What are you ok with regarding PSA 9 grades?
Slightly off-centered?
Corner wear?
Holo scratches?
Me personally, I don’t mind if it’s off-centered. I can’t stand edge and corner wear.
The Holo has to be super clean as well.
The reason I ask is bc I received an unlimited base Char 4 PSA 9 and everything is squeaky clean except the centering L to R.
I can live with that over the other issues mentioned above.
My example: (centering)
What are your preferences?
OC > corner wear > scratches, but that’s just me — guarantee other ppl have different opinions
I don’t like OC cards. I don’t like holo scratches. I don’t like things detracting from my view of the front of the card taking in the art. Keep all the issues you can to the back. I honestly get more personal enjoyment from a PSA 6 Masaki that has a unnoticeable corner crease than a PSA 10 that is at the borderline of OC-ness allowable.
I mostly collect well centered clean holo 9’s because 99% of what I have in my collection is a 9 due to 2-4 white spots on the back that I never see nor detracts at all from my enjoyment.
If I had to pick one I’d have to go with centering over damage.
I can deal with a slightly off center card or a small amount of whitening on the back. I can’t stand a holo scratch though…
Agree. The Holo is what makes the card. Whats the point if it’s scratched lol.
The back can have a small tiny white spec or two and id live with that I guess.
For me, a 9’s a 9.
I can take minor flaws as long as it doesn’t distract from the over aesthetics of the card.
Noticeable holo scratches or silvering would probably be the two biggest distractions though.
I don’t like when cards that have obvious post-factory damage get 9’s. If a card had a rough cut out of the pack, has print lines, or is OC that’s understandable but I refuse to acknowledge a card having scuffs on the surface or excessive chipping as a result of handling as being “mint”. I think cards in this category really deserve that dreaded 8.5.
I’ll take a clean card that’s slightly off center all day. A slightly off center card doesn’t bother me.
I don’t mind a card being alittle off centered. Corner and edge wear is fine as well, but I absolutely hate a holo scratch.
Surface>edges>corners>centreing
Surface and centering is most important to me. As long as the front looks good, I can deal with flaws on the back.
Centering bothers me less because that’s a factory issue. Most 9s are still pack fresh cards and that’s what I go for.
I get centering is a factory issue and the other three are damage but I hate off centered cards. Centering is the thing you see before anything else, it’s the main eye appeal factor, if a card is noticeably off center I don’t care if everything else is perfect I’m not interested.
Slightly OC is okay. I don’t particularly check for holo scratches as much on 9s… back edge wear is more of a concern for me.
OC qualifiers in sports usually drop the value 2 grades. For example a Gretzky rookie 8OC will be comparable to a PSA 6 value.
Off center is usually the largest deterrent for most people. I’m personally not to picky but if I had to chose, OC is what I notice the most.
Exactly my thought as well; I don’t mind factory issues as much as user damage.
I always wonder when does PSA grade cards as OC?
On topic: If it doesn’t get a 10 because it’s a 60/40 thing, I think it’s fine. Whitening bothers me somehow, I have a perfect PSA 10 with a little bit of whitening on the back which I noticed instantly on arrival. Probably wouldn’t mind on a 9 though, but again only to a certain degree. Edge wear is the least problematic I think, it distracts the least from the overall appeal of a card. Holo scratches are a no-go though, if I notice them.
It doesn’t matter to me too much what the flaw is as long as the front of the card looks nice. Back side doesn’t matter too much to me (when it comes to front being slightly oc it’s not an issue for me as well)
I thought the same for awhile too, but I’ve seen some 9’s that should be 8’s and vice-versa.
I guess they are called “weak” 9’s and "strong " 9’s.