The Latest Shadowless 9OC Bulba to hit eBay has me pretty triggered. It doesn’t even begin to qualify for OC… I love PSA and using them for normal cards. They’re solidly consistent, and any harsh grades I’ve had I can understand why. But this OC Madness is killing me and wasting time & money. Let’s look at the facts:
Okay, now we know the measurements & how much time I waste on this - here’s our centering:
56/44 - Oh, but what does that mean? [Spoiler: Not much apparently.] Here’s a detailed version of PSA’s grading scale w/ OC’s:
9OC can’t even begin to be a thing until the centering is AT LEAST 64/36. This is beyond the ‘grading is subjective’ argument or ‘read the psa guidelines’ answer to OC frustrations. I like PSA’s service, but I’ve wasted so much money chasing the OC grades:
Many of us have - I’ve noted every card in 70+ orders with their exact measurements, and begged them to pay attention. I’ve written measurements on sleeves and savers. I tried the review route with 5 very OC and clean cards - Goodbye $100. I’m trying again now with a rep who suggested sending my worst 3. I sent 5. No promise of covering the costs, more wasted time and shipping costs. My follow up email with questions and the sub number go unanswered. The first time [*8 Months ago] I emailed asking for a clearer definition of OC vs MC did as well. When I called, the rep flat out said “no one will answer this” - She’s now my favorite rep for the honesty.
We don’t even know if they grade Miscuts/MCs anymore:
*Not that I would ever consider that a Miscut unless there’s something funky with the back… but I doubt that.
I tested my first OC Clefairy 3 times with the crack/regrade method:
First time it was a 7, then 6, now an 8 - Fine, I get that subjectiveness since it’s not mint or super OC, w/e I’ll try again with a 100% OC/MC find:
Oh right, I forgot - JK bro. At this point, I’m sure you’re feverishly typing “Condition means everything you idiot, duh” - right. I thought so too:
Juussssttt kidding! Why is this bad though? Who cares right? Well you should - there’s no acceptable answer for this inconsistency. It makes the ‘Pros’ look terrible, were left to just laugh and make up reasons for them because the alternative means our main 3rd party hasn’t a clue what’s going on.
I was discussing this with Mike. That’s just incompetence on behalf of the “professional” grader. I’ve come across many PSA 10’s that have centering just like that yet all the OC collectors can’t get the label when you want/deserve it. Really frustrating!
Here’s my example:
It is and I do buy the card, not grade. Several collectors here can attest to that - but when that 6OC Base Unlimited Ninetales fetches $150+, and my shadowless clefairy with the same cut but less play is worth the value of a regular PSA 6, then it’s frustrating.
No one ever wants to say it. In my opinion, all PSA is good for is authenticating and slabbing a card. The actual GRADING aspect is so convoluted and subjective that it’s like dropping some chips on the roulette table. This is why the saying “buy the card not the grade” even exists.
You have an app or something for measuring the ratios for how a card is offcentered right? I feel like PSA doesn’t even have something as simple as that. They likely don’t care and are just fulfilling orders/slabbing away. @smpratte just made a video about how slow Beckett was (a year behind on grading orders). Maybe this is why PSA is so far ahead. It’s like pinning a tail on a donkey blindfolded sometimes getting a consistent grading and qualifying scale out of them. I’m so glad I’m not a qualifier collector. RIP your wallet
I use Photoshop for the more specific digital measurements, ‘PixelZoomer’ Chrome extension for quicker measuring, & a fabric measuring tape in person to confirm. PSA doesn’t have the time to go crazy like that, and I don’t expect them too, but most the cards I send you don’t need to go that anal on to see it’s clearly OC
I understand the passion and frustration. I know it’s not the response you want to read too, but maybe the solution is to put zero value in an opinion that has thoroughly proven itself to be unreliable.
I’m no fan of qualifiers mainly cause it’s a cop out for not wanting to do the work of coming up with a real grade,…but, I’ve found amazing consistency overall with all my orders since the mid 90s.
If I wanted qualifiers, I’d probably feel differently though.
I have no complaints with normal 1-10 cards and their consistency. I tested several strong 9’s that always came back 9 when I first started. Only one that ever changed, and a lot, was that Clefairy.
I’m not sure I follow the cop out logic, it’s more work to come up with an accurate ‘real’ grade OC if you actually measure them. Since they’re a dime a dozen in sports, I get why there’s a disconnect - but it’s defeating at times.
Overall consistency looks to have been there since the 90s.
That was up until about 6 months ago.
PSA over the years has always given qualifiers on cards with somewhat obvious OC cards. Now you need a near Miscut, or full on Miscut card to get a qualifier (with the exception of the OP). This whole “qualifier drought” is fairly a new thing.
I thought I remembered reading somewhere that if the card is so off center that it shows a centering dot in any corner its considered miscut by their grading standards?
Yeah, a lot of people like making stuff up in the hobby sadly - Not sure I get why people need to ‘answer’ something they have no understanding with, but they do.
I was told/read the same thing last year when I was trying to figure out why my first OC (the shadowless 8 clefairy) kept coming back not OC’d. The lack of concrete knowledge in the community was alarming, but I can assure you 100% a dot cut doesn’t = MC. You’ll be lucky if it’s even OC’d.
