint / Gem Mint and can validate as to why they got knocked down a notch. Using the recent tools I have pared out quite a few that I may have gone forward and submitted. Also helping me get educated about the grading process
How has that ruler worked out for you - always looking for more tools to put into the bag of tricks lol
Super Express sent via FedEx
Arrived 4/12 Entered 4/15 Grade Popped 4/19
1 1 592XXXX2 VERY GOOD-EXCELLENT 4 1954 Topps 128 Henry Aaron
I was hoping for a 4 on this card, so I'm glad it got it. My last Aaron came in about 1 point lower than it should've, so I was nervous. My four other subs that arrived on 3/3 and were entered on 3/31 are still in research/ID or grading.
@jtomm2005 - ruler works great! I also use a lighted loupe. My process is to pull the cards out and look at them from several angles under a halogen lamp. I find that will show dents, surface imperfections as well as print lines and creases the best. That probably gets rid of 10% of my card. Then I look at them under a 10x led desk magnifier. That weeds about another 20% usually. I am looking at centering on those as well and filtering out the obviously poorly centered ones. Once I have this new pile that is 50-60% of what I started with, I go with a lighted 12x jewelers loupe and hit the corners. That will weed out another big batch or least let me decide if I'm looking at an 8/9/10. I've used this method for many years and done pretty well with it. It does save you a lot of money on grading fees. In my personal opinion, if it looks mint/gem without magnification from arm-length, it's about an 8. If it passes the 10x desk magnifier, it's about a 9 and if it passes under the loupe, I expect a 10. I've also found that having a common version of a set in a specific grade has been hugely helpful as well. I used to send in a ton of 79-89 football so I have a 7/8/9 of many of those sets that I can reference back to.
@scmavi - Iconic card! Congrats. I still kick myself for not spending the $3500 on a PSA 8 back at the nationals in '07. Last two sold 100k and 104k. Oops.
Thanks, @envoy982 This one is especially cool because I got it from a local older gentleman who pulled this (and a bunch of other 54s) from the pack as a kid. I also have a nice Banks RC I got from him that I'll send in when PSA reopens.
@scmavl said:
Thanks, @envoy982 This one is especially cool because I got it from a local older gentleman who pulled this (and a bunch of other 54s) from the pack as a kid. I also have a nice Banks RC I got from him that I'll send in when PSA reopens.
Something to consider...The Banks might need the $300 threshold anyway if its nice and the pricing for the tier below it could also move up anyway once they reopen for express or less value. They are still accepting for anything above express currently.
Something to consider...The Banks might need the $300 threshold anyway if its nice and the pricing for the tier below it could also move up anyway once they reopen for express or less value. They are still accepting for anything above express currently.
I wish it warranted Super Express, but I think it'll also just grade a 4. I considered sending it with the Aaron, but a 4 is a $2k card, and it's for my PC, so there is no real hurry. The Aaron is for my PC too, but I was just too anxious to wait until July, haha.
The exact opposite. Around 5 old orders that are still languishing in the same areas they were before they turned off the spigot. For them to shut off future business, they must have REALLY been backed up!
Got loggage on two (of five) orders that arrived when the mail wasn’t being picked up. Officially “arrived” on 3/8, but from late Feb. Value modern and 60's special.
@jtomm2005 said:
Just curious if anyone else experiencing slow mail out of Anaheim - My sub has been there since Monday
Not worries yet just thought Id ask
Thanks
anaheim just keeps on striking! literally. either that or puljos is moonlighting for the paycheck there as well.
big package there stuck for 3 days now.
Thanks for the reply - actually got the package yesterday - magically transported from Anaheim somehow directly to my location on the east coast - no stops in between at least by the tracking info lol
Now Im waiting to have my express sub released to the same line - whats left for me is a Regular Level Sub that arrived in march not yet processed as received and a Value Modern that arrived back in July that made it to Research in January and dying a slow death there
@envoy982 said: @blurryface how many subs do you typically have there at any given time? Do you acquire and submit or do you break them out by sport/year?
total number of subs, across all categories, that have arrived but not logged: 37
total number of subs, across all categories, that have been logged but not popped: 77
total number of subs, thru pcs (after they took economy away): 38
total number of items: 7800ish. no way, im counting up all the sub count numbers.
@blurryface yeah, seems like you have constant poppage. I love seeing it. Just curious if you typically are submitting a couple a week or shipping a block of different stuff at a time. And since you said “these are my oldest” and there’s a dozen plus, I was wondering how many subs you had in the system. Not trying to be nosey, just wondering. 😁
@envoy982 said: @blurryface yeah, seems like you have constant poppage. I love seeing it. Just curious if you typically are submitting a couple a week or shipping a block of different stuff at a time. And since you said “these are my oldest” and there’s a dozen plus, I was wondering how many subs you had in the system. Not trying to be nosey, just wondering. 😁
no, most of this stuff is from previous years that i just hadnt got around to or rather wasnt worth subbing years ago when i bought the stuff. ie 85 opc hogans, 82 donkey kongs, 74 marvels, various star wars, etc. but then there was also the modern stuff from ripping sessions during the boring covid break.
i had so many different categories, i just had a process where once i filled a cs1 box w strong candidates of each i would send it off. never liked submitting more than 100 or so at a time for fear of the g.o.d. i also couldnt sit down and do 500 of each set. monotony would set in. id go thru an old dusty box one night, rip some prizm basketball the next. go thru a star wars box the next, then dig out the wrestling cards the next. one good thing or bad thing, depending on ones stance, is i collected it all.
as for the subs themselves, some were easy like my ryan tiffanys or prewar golf where condition didnt really matter. some were more tedious like modern where it required cleaning, penny sleeving and inspecting front & back surfaces closely. then there were the packs and vintage to properly inspect to make sure i wasnt sending in bonk crap.
long story short, never in my life would i have dreamed that buying a 100 ct lot of 91 impel ric flair cards for $20 could turn into $9k. not sure if it was gonna last, but wasnt gonna waste the epic opportunity either. besides, it was covid season. what else was i gonna do.
@blurryface said:
total number of subs, across all categories, that have arrived but not logged: 37
total number of subs, across all categories, that have been logged but not popped: 77
total number of subs, thru pcs (after they took economy away): 38
total number of items: 7800ish. no way, im counting up all the sub count numbers.
Yowza! No wonder they gave you a personal contact. Must be fun to see movement on a regular basis. I just languish on my one submission and know that the other 5 aren't going to see light before Thanksgiving.
I have 7 orders that were received on 3/8, 5 bulk orders and 2 express. 3 of the bulk orders were entered late on 4/19 the rest are still sitting including the express, WTF
So if I'm reading this correctly, Regular and Value Modern (among others) are falling further behind given that they've made up fewer than 20 days over the 20-day period in the chart?
@Geoff76 That is implied, yes. However, we do have evidence that there are submissions moving through the system or that have been shipped after these dates. CTD is "the day before the oldest submission in the system for that service level". It does say that the "exceptions" due to billing or other things might be even older which is different than we originally assumed.
For additional doom-and-gloom, economy has moved 2 days since 3/22. However, my economy order logged 9/28 is in assembly. The thought it is will ship and beat the CTD but that remains to be seen.
Well, I had one bit of good news today. A mechanical error reholder order just got entered. It arrived on 3/8. My other orders received on the same day have not been entered yet. This includes a preferred "10 day" order.
@Geoff76 said:
So if I'm reading this correctly, Regular and Value Modern (among others) are falling further behind given that they've made up fewer than 20 days over the 20-day period in the chart?
As of today, Value Modern has slipped 15 days 'further behind' when compared to the reported CTD from 51 days ago -- now 259 days from the entered date (feel free to add on the additional 40-60 days waiting to be entered)
If every 51 days, Value Modern slips 15 days further back, by April of 2025, the last order completed for a Value Modern submission will be reported complete approximately 688 days after being entered, or roughly 23 months.
To be fair:
If every grader is immediately given his own Genamint 8000 Super Grading Optical Workstation, and is now able to process ___X times the number of cards as ordinary humans, than Value Modern submissions should soon be taking only 27 days from door to door
@Geoff76 said:
So if I'm reading this correctly, Regular and Value Modern (among others) are falling further behind given that they've made up fewer than 20 days over the 20-day period in the chart?
As of today, the last order through on a Value Modern submission is 15 days 'further behind' than they were 50 days ago -- now 259 days after being entered. Feel free to add in the 40-60 days it took to be entered.
If Value Modern CTD's continue to fall 15 days further behind every 50 days, then the last order to be complete on April 21, 2025 will be reported some 688 days after being entered, or roughly 23 months.
To be fair:
If every grader is immediately given a shiny Genamint 8000 Optical Workstation, allowing them to process 129 times more cards than the unassisted human grader, we should start seeing Value Modern submissions taking only 27 days door to door.
Finally had my Economy that received on 9/1 and logged 9/29 hit assembly today 6 months in grading for 6 cards, seems about right. Still have my higher end 80s sub hanging in QA2 received 6/19 logged 8/13. It has been there for almost a week. I did have a 3 card regular pop Sunday evening. Not happy with results but my nephews Mahomes optic Rc got a 9. (BGS Raw review 9.5) and he was happy with that. I’ll have the sub in hand tomorrow. 1 card in particular has me concerned that either I am totally slipping or the person grading it, as my late grandmother would say, does not know a blade of grass from an onion.
41 1 48533403 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1986 Topps 60 Dwight Evans (9)
42 1 48533404 MINT 9 1986 Topps 104 Sid Fernandez (9)
43 1 48533405 NEAR MINT-MINT+ 8.5 1986 Topps 120 Steve Carlton (9)
44 1 48533406 MINT 9 1986 Topps 195 Dave Concepcion (9)
45 1 48533407 MINT 9 1986 Topps 267 Paul Molitor (9)
46 1 48533408 NEAR MINT-MINT+ 8.5 1986 Topps 285 Buddy Bell (9)
47 1 48533409 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1986 Topps 320 Jim Rice (8)
48 1 48533410 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1986 Topps 390 Tom Seaver (9)
49 1 48533411 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1986 Topps 730 Ozzie Smith (9)
50 1 48533412 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1986 Topps 780 Robin Yount (9)
51 1 48533413 GEM MINT 10 1987 Topps Traded 70T Greg Maddux (9)
52 1 48533414 GEM MINT 10 1987 Topps Traded 74T Fred McGriff (9)
53 1 48533415 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1989 Donruss 33 Ken Griffey Jr. (9)
54 1 48533416 MINT 9 1989 Fleer 548 Ken Griffey Jr (9)
55 1 N6: MINIMUM SIZE REQUIREMENT 1989 Fleer 616 Bill Ripken FF Error (9)
56 1 48533418 NEAR MINT 7 1989 Score 595 Paul Gibson Player in Backgroung Adjusting Cup (9)
This is my first ever grading submission. I got back into the hobby in January 2020 right before all heck broke loose, and started buying unopened material from my favorite childhood sets from the late 70s through the 80s. These are almost all for my PC. Some comments:
The 1980 Henderson was from a wax pack I opened in 1980 and it's possible that there was some surface damage that I didn't see, beyond the corner touches. But, still a well-centered card with good eye appeal and 5s are going for what 7s were when I submitted this.
1981 Donruss: I was hoping to get at least one Gem out of those, but in retrospect I think the cuts were a bit rough.
1981 Topps: Thrilled to get 5 Gems out of the 30 cards that I predicted as 9 or 10!! I correctly predicted 3 of the
Gems, and also got a Gem on a HOFer! These came from thousands of unopened cards I bought in early 2020. I obviously missed something on one of the Ozzies and Vida Blue. This set is my current focus from my childhood years, and this puts me at 100+ 9s and 10s.
1986 Topps: Also from unopened in early 2020. Didn't do as well here but nothing tragic; the black borders are tough.
1987 Topps Traded: Wow! I broke my childhood set and if I thought I was going to get Gems, I would have submitted more. Might sell the Maddux, even with 3900+ 10s out there, it still goes for a good price.
1989 Griffey rookies: Glad to get a 9 on one of them; childhood cards.
Disappointed at the MINSIZE for the Ripken FF, that was one of the first cards I bought off of ebay at the very beginning of 2020 for about $25.
1989 Score: This was just for fun along the lines of the FF card, the 1972 Topps Billy Martin "finger" card, 1964 Topps Ray Sadecki background sign, etc; centering was marginal for a 9 and I probably missed a corner or surface issue.
Very happy with this as my first submission, nice to see that I can judge cards reasonably well. Ignoring the N6, my predictions averaged about 1/4 point optimistic. Unfortunately the future of submitting low-value cards like these is up in the air, but that's a worry for later.
Late night loggage in each of the last two days. I choose to take that as a good sign. For me that's now 8 orders in Research & ID stage that I shipped out between late September and late February. All low end stuff.
41 1 48533403 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1986 Topps 60 Dwight Evans (9)
42 1 48533404 MINT 9 1986 Topps 104 Sid Fernandez (9)
43 1 48533405 NEAR MINT-MINT+ 8.5 1986 Topps 120 Steve Carlton (9)
44 1 48533406 MINT 9 1986 Topps 195 Dave Concepcion (9)
45 1 48533407 MINT 9 1986 Topps 267 Paul Molitor (9)
46 1 48533408 NEAR MINT-MINT+ 8.5 1986 Topps 285 Buddy Bell (9)
47 1 48533409 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1986 Topps 320 Jim Rice (8)
48 1 48533410 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1986 Topps 390 Tom Seaver (9)
49 1 48533411 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1986 Topps 730 Ozzie Smith (9)
50 1 48533412 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1986 Topps 780 Robin Yount (9)
51 1 48533413 GEM MINT 10 1987 Topps Traded 70T Greg Maddux (9)
52 1 48533414 GEM MINT 10 1987 Topps Traded 74T Fred McGriff (9)
53 1 48533415 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1989 Donruss 33 Ken Griffey Jr. (9)
54 1 48533416 MINT 9 1989 Fleer 548 Ken Griffey Jr (9)
55 1 N6: MINIMUM SIZE REQUIREMENT 1989 Fleer 616 Bill Ripken FF Error (9)
56 1 48533418 NEAR MINT 7 1989 Score 595 Paul Gibson Player in Backgroung Adjusting Cup (9)
This is my first ever grading submission. I got back into the hobby in January 2020 right before all heck broke loose, and started buying unopened material from my favorite childhood sets from the late 70s through the 80s. These are almost all for my PC. Some comments:
The 1980 Henderson was from a wax pack I opened in 1980 and it's possible that there was some surface damage that I didn't see, beyond the corner touches. But, still a well-centered card with good eye appeal and 5s are going for what 7s were when I submitted this.
1981 Donruss: I was hoping to get at least one Gem out of those, but in retrospect I think the cuts were a bit rough.
1981 Topps: Thrilled to get 5 Gems out of the 30 cards that I predicted as 9 or 10!! I correctly predicted 3 of the
Gems, and also got a Gem on a HOFer! These came from thousands of unopened cards I bought in early 2020. I obviously missed something on one of the Ozzies and Vida Blue. This set is my current focus from my childhood years, and this puts me at 100+ 9s and 10s.
1986 Topps: Also from unopened in early 2020. Didn't do as well here but nothing tragic; the black borders are tough.
1987 Topps Traded: Wow! I broke my childhood set and if I thought I was going to get Gems, I would have submitted more. Might sell the Maddux, even with 3900+ 10s out there, it still goes for a good price.
1989 Griffey rookies: Glad to get a 9 on one of them; childhood cards.
Disappointed at the MINSIZE for the Ripken FF, that was one of the first cards I bought off of ebay at the very beginning of 2020 for about $25.
1989 Score: This was just for fun along the lines of the FF card, the 1972 Topps Billy Martin "finger" card, 1964 Topps Ray Sadecki background sign, etc; centering was marginal for a 9 and I probably missed a corner or surface issue.
Very happy with this as my first submission, nice to see that I can judge cards reasonably well. Ignoring the N6, my predictions averaged about 1/4 point optimistic. Unfortunately the future of submitting low-value cards like these is up in the air, but that's a worry for later.
Congrats. I'd say you did very well for your first sub. Especially on the 1981's. Those aren't easy to get 10's on. Good work Mount ! Gives the rest of us some hope on our subs that we will see some 10's as well.
Jeff
I cannot hit curveball. Straightball I hit it very much. Curveball, bats are afraid. Collecting: post world war II HOF rookie 76 topps gem mint 10 commons 9 stars Arenado purple refractors(Rockies) Red (Cardinals) successful deals with Keevan, Grote15, 1954, mbogoman
@Rofles said:
My submission logged on 9/2 for my 37 card bulk order just went to grading status as of 7:40pm central tonight! Must be working around the clock!
It's either PSA grading or nothing. But Just to give you guys an idea. I sent an $8 per card 25 card minimum quarterly special to PSA in late July 2020. There were 35 1952 Topps commons in the package. PSA acknowledged receipt of package on July 29, 2020. It was officially entered on Sept 24, 2020. It was in "Research & Id" until March 22, 2021 when it finally went into "Grading". Last week 04/17 went into "Assembly" . Today is Thursday April 22, 2021. No grades yet. Should be soon.
Comments
less info to teach data entry personnel/graders perhaps? further you go back, the more ya gotta retain...start w current cards, once they get familiar w 2019 - 2017, then get them acquainted w 2016 & prior?
Newer cards are probably a little easier to grade. They certainly are for me.
Grades Popped this morning on my Express Sub sent off before the 3/1 Price Increase
PSA 9 MINT
10 GEM MINT
Sent 2/12 UPS 2-Day ( Was a weekend)
Received: 2/17
Entered: 3/8
Research & ID - 3/8
Grading - 3/9
Popped 4/19
Also got good news on the CC Free Sub that was hanging in Anaheim since 4/12 that it is at least in my local PO right now and is out for delivery today - fingers crossed it was just held up by mail tsunami and not damaged
Hopefully mine is right around the corner then. Mine logged in 9/29. Some of those aren't below the threshold anymore (Jim Brown rookie for one).....so we will see what happens.
I believe mine went to grading on 10/15, yours should be moving soon.
So I just received my CC Free Sub and I have to say that I do not disagree with any of the grades received aside from one I'm going to look at a bit closer
These were sent off last Summer prior to me taking some time to totally screen and making notes, something I did with my last two subs sent off
I did review the grades that popped from the Express I just got notified about and went to check my notes on those. The Thanos and Dr Doom were dead on ( Perfect Centering confirmed via measurement) while the remaining ones could have been brought down from a 10 to a 9 simply by centering. I am currently using a caliper and did so on those but my unofficial data is pretty close to the allowance that puts the centering from the 10 to a 9 so I am eager to see if that was the only issue - if so, then I'm really looking forward to when they open the gates in July to maximize my subs / fees
Felt good to actually get something back today, now my other two subs - a Value Modern that was sent back last July and only recently got moved to Research late January and a 6 card Regular Sub sent in right before they pulled the drawbridge up - Received in March but still not logged as Entered - are in their hands and Ill have to pop a few extra patient pills and start screening for the next sub
...I'm really looking forward to when they open the gates in July to maximize my subs / fees
I am in the same boat. I took notes and "expected" grades on my sub that I'm waiting on from September. I did the same for the 5 submissions I sent in February. Once they open the flood gates again, assuming prices are back to normal (<$12) then I have another 400+ cards to send in that are for various set registries. If they don't drop, then it's a sub-100 card submission.
As for centering, I use the ruler one of the graders gave me back in 2007. It's an 6" "Arthur H Gaebel Inc" two-sided metal ruler. It has inches, pica, metric and points. I use the Points when determining centering as it is the most finite scale on the ruler.
Previously I had been using the grademaster tool and that hasnt been too bad but decided to try the digital caliper and recently got myself one of those really nice magnifying lamps. I also use a loupe and to be very honest, Im glad I did as that alone has saved my bacon more than a few times
Like I said I cant complain I mean Im talking about cards that are between Mint / Gem Mint and can validate as to why they got knocked down a notch. Using the recent tools I have pared out quite a few that I may have gone forward and submitted. Also helping me get educated about the grading process
How has that ruler worked out for you - always looking for more tools to put into the bag of tricks lol
Super Express sent via FedEx
Arrived 4/12 Entered 4/15 Grade Popped 4/19
1 1 592XXXX2 VERY GOOD-EXCELLENT 4 1954 Topps 128 Henry Aaron
I was hoping for a 4 on this card, so I'm glad it got it. My last Aaron came in about 1 point lower than it should've, so I was nervous. My four other subs that arrived on 3/3 and were entered on 3/31 are still in research/ID or grading.
@jtomm2005 - ruler works great! I also use a lighted loupe. My process is to pull the cards out and look at them from several angles under a halogen lamp. I find that will show dents, surface imperfections as well as print lines and creases the best. That probably gets rid of 10% of my card. Then I look at them under a 10x led desk magnifier. That weeds about another 20% usually. I am looking at centering on those as well and filtering out the obviously poorly centered ones. Once I have this new pile that is 50-60% of what I started with, I go with a lighted 12x jewelers loupe and hit the corners. That will weed out another big batch or least let me decide if I'm looking at an 8/9/10. I've used this method for many years and done pretty well with it. It does save you a lot of money on grading fees. In my personal opinion, if it looks mint/gem without magnification from arm-length, it's about an 8. If it passes the 10x desk magnifier, it's about a 9 and if it passes under the loupe, I expect a 10. I've also found that having a common version of a set in a specific grade has been hugely helpful as well. I used to send in a ton of 79-89 football so I have a 7/8/9 of many of those sets that I can reference back to.
@scmavi - Iconic card! Congrats. I still kick myself for not spending the $3500 on a PSA 8 back at the nationals in '07. Last two sold 100k and 104k. Oops.
Thanks, @envoy982 This one is especially cool because I got it from a local older gentleman who pulled this (and a bunch of other 54s) from the pack as a kid. I also have a nice Banks RC I got from him that I'll send in when PSA reopens.
Something to consider...The Banks might need the $300 threshold anyway if its nice and the pricing for the tier below it could also move up anyway once they reopen for express or less value. They are still accepting for anything above express currently.
I wish it warranted Super Express, but I think it'll also just grade a 4. I considered sending it with the Aaron, but a 4 is a $2k card, and it's for my PC, so there is no real hurry. The Aaron is for my PC too, but I was just too anxious to wait until July, haha.
no poppage for me but tons of movement across various subs & levels.
The exact opposite. Around 5 old orders that are still languishing in the same areas they were before they turned off the spigot. For them to shut off future business, they must have REALLY been backed up!
Got loggage on two (of five) orders that arrived when the mail wasn’t being picked up. Officially “arrived” on 3/8, but from late Feb. Value modern and 60's special.
Bosox1976
1 card Super-Express
Shipped: 4/16/21
Arrived 4/19
R&ID 4/20
anaheim just keeps on striking! literally. either that or puljos is moonlighting for the paycheck there as well.
big package there stuck for 3 days now.
Good Day,
Another Week, 9 Subs in R & I, since as far back as Aug last year, MOVEMENT ZERO!
YeeHaw!
Neil
My 9/21/20 sub went into Assembly 4-15-21 and here it stays there today. How long does it take to put 3 cards in their holders?
30 seconds. its the 3,000,003 that are in front of ya! 😉
Thanks for the reply - actually got the package yesterday - magically transported from Anaheim somehow directly to my location on the east coast - no stops in between at least by the tracking info lol
Now Im waiting to have my express sub released to the same line - whats left for me is a Regular Level Sub that arrived in march not yet processed as received and a Value Modern that arrived back in July that made it to Research in January and dying a slow death there
Grading 4/20
kill several pms w one stone. psa’s ctd chart is the absolute last order. so here’s my personal chart of sub types.
these are my oldest ones that have arrived, but still not officially entered.
packs: 1/27/21
value tcg: 2/09/21
ultra modern: 2/09/21
modern: 2/10/21
regular: 3/01/21
express: 3/19/21
super express: 4/16/21
and then:
here are my oldest ones that have been received, but just havent popped yet. dates below are entered/logged dates that officially start the timer:
economy: 9/20/20
ultra modern: 10/13/20
deal: 10/05/20
modern: 10/19/20
72 - present packs: 2/02/21
81 - present packs: 2/02/21
regular: 2/24/21
reholder: 3/04/21
value vintage: 3/04/21
value tcg: 3/04/21
express: 3/25/21
hopefully it gives folks a more realistic comparison.
@blurryface how many subs do you typically have there at any given time? Do you acquire and submit or do you break them out by sport/year?
how many total individual subs?
total number of subs, across all categories, that have arrived but not logged: 37
total number of subs, across all categories, that have been logged but not popped: 77
total number of subs, thru pcs (after they took economy away): 38
total number of items: 7800ish. no way, im counting up all the sub count numbers.
@blurryface yeah, seems like you have constant poppage. I love seeing it. Just curious if you typically are submitting a couple a week or shipping a block of different stuff at a time. And since you said “these are my oldest” and there’s a dozen plus, I was wondering how many subs you had in the system. Not trying to be nosey, just wondering. 😁
no, most of this stuff is from previous years that i just hadnt got around to or rather wasnt worth subbing years ago when i bought the stuff. ie 85 opc hogans, 82 donkey kongs, 74 marvels, various star wars, etc. but then there was also the modern stuff from ripping sessions during the boring covid break.
i had so many different categories, i just had a process where once i filled a cs1 box w strong candidates of each i would send it off. never liked submitting more than 100 or so at a time for fear of the g.o.d. i also couldnt sit down and do 500 of each set. monotony would set in. id go thru an old dusty box one night, rip some prizm basketball the next. go thru a star wars box the next, then dig out the wrestling cards the next. one good thing or bad thing, depending on ones stance, is i collected it all.
as for the subs themselves, some were easy like my ryan tiffanys or prewar golf where condition didnt really matter. some were more tedious like modern where it required cleaning, penny sleeving and inspecting front & back surfaces closely. then there were the packs and vintage to properly inspect to make sure i wasnt sending in bonk crap.
long story short, never in my life would i have dreamed that buying a 100 ct lot of 91 impel ric flair cards for $20 could turn into $9k. not sure if it was gonna last, but wasnt gonna waste the epic opportunity either. besides, it was covid season. what else was i gonna do.
Yowza! No wonder they gave you a personal contact. Must be fun to see movement on a regular basis. I just languish on my one submission and know that the other 5 aren't going to see light before Thanksgiving.
I have 7 orders that were received on 3/8, 5 bulk orders and 2 express. 3 of the bulk orders were entered late on 4/19 the rest are still sitting including the express, WTF
A little more movement yesterday.
So if I'm reading this correctly, Regular and Value Modern (among others) are falling further behind given that they've made up fewer than 20 days over the 20-day period in the chart?
@Geoff76 That is implied, yes. However, we do have evidence that there are submissions moving through the system or that have been shipped after these dates. CTD is "the day before the oldest submission in the system for that service level". It does say that the "exceptions" due to billing or other things might be even older which is different than we originally assumed.
For additional doom-and-gloom, economy has moved 2 days since 3/22. However, my economy order logged 9/28 is in assembly. The thought it is will ship and beat the CTD but that remains to be seen.
Well, I had one bit of good news today. A mechanical error reholder order just got entered. It arrived on 3/8. My other orders received on the same day have not been entered yet. This includes a preferred "10 day" order.
As of today, Value Modern has slipped 15 days 'further behind' when compared to the reported CTD from 51 days ago -- now 259 days from the entered date (feel free to add on the additional 40-60 days waiting to be entered)
If every 51 days, Value Modern slips 15 days further back, by April of 2025, the last order completed for a Value Modern submission will be reported complete approximately 688 days after being entered, or roughly 23 months.
To be fair:
If every grader is immediately given his own Genamint 8000 Super Grading Optical Workstation, and is now able to process ___X times the number of cards as ordinary humans, than Value Modern submissions should soon be taking only 27 days from door to door
As of today, the last order through on a Value Modern submission is 15 days 'further behind' than they were 50 days ago -- now 259 days after being entered. Feel free to add in the 40-60 days it took to be entered.
If Value Modern CTD's continue to fall 15 days further behind every 50 days, then the last order to be complete on April 21, 2025 will be reported some 688 days after being entered, or roughly 23 months.
To be fair:
If every grader is immediately given a shiny Genamint 8000 Optical Workstation, allowing them to process 129 times more cards than the unassisted human grader, we should start seeing Value Modern submissions taking only 27 days door to door.
My 9/21/20 Sub was at QA1 this morning and now at QA2 this evening. My second sub entered 10/7/21 is at assembly now.
Very happy here....#'d /10 rookie for a sure fire first ballot HOF'er. This was a mech error that got turned around very quickly!
Line # Item # Cert # Grade Description Type
1 1 45311291 GEM MINT 10 2007 Bowman Chrome BC94 Joe Thomas Uncirculated-Autograph Card
Finally had my Economy that received on 9/1 and logged 9/29 hit assembly today 6 months in grading for 6 cards, seems about right. Still have my higher end 80s sub hanging in QA2 received 6/19 logged 8/13. It has been there for almost a week. I did have a 3 card regular pop Sunday evening. Not happy with results but my nephews Mahomes optic Rc got a 9. (BGS Raw review 9.5) and he was happy with that. I’ll have the sub in hand tomorrow. 1 card in particular has me concerned that either I am totally slipping or the person grading it, as my late grandmother would say, does not know a blade of grass from an onion.
Poppage: 04/21/21 (got the email at 1:40am!)
I was going to do a blind reveal, but couldn't help myself (my predictions in bold):
1 1 48533363 EXCELLENT 5 1980 Topps 482 Rickey Henderson (7)
2 1 48533364 MINT 9 1981 Donruss 123 Eric Rasmussen (10)
3 1 48533365 MINT 9 1981 Donruss 248 Dan Schatzeder (9)
4 1 48533366 MINT 9 1981 Donruss 422 Tom Seaver (9)
5 1 48533367 MINT 9 1981 Donruss 437 Dale Murphy (9)
6 1 48533368 MINT 9 1981 Donruss 569 Danny Ainge (10)
7 1 48533369 MINT 9 1981 Topps 1 Batting Leaders G.Brett/B.Buckner (9)
8 1 48533370 MINT 9 1981 Topps 15 Larry Parrish (8)
9 1 48533371 MINT 9 1981 Topps 41 Rangers Future Stars (10)
10 1 48533372 NEAR MINT-MINT+ 8.5 1981 Topps 110 Carl Yastrzemski (9)
11 1 48533373 MINT 9 1981 Topps 205 Pete Rose (10)
12 1 48533374 GEM MINT 10 1981 Topps 210 Jim Palmer (9)
13 1 48533375 NEAR MINT+ 7.5 1981 Topps 254 Ozzie Smith (9)
14 1 48533376 MINT 9 1981 Topps 254 Ozzie Smith (9)
15 1 48533377 MINT 9 1981 Topps 299 Elliott Maddox (9)
16 1 48533378 NEAR MINT 7 1981 Topps 310 Vida Blue (9)
17 1 48533379 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1981 Topps 347 Harold Baines (8)
18 1 48533380 MINT 9 1981 Topps 360 Willie Wilson (9)
19 1 48533381 GEM MINT 10 1981 Topps 421 Bob Stanley (10)
20 1 48533382 MINT 9 1981 Topps 450 Dave Kingman (9)
21 1 48533383 MINT 9 1981 Topps 468 Johnny Wockenfuss (9)
22 1 48533384 MINT 9 1981 Topps 479 Expos Future Stars T.Raines/R.Ramos/B.Pate (9)
23 1 48533385 NEAR MINT 7 1981 Topps 479 Expos Future Stars T.Raines/R.Ramos/B.Pate (8)
24 1 48533386 MINT 9 1981 Topps 514 George Riley (9)
25 1 48533387 MINT 9 1981 Topps 534 Dave Smith (9)
26 1 48533388 MINT 9 1981 Topps 555 Cecil Cooper (9)
27 1 48533389 MINT 9 1981 Topps 555 Cecil Cooper (9)
28 1 48533390 MINT 9 1981 Topps 555 Cecil Cooper (9)
29 1 48533391 MINT 9 1981 Topps 555 Cecil Cooper (9)
30 1 48533392 MINT 9 1981 Topps 575 Tony Perez (9)
31 1 48533393 GEM MINT 10 1981 Topps 579 Tim Flannery (10)
32 1 48533394 GEM MINT 10 1981 Topps 603 John Verhoeven (10)
33 1 48533395 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1981 Topps 629 Tony Armas (9)
34 1 48533396 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1981 Topps 651 Pedro Guerrero (9)
35 1 48533397 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1981 Topps 662 Red Sox Team (9)
36 1 48533398 MINT 9 1981 Topps 671 A's Team (9)
37 1 48533399 MINT 9 1981 Topps 673 Rangers Team (9)
38 1 48533400 GEM MINT 10 1981 Topps 679 Dodgers Team (9)
39 1 48533401 MINT 9 1981 Topps 682 Phillies Team (10)
40 1 48533402 MINT 9 1982 K-Mart 1 Mickey Mantle (9)
41 1 48533403 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1986 Topps 60 Dwight Evans (9)
42 1 48533404 MINT 9 1986 Topps 104 Sid Fernandez (9)
43 1 48533405 NEAR MINT-MINT+ 8.5 1986 Topps 120 Steve Carlton (9)
44 1 48533406 MINT 9 1986 Topps 195 Dave Concepcion (9)
45 1 48533407 MINT 9 1986 Topps 267 Paul Molitor (9)
46 1 48533408 NEAR MINT-MINT+ 8.5 1986 Topps 285 Buddy Bell (9)
47 1 48533409 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1986 Topps 320 Jim Rice (8)
48 1 48533410 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1986 Topps 390 Tom Seaver (9)
49 1 48533411 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1986 Topps 730 Ozzie Smith (9)
50 1 48533412 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1986 Topps 780 Robin Yount (9)
51 1 48533413 GEM MINT 10 1987 Topps Traded 70T Greg Maddux (9)
52 1 48533414 GEM MINT 10 1987 Topps Traded 74T Fred McGriff (9)
53 1 48533415 NEAR MINT-MINT 8 1989 Donruss 33 Ken Griffey Jr. (9)
54 1 48533416 MINT 9 1989 Fleer 548 Ken Griffey Jr (9)
55 1 N6: MINIMUM SIZE REQUIREMENT 1989 Fleer 616 Bill Ripken FF Error (9)
56 1 48533418 NEAR MINT 7 1989 Score 595 Paul Gibson Player in Backgroung Adjusting Cup (9)
This is my first ever grading submission. I got back into the hobby in January 2020 right before all heck broke loose, and started buying unopened material from my favorite childhood sets from the late 70s through the 80s. These are almost all for my PC. Some comments:
The 1980 Henderson was from a wax pack I opened in 1980 and it's possible that there was some surface damage that I didn't see, beyond the corner touches. But, still a well-centered card with good eye appeal and 5s are going for what 7s were when I submitted this.
1981 Donruss: I was hoping to get at least one Gem out of those, but in retrospect I think the cuts were a bit rough.
1981 Topps: Thrilled to get 5 Gems out of the 30 cards that I predicted as 9 or 10!! I correctly predicted 3 of the
Gems, and also got a Gem on a HOFer! These came from thousands of unopened cards I bought in early 2020. I obviously missed something on one of the Ozzies and Vida Blue. This set is my current focus from my childhood years, and this puts me at 100+ 9s and 10s.
1986 Topps: Also from unopened in early 2020. Didn't do as well here but nothing tragic; the black borders are tough.
1987 Topps Traded: Wow! I broke my childhood set and if I thought I was going to get Gems, I would have submitted more. Might sell the Maddux, even with 3900+ 10s out there, it still goes for a good price.
1989 Griffey rookies: Glad to get a 9 on one of them; childhood cards.
Disappointed at the MINSIZE for the Ripken FF, that was one of the first cards I bought off of ebay at the very beginning of 2020 for about $25.
1989 Score: This was just for fun along the lines of the FF card, the 1972 Topps Billy Martin "finger" card, 1964 Topps Ray Sadecki background sign, etc; centering was marginal for a 9 and I probably missed a corner or surface issue.
Very happy with this as my first submission, nice to see that I can judge cards reasonably well. Ignoring the N6, my predictions averaged about 1/4 point optimistic. Unfortunately the future of submitting low-value cards like these is up in the air, but that's a worry for later.
I would call that a fantastic first sub (or ANY sub)...congrats
Assembly 4/21
1 card Super-Express
Shipped: 4/16/21
Arrived 4/19
R&ID 4/20
Grading 4/20
Assembly 4/21
QA1 4/22
Late night loggage in each of the last two days. I choose to take that as a good sign. For me that's now 8 orders in Research & ID stage that I shipped out between late September and late February. All low end stuff.
Congrats. I'd say you did very well for your first sub. Especially on the 1981's. Those aren't easy to get 10's on. Good work Mount ! Gives the rest of us some hope on our subs that we will see some 10's as well.
Jeff
Collecting:
post world war II HOF rookie
76 topps gem mint 10 commons 9 stars
Arenado purple refractors(Rockies) Red (Cardinals)
successful deals with Keevan, Grote15, 1954, mbogoman
It's either PSA grading or nothing. But Just to give you guys an idea. I sent an $8 per card 25 card minimum quarterly special to PSA in late July 2020. There were 35 1952 Topps commons in the package. PSA acknowledged receipt of package on July 29, 2020. It was officially entered on Sept 24, 2020. It was in "Research & Id" until March 22, 2021 when it finally went into "Grading". Last week 04/17 went into "Assembly" . Today is Thursday April 22, 2021. No grades yet. Should be soon.
1 card Super-Express
Shipped: 4/16/21
Arrived 4/19
R&ID 4/20
Grading 4/20
Assembly 4/21
QA1 4/22
QA2 4/22
Hoping for a 10, will be thrilled with a 9, pleeeeease don’t have a spider-wrinkle of any kind!! 😣😣😣 Lol