General Forum

Talking vintage only here (pre-1980).

1.  Centering is Topps for me.  During a recent '75T upgrade (notorious for o/c and diamond-cut cards), I had to fight not holding onto a well-centered card with worn corners and edges over sharp cards with the picture rotated inside the frame (diamond-cut) at times.  It seems that more people tend to focus on corners, so I keep that in mind to maintain resale value when choosing one card over another.  I think people forget the minimum centering requirements at each grade (including the so-called professional graders).  A card where the frame touches the border (100/0) is considered [PR 1.0] according to Beckett standards, but can be raised 2 half grades to [GD 2.0] if everything else is outstanding (even fresh out of the pack). 

2a. Focus/Coloration.  This is a category that really becomes an issue with vintage cards.  

2b. Creases/Corners.  I'd rather have a slightly worn card than an off-centered card fresh out of the pack.  I think more people tend to be corners/creases people than centering/focus people, so I keep this in mind when choosing my card upgrades, but I'll still choose centering over corners/creases where I can.  

I don't really mind pinholes, water stains, and erasable writing on vintage cards.  Wax stains on the front of a card is a non-issue.  It easily wipes off like it never existed with a dry cotton sock or t-shirt.  In fact, a wiped wax stain on the front tends to make the card more glossy.  I don't typically share that fact because I get a lot of discounted cards this way, but since people have been talking about it, I'll share.  Just don't use water or any other chemical to try to take it off because you'll ruin it.  Wax stains on the back are a different story.

For me the worst is missing pieces or paper loss, followed by major creases and writing/pen marks.

I can handle soft corners on vintage.

Sorry Billy, but you will never get my Pro Line DC3 card of Reggie White which was die-cut upside down.

Of all the vintage cards I own I've had a few with severely rounded soft corners, off-centered 100/0, pinholes, and ink/pencil markings. What bothers me most though is a miscut card that I've seen a lot of with '71 Topps football. I'm not sure why that set had so many issues with that. 

The second worst problem I've had with cards is also with '71 Topps football, blurriness. 

Both of those really ruin cards for me. The other things I can put up with on old cards. 

Blurriness sounds like something Topps would do on purpose nowadays, and call it an SSP variation.  In fact, somebody at Topps probably gonna read this forum, and all these things we don't like will be variations in 2018.

Pretty much all been said, but I'll give my own views. 

Really bad: writing of any kind, especially on the front; paper loss on either side (hate not being able to read the stats and commentary); tears.

Pretty bad: creases that go all the way through; badly scratched up surfaces; miscut, especially with another part of a card on it (sorry, Billy); pinholes.

A Little bad: creases that don't break through; rounded corners; poor centering; wax stains on back (the front ones I can get rid of); chipped coloring on borders.

I don't think there's one thing in particular that I look to first, other than overall eye-appeal. But I'm certainly not a stickler for centering or perfect corners. And, all that said, I'll take virtually any card in any condition if I don't have it and it's something I collect. It all counts. If I can upgrade eventually, great. If not, alas, I have a beat up card in my collection. 

Not gonna try to find the thread, but my "Really, PSA?" (or something like that) thread really brought out the differing views people have about cards' conditions. I learned a lot. As I always do here. 

v3

Too lazy to write anything long this morning. And V3 pretty much covered my opinion especially with:

I don't think there's one thing in particular that I look to first, other than overall eye-appeal. But I'm certainly not a stickler for centering or perfect corners. And, all that said, I'll take virtually any card in any condition if I don't have it and it's something I collect. It all counts. If I can upgrade eventually, great. If not, alas, I have a beat up card in my collection. 

If any of you have cards in your collection that are older than 1980 and you can't stand to look at, I can provide my address.

I will accept any card I need into my collection. Especially if it is for the Ultimate Hockey card project. But it still bothers to see a damaged card. But it can also be a filler to wait for a better version. 

I could be persuaded to part with my 1957 Mickey Mantle that was so badly miscut that it looks just like a 1988 Dale Sveum but it'll cost you. 

How to spot a card collector--"tops" autocorrects to "Topps" when he types it.

RoundtheDiamond87 wrote:

Talking vintage only here (pre-1980).

1.  Centering is Topps for me.