PSA first look - what's the point?

Grading
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1

The PSA first look feature sounded like a great little innovation to the psa grading process, however it appears (and correct me if im wrong) all the pictures/scans they take of the cards, are cards still in their penny sleeve and card saver?

Penny sleeves and card savers scuff and get dusty easier than anything.

This begs the question, how useful are these scans if the true quality of the cards being submitted cannot be reasonably ascertained, mindful of the glare, scuff and dust the penny sleeves exhibit, for which the card is enveloped in?

Im just thinking about issues where psa damages your card during the submission process, you wont always be able to rely on first look images as evidence, as the portion they damage might be concealed by the yucky protective gear your cards are in.

2

There is some value there so you know exactly how PSA received your card. You atleast know they received and documented the correct card. They could easily mix up your card with someone else (1st edition vs unlimited, different languages, etc.)

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3

I think it’s only useful to determine that they have your cards and that they haven’t been bent in half and set on fire :slightly_smiling_face:

4

What everyone else said, but also there’s no way they’d remove your card from a card saver and sleeve and then manhandle it into and out of a scanner, while putting the face of the card directly on a scanner bed. If they did, people would complain way more than they complain about it showing all of the sleeve and card saver scratches.

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