Just got a another huge batch of cards back, mostly America At War and Army, Navy, Air Corps. Here are some of the best:






Included in the submission were 15 America Salutes The FBI cards which were all SGC 88s and SGC 84s (except for one SGC 60). Of the fifteen cards, PSA graded seven lower, two higher, and six the same. Sadly, five of the SGC 88s became one PSA 7, one PSA 6.5, and three PSA 6s. Here are four of them.




I haven't decided yet whether to resubmit these or not, but I probably will sooner or later.

Alan, did you break out the SGC cards from their holders before sending them to PSA or did you leave that to PSA?

Aaron, I broke the cards out and sent them to PSA as raw cards.

Alan

I was just about to ask the board what they that about crossing over cards from SGC to PSA. Jerry and I won a partial lot of BION cards, all SGC-graded, that we want to cross over to PSA and I was debating whether to break them out or send as is. I think I'm going to send as is now and see how they turn out. Isn't there an option on the order form where you can tell them not to break the card out of the holder if it's going to receive a lesser grade?

grades of the cards to be broken out INCREASE the probability that you'll get a different grade from the new company also INCREASES. With either PSA or SGC. That is, a 5 is more often a 5 than an 8 an 8. If they're middle of the road grades, I'd say you'll be pretty close unless someone at SGC missed a hidden crease or something like that. Alan's posts showed that PSA gave lower grades on a few of his cards that he cracked out. Ultimately, with the amount of human intervention in all of it, it's a crap shoot...............

neither company, sgc or psa, and now even bvg, are going to see things the same most of the time. i have had alot of bad luck with psa not crossing over equally, as alan had with his submissions. i have also had psa cards get full point bumps with sgc, as did alan have a couple of full point bumps. i dont know which is worse, a card graded better than it should be, or a card graded lower than it should be. i think the real proof in the pudding is the re-submission of the same card if it comes back that full grade higher the next time around. then you wasted your time and money to get it right.

i dont understand how psa grades these perforated, hand cut cards, the cards have such fuzzy edges its difficult for me to see them as mint 9's. i can appreciate the vibrancy, pack fresh appearance, and difficulty in obtaining like new examples, i just cant get my arms around them as mint.

I'm with you Rand, and said basically the same thing in another thread. How do you get Mint 9's when the card is hand cut or perforated. Apparently we are in the minority however. I know in the past PSA rejected hand cut cards from boxes and would only grade as Authentic. What is the new guideline? Do I cut right on the dotted line? Outside the dotted line? Which cards can't be cut and which ones can? I'm at a loss.

This has been in debate on other message boards.

PSA seems contrary to logic.

If you cut by hand (or with machine) even if it is perfect - they take off points if its is a perferated card. It matters not that the edges look ragged with the torn perferations - it is graded lower than straight cut cards.

I have been told that if a card has cut lines (i.e. dotted lines) it is recommended to cut OUTSIDE these lines and leave them in tact.

I prefer to keep them raw - and make my own grade.

Good luck.

My problem is that I understand that neither PSA nor SGC penalizes for yellowing/toning. In other words, two equally sharp and well-centered cards would end up with the same grade even if one is as white as the day it came out of the pack and the other has yellowed noticeably as a result of having been stored in a hot attic.

I don't understand cards getting the same grade when one has yellowed over time and the other is pristine white. But like you, I've seen it. I guess buy the card not the holder certainly applies in those cases. However, it should be one of the grading factors considered that's what you are paying the grading company to consider.

As always, Alan, great cards. I am not that familiar with the rarity of the 1930's cards, but that #1 PSA-7 1953 Fighting Marines is a toughie.

Best, Bill Bengen

Hello to All ,

Surely the perforated cards aren't cut , i always thought they were 'torn 'apart . Hence the fuzzy edges .
As issued .

----
Mark

You are correct Mark, these "roulette" edges as they are called are the result of "strip's" being separated.


Alan, sorry my brother, what a shame concerning the SGC to PSA crossovers! Wow! Makes your toenails curl just looking at them! I am in the "TOM CAMP" ..grading,crossovers etc. just a "crap shoot" .

I have binders full of stories and rage.

Beckett,GAI,SGC,PSA...all inconsistent,all failures,all a scam...unless my cards get a 9 or 10! (wink,nod)

Alan, those stripcards are really gorgeous -- congrats.

Personal opinion:  Absolutely NO problem with separated strip cards being graded as NM or better, as long as they are in terrific condition, in all other regards.  After all, separating them along the rouletted edges is faithful to their original design and the cards have not otherwise been defaced or trimmed. 

But looking at the cards above, I sure can't figure out how those PSA graders decided which cards were 7s and which were 8s.  The American G-Man card at PSA7 seems quite superior to some of the 8s above it . . . .

Thanks Ralph. The vast majority of the strip cards graded by PSA are cards I submitted. At least they were the last time I looked at the Population Report. Overall, I find the grading to be very consistent. Although I agree that it is sometimes hard to tell why one card is an 8 and another a 7.

Most strip card sets came in strips of 8. They may also have come in strips of 4 or 2, at least in some cases. These cards were meant to be torn apart, not cut. Think of them like a block of stamps. You can cut the stamps apart, but most people tear them apart. After all, that's what the perforations are for! The perforations are what I love about the cards and I think cards with good perforations are beautiful and even more attractive than cards with straight edges.

Not all strip card sets were made equally well, and some of the sets have much better perforations than others. I recently tore 8 card strips apart for a whole set of America At War. This was a particularly gut-wrenching experience as the cards did not separate easily. The cards pictured here are some of those cards that I tore apart. I've also torn apart some R128 Series Of 48 Western strips and these are much easier to separate and the perforations wind up being much cleaner.

I've only seen strips for America At War, Defending America, Second World War, Time Marches On, R128, R185, and War Scenes. I've never seen strips for most of the sets I collect like Allies In Action, American G-Men R13, Army Navy Air Corps, Commando-Ranger, Foreign Legion, Generals & Their Flags, Government Agents Vs. Public Enemies, Heroes Of The Sea, Nightmare Of Warfare, R127, R129, R130, R131, and R132. Does anyone have any they could scan and share?

Nightmare Of Warfare, and War Scenes came in strips that do not have perforations. They have dotted cut lines. You can't really tear these apart. You'd have to cut them. One guy was selling some PSA War Scenes recently on EBay and the labels all had "hand-cut" on them. I'm not totally sure, but I assume that R127, R130, and R131 also had no perforations.

I've had more than 100 cards not-holdered by PSA and I'm assuming most, if not all, were because the edges don't have perforations, meaning the cards were probably hand-cut. I didn't mind this that much until I bought several PSA strip cards and found they also didn't have any perforations. I have had an initial discussion with PSA about this inconsistency, but need to talk to them some more.

Alan