I feel like this was never a concern for me until recently. I collected many sets one holo at a time and never considered centering a meaningful factor when evaluating condition. I was completely blind to it and it did not bother me. Unless it was significantly off center and immediately noticeable I was unlikely to notice it at all.
But in the last year or so it seems to be the first thing I notice. My eye has been trained to identify even the slightest variation of borders. And once I notice, it drives me crazy. I will pass on cards in otherwise excellent condition because they are marginally off center.
This upset is true not only for prospective purchases but for cards I already own. I am currently going through my sets and “trading up” cards that catches my eye. For a recent example, I noticed this Dark Magneton was off when providing a reference for someone else: abload.de/img/51694179-19d5-46fb-9fijnx.jpeg
So how much is “too much” for you? Would you rather a card that’s slightly off center or a card that’s slightly worn? I know when I buy my cards I would rather a well-centered 8 than an off-center 9, which is frequently the position I’m in with my Neo Sets. What about you?
I don’t care about centering. Some people pay premiums for things to be off center, some people pay premiums for things to be very centered. Know what it boils down to for both of these types? A slab label.
I don’t pay too much mind to centering unless it would qualify for a OC/MC.
As for a well-centered 8 vs an off-center 9 I’d probably go for the 9 just because my collection is almost completely 9 or above for graded cards. For aesthetics I find whitening outside of a few knicks to be distracting so it depends on how much is prevalent on the 8 grade.
In order of importance for me:
surface scratches(especially on holo) > edge/corners > printlines > centering
Agreed. I want “pack fresh” cards and that can certainly inculde off-centering and to an extent also printlines (which JPN cards luckily have waaay less of).
Pro tip if you want clean cards but don’t care about centering: PSA 9s with noticably bad centering usually don’t have a lot other issues.
My thing is that you can easily tell a card is off center. At a quick glance, and at face value, I know that the card has this defect. Whereas something like minor localized whitening on the reverse face or subtle hairline scratches in the foil may only reveal themselves at closer inspection. So to me, a well-centered card with minor wear presents better than an off-center card in better condition.
This is entirely subjective, of course. That’s why I was curious how other people felt.
By weeding out off-center cards I am taking cards out of the running from the outset, but when it comes to decided which of the cards left I will actually buy it’s always surface first.
I could say I prioritize these two things equally, but that’s not entirely accurate. Centering is more like a preliminary check whereas surface is the actual qualifier. But I suppose another way to put that is “I prioritize centering”, isn’t it?
I used to not even know it was a thing. Like - all cards were created equal. Now I inspect every card I get for it. It doesn’t necessarily take away my enjoyment of a card is off-centered, but it does make it that much better if it has perfect centering. It adds a little more to the chase when buying raw cards.
Hypothetically, whatever small loss in surface condition you may lose out on by weeding out off-centered copies is remedied by having a better centering with what may be a slightly worse surface. And that’s worth it to you. Because that difference is bigger to you.
I am not surprised that many people feel differently, especially people who collect slabs because that grade usually is the bottom line. I actually think it’s something I’ve started focusing more on because I got naturally more discerning of condition and quality it was just one more layer to apply to ensure I was happy with the card. But it’s also a major additional hurtle that sometimes feels self-defeating. It doesn’t seem reasonable to suddenly be unhappy with cards I have kept for 5+ years, but here I am all these years later picking out cards to replace. It feels a little like a fool’s pursuit. But I know I will be much happier if I do it.
Well it depends what I want to do with the card. For my binders, I couldn’t care less if it was centered well. For grading, it obviously has more importance for me.
When it comes to buying already graded cards, I would agree with you and most likely take a well centered 8 vs an off center 9. Plus I get to save a little bit of extra money
I’d say that I dont care about cards being off centered. I’d rather a clean card that’s off centered than a played or LP copy that has perfect centering. Front is the most important thing to be though. I want to look at the card and like everything about the surface. Only down side is that psa is not grading a lot of my stuff OC when it is definitely OC and putting it down a grade bc of it. I had a shining ray once that was super OC and graded a 7. Broke it out and sent it back in and got the OC9. Just got another card back that was pretty OC and perfect otherwise and they gave it an 8 so that’s the down side.
For personal collection, I would rather take a high end card that is centered but in a lower grade due to back whitening than a non centered clean card.
