Be careful when buying low graded PSA graded cards

Comments · 129

• MA

  @markstein1916 · 1 year ago

  The people at PSA (who spent 20 seconds examining your '67 Bob Gibson) don't know the difference between a 4 and a 7.

  8

• AU

  @Aut0KAD · 1 year ago

  I am the exact opposite of you, I buy beautiful 3s because they do have defects that you can't see unless at awkward specific angles. guess what, I DONT CARE. IF IT LOOKS GREAT, WHO CARES. That is literally the reason you want the card.

  22

• TA

  @tankhalffull · 1 year ago

  Buy the card, not the grade...

  3

• JC

  @jchcollins · 1 year ago (edited)

  The lower you go on the grading scale (for either raw or slabbed cards...) the more variability and thus the more room for error and inconsistency when you are buying vintage cards sight-unseen. Your example of the 4 is perfect. 4's can absolutely have wrinkles and light creases, and often do. When you see a card with decent centering and sharp corners and think "Why is this a 4?" that's often the case. The problem is that the degree of the issue and judgment of  severity is up to the individual grader. It used to be with PSA that most 4's would only have something very minor - like a line indent, or a wrinkle small and so shallow you could barely see it. But I have seen this become less consistent in recent years. 4's are a favorite grade of mine, because for most vintage (I'm not particularly a centering guy) the card still looks good and presentable and they are a fraction of the price of the same card in a 6 or 7, which I avoid. Life is too short and it's just not worth it to me anymore if it's only a wrinkle that I can't even see under the plastic unless I'm really looking for it. But I can understand the frustration where one bad crease gets a 4, and the same card with maybe slightly worse centering or corners has a totally clean surface. Heck, when I was a kid back before grading in the 80's, the line on "VG-EX" (what equates to a 4 today) was that was the highest grade a card with a crease could get. So us kids who were nerdy enough to be into grading called anything with a crease "VG-EX" lol. Some of those cards of course were horrible and would probably be 2's or even 1's today. But it goes to show you how the subjectivity inherent in the process still works even today. Among all these "professional" graders...

  1

• ST

  @stuke1976 · 1 year ago

  Enjoyed your discussion!  Lots of common sense!

  4

• JO

  @JohnMiller-jj9kx · 1 year ago

  Thanks! Great analysis of our current state.

  2

• JI

  @jimbobrobertson3285 · 1 year ago

  That Doc Gooden looks very well centered! Good looking card!

  3

• ED

  @edelmantoamendola · 1 year ago

  My biggest mistake when I got back into collecting maybe a year ago was buying cards in old screw downs off ebay. Got a Sandberg Topps and Ripken fleer rookie that once arrived could look closer and they were just so banged up.  I didn't spend too much but even without knowing a lot yet could tell they weren't good purchases. A lot of good points in this vid, very hard to tell with scanned photos.

• MR

  @MrJmangini · 1 year ago

  That’s my favorite Stargell card. Love it.

  4

• WA

  @WadeBoggsFan · 1 year ago

  I love collecting mid-grade vintage cards (PSA 4 or 5). Yes, I’m aware that those cards are going to have issues, some clearly visible and maybe some at certain angles. But if the card has great centering and nothing major that I can see across the main part of the card (i.e. nice eye appeal to me), I don’t care what the number grade is. And the lower the grade the cheaper the card would be. Very important for me since I have a limited budget. As for potential altered cards by Kurt’s card care methods, if you buy older slabs (say 5 years and older) there’s less of a chance of that being the case since he’s only been around for a few years I believe. Basically, for me, as long as I like the overall look of the card (flaws and all) and I can afford it, I’ll gladly add it to my collection.

  1

• AC

  @ACollectorsDream · 1 year ago

  Great video and cards, thanks for sharing

  2

• MR

  @MrJmangini · 1 year ago

  I have a few. Their holders are amazing. I just don’t grade so I have the ones I bought.

  2