Hello to All ,

It's obvious that theres a divide amongst non-sports collectors whether to grade your cards or not , which is the best company to grade with etc etc etc ....

In the UK we have Cartophillic Society who lay down their own ground rules on grading . They (CSGB) tend to like sharp corners .

In the USA , companies such as PSA concentrate on the centering issue , i'm unsure about SCG as i've not had dealings with them (although i've been tempted with their black backdrops and $5 charge) .

I'm sure that members and fellow collectors on Net54 have their own opinions about what atributes a card has to ' make the grade ' .

Is it centering , maybe corners or is it the scarcity of cards .

I was just wondering what qualities a card must have for you ' To Make the Grade '

Maybe post a raw card and designate a grade to it (be fair) to see if other posters agree or not .

Just a thought (maybe not a good one but it's nearly tomorrow in the UK)

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Mark

Ok, here goes:
Its in a scratchy top loader and I can't get some of these 30's and 40's card backs to show correctly if they have toning as this one does.
I would grade it a 6 tipped corners,some dingyness? and no creases or wrinkling.
PSA 3-5 depending on which coin they are flipping that day.
SGC 3 or 4

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Hello to All ,

Hi Charley ,

Nice card . So your saying it ranges in quality from very good through to very good+ , maybe excellent eh Charley . I'd agree with you from looking at your scan that's is a very good card . A nice card , cheers Charley .

I'd rate mine as a good card . No lower , no higher .
If buying from a dealer that graded thier cards as such , i'd be happy . Graded any higher i'd be dissapointed .
I'm very happy with this card , it was generously donated to my collection by a net54 poster , it's rated good but it's really bloody brilliant .

Hi Mark, this is an interesting subject and I'm glad that you brought it up. I would put Charley's card in the VG/EX range, and I would agree with you on "Good" for your card. I also think that if you sent Charley's card to PSA 5 times, you might end up with a 5, a couple of 4's and a couple of 3's. Your card might get a 2, a couple of 1.5's and a couple of 1's.

I think that my card might rate a 4 or so, maybe a 5 on a good day.

Rick

I too agree on Mark's asessment ogf good.
Rick, you are spot on I suppose...because your scan is so big...I get to look at the corners closer. PSA would probably give you the 4 mor often than the 5.

BTW
LOVE THE IDIOT CARDS! first non sport issue for Donruss. They used to go sooo cheap in Nmint condition a few years ago.Try to pick'em up for that now. Like everything else.

Do you have the scarce Idiot wrapper? I have never seen one besides in the guides.

Hi all,

As probably most collectors would agree, using just one number, or one word, to describe a card, is not really a completely satisfying method of assessing "eye appeal", which is really what grading is all about. Some grading companies have experimented with multiple grades for corners, centering, etc. But they still rate with an overall single grade number.

We are not likely to change that. Simplicity has strong virtues. You just have to recognize its shortcomings. No single number can capture the many aspects of a card which affect eye appeal: centering, color, gloss, sharpness of edges and corners, registration, printing defects, toning, etc. It's like movie ratings. I don't like all 3-star movies. And I have really enjoyed a few 2-star movies.

Each collector ultimately must decide for themslves whether or not a card is appealing to them, and thus worthy of inclusion in their collection, regardless of the assigned grade.

Although the target grade for all my cards is "8" (NM-MT), I have rejected many "8" cards in favor of retaining the "7" I keep in my collection. Perhaps the toning on the 8 was excessive, or the centering really wasn't that great, or perhaps the printing registration wasn' good enough. I have started an entire sub-set of the Bowman 1949 Wild West series to hold the bone-white-borders cards of lower grade (from my original set) which I have replaced with toned PSA-8 cards. I can't bear to part with the white-bordered cards. Kind of silly, perhaps, but each collector is entitled to their own pecadillos.

Best in collecting, Bill Bengne

Hello to All ,

Hi Rick , Charley & Bill ,

Many thanks , words taken on board . I'd agree with a 4 or so for that card of yours Rick . It looks very good .

Hi Bill , Charley & Rick , I agree that many factors come into what constitutes a good grade in PSA/SGS .
These factors of course all come into play when grading raw cards . Surely a collector / seller should know what constitutes an Excellent card .

My fist card i rated good . It has rounded corners and signs of wear . No creases though .



My next 2 cards i rate both as very good . Very similar in quality but both have different qualities that i'd say give it the status of very good .
No creases , nice corners , not rounded and clean .





This last card i rate as excellent . It has sharp corners , white borders (if uneven)(i hear Mr Bengen gasp at the cards off centre appeal , or lack of it ).
I still think it's excellent .



As with the examples above (in my eye) theres some sort of progression through the grades , from good to excellent .
With the Superman card on the ' grademycard' thread , the excellent started off with a card showing rounded corners and some wear and tear .
Where do you stand with a company like that , i know you'd ignore them of course .
The same thing aplies to ' individual collectors/sellers . Where do they place their start flag ?

Regards

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Mark

edited to add ; maybe it's making a science out of a hill of beans .