This isn’t to bash on PSA, I think they’re actually very consistent with grades and trust their final say with everything but qualifiers so far. Having said that…
I just purchased this guy as a straight 8 planning to send in for OC review. Just curious what your guys experience with qualifiers is. I get that it must be Mint excluding border w/in certain parameters, but this card is very clean and very OC. When I measure it with pixels it comes out to 27/73, which is below 8(OC) requirements EVEN with the 5% leeway they give when they feel like it.
I’ve seen a lot of cards like this that I would think deserves the OC easily compared to something like this: imgur.com/SechORm (check last pic or copy/paste link) - and it’s got me wondering a few things
A) Have they hired so many new graders to meet the demand, they don’t know what they’re doing?
and
B) I have several cards that are on par with this and minty, is there even a point in sending in them and hoping for the OC? If all my cards that are like this don’t get the OC (only thing I collect) then why would I trust their opinion when they can’t even follow their guidelines? I also don’t want to pay to grade obviously OC cards then have to resubmit and pay MORE just to get the grades it deserves and attention from someone who knows Pokemon better.
Feel free to tell me I’m an idiot for thinking the below example should be an OC, I’d love to get opinions about it. TY!
I’ve contemplated printing out a measure of each and sending it with their guidelines and why it meets the criteria, but that seems insulting and also a lot of ink to print :X
The special designations are for cards that are otherwise a great candidate for a grade but have a flaw that would harm the grade significantly.
So a card that is otherwise a PSA 10 with centering within PSA 6 parameters would get the 9 (OC) designation.
So a PSA 10 worthy card vs a PSA 8 worthy card need very different degrees of offcenterness to get the qualifier. At least that’s my understanding of how it works.
It seems beyond this, it’s up to the discretion of the grader.
If it’s not too much trouble, why would you be unpleased is this received the OC? I’m also not out for easy regrades or reviewing till I get the grade I want, but going by their own guidelines, this appears to meet the OC qualifier requirements.
It’s below 70/30 when measured, no front damage or issues, and back is clean minus a very minimal white dot top right - which I’ve seen 10’s have worse whiting.
Let’s say it is in straight 9 condition w/ this centering and that minor dot on the back - it still meets the guidelines for an 8(OC) which states it needs to be below 70/30, and it is - with (imo) that added bonus of “look/feeling” OC which I find has a lot do with PSA grading.
Thanks again, any insight would be incredibly appreciated in my hunt for/understanding of which cards meet the requirement.
My understand has been about the same - if it’s a 10 candidate minus centering below a certain threshold, it’s a 9(OC).
Where I’m not sure is if it meet a solid 9 with below 65/35 if it would still get the 9(OC), or if in that case it would need to be in the ‘below 70/30 centering’ to be a contender for an 8(OC) - regardless of that part though, from my understanding of the wording for qualifiers, this specific Zapdos example would still meet the guidelines for a solid 8(OC) contender w/out being a reach like the mewtwo example below.
Again, I’m not looking to be an annoying reviewer, or end up on someone’s ‘cracker/reviewer’ black list - but I’m having a hard time narrowing down what will actually qualify.
Just when I thought I understood MC vs OC (No border or another card showing for MC vs a border still being there) - something like this:
Fucks me up. It may be the back is normal, or even upside, not sure since I don’t have pics. Just adds to the confusion lol
A PSA OC designation has always been a huge negative with all cards sports and non sports. The only exceptions would be cigarette cards from the early 20th century, and a few spotted series since.
I understand some in the Pokémon world are trying to make them out to be special, and to them they are, but the grading community can only laugh at the concept.
Yeah I was worried my Eevee was OC but I think it’s a niche market that might actually hurt than help. I have a Gem Mint 10 but I wouldn’t want to get it reevaluated for the OC. I’ll just hope whoever buys it in the long future understands there is a ratio & I’m not cheating them in my price if they see the ‘meh’ off center border that catches their eye.
Oh I absolutely appreciate the card over the grade!
I love how weird, random, unique and rare they are to come by on my hunts. I don’t entirely care if they get the qualifiers, any cards I personally see as OC go into my collection. I also don’t think they’re worth anywhere near what people try to sell them for, as is evident by how long they sit un-purchased.
Just trying to get a better grasp on the communities input regarding qualifiers.
Yeah I’ve spoken to sports graders about this and my conclusion is that due to the amount of overprinted and saturated markets in TCGs people value MC/OC cards as something special because they’re different from whats seen every day whereas sports card collectors want perfect cards.
Don’t get me wrong. Just because I view them as such doesn’t mean it bothers me that others like them. In fact, finding a home or collectible market for them benefits us all.
A PSA OC designation has always been a huge negative with all cards sports and non sports
I’m kinda interpreting that to possibly mean PSA trains their guys/does their damnedest to not give them since they’re conditioned to see it as a bad thing and thinks they’re doing a solid by not giving one.
I understand some in the Pokémon world are trying to make them out to be special, and to them they are, but the grading community can only laugh at the concept.
It’s definitely niche and won’t catch on as wide spread popular as a Gem mint 1st ed base set, but it definitely is something special! I also hope it doesn’t catch on, pricing for them is already ludicrous (which is why they don’t sell unless it’s at auction). Or if they do, do it after I got mine
It’s the last unconquered set of pokemon out there - and when you think about it, makes the hunt for any other graded set laughably easy. Ya don’t have to add 90% of the cards to the population.
I’m inclined to agree it would hurt the value, especially if the alternative is a 10. 10 has a much larger market and will go way faster than an overpriced OC/MC that only like 15 people in the hobby actually want - unless it’s their fav monster or something.
If/when you sell that guy, and someone was blind and didn’t actually look at the card, and only the grade - their beef should be with PSA, not you lol.
The problem is that Gumber literally values OC above all else. I saw him trade in a nice 1st ed shadowless base charizard for an OC version in a lesser condition. He dumps all his money into buying super OC and MC cards. Now, he wants to grade them. He downloaded a measurement app to help guide him with the standards he read from PSA of what “qualifies” as Offcenter. So, he’s hoping to figure out what the hell will actually come back OC if he sends a bunch of OC cards in for what he’s hoping to be OC grades rather than normal grades. If he just gets normal grades, he’s not gonna crack the cards, but he’s gonna feel like it was a waste of money. Is “OC” something just super objective then and they ONLY add it when they think its for a card people would get pissed getting an 8/9 instead of 10 on?
Regardless of the “negative appeal” (which is subjective) - if PSA have provided objective criteria for an OC grade, yet choose to not label the card as OC regardless of this, then people like Gumbers are paying for a service that is void of use…
