how do you guys rank in scale of most bothersome to least bothersome
front centering
back centering
print line
corner dings
edgewear
silvering
holo scratches
1 Like
Least bothersome to most bothersome for PSA9/10 damage:
- Back Centering
- Edge Wear
- Front Centering
- Silvering
- Holo scratches/Printline
- Corner dings
The front imperfections bother me much more than back.
Cards can be a lil OC (55/45 range), but surface issues and corner dings bothers me the most.
For me, I really value a scratch/printline free front surface holo. That’s the area of the card that captures my attention the most.
Most tolerable (pick up to 3)
- centering
- print line
- corner dings
- edgewear
- silvering
- holo scratches
0 voters
Least tolerable (pick up to 3)
- centering
- print line
- corner dings
- edgewear
- silvering
- holo scratches
0 voters
4 Likes
I don’t buy graded cards but surely PSA 10s should have no corner dings, edge wear, silvering or holo scratches?
I would also add print lines to that honestly.
What’s the point of PSA 10 if it has any of those issues or even worse things like indents?
I find holo scratches awful on PSA 9S. But I can live everything else. The problem is that you often can’t see scratches on pictures. Sellers often don’t inspect PSA9 for scratches under different angles and refer to the grade if you ask about it. This is actually understandable, as it is the grading companies job and not the seller’s to assess the cards. So I am usually buying PSA9s without knowing beforehand whether the holo is clean.
About 40%-50% of all my PSA9s have some kind of surface issue (printlines not considered). The manifestation of this issues can range. For example, there are cards with hundreds of little very faint superficial scratches on an area of about 1x3 cm, which can only be seen under good light under a very specific angle. On the other hand I have PSA9 cards with 1-3 deep scratches of about 1-2 cm length which are very obvious to see. This means that this must be all in the PSA 9 range.
So eventually I am trying to live with it, because it would be way too much hustle to buy multiple PSA 9 copies of the same card until I get one with a clean holo and then trying to sell the doubles.
I don’t have any PSA10s, but I’d guess they should without any faults. I guess that’s the point of a 10?
4 Likes
I’ve seen PSA 10s with edge wear/silvering/holo scratches before. It’s possible. Thats why “buy the card, not the grade” is advocated.
On any holo card, surface is everything for me. With a lot of cards I’ve collected, I’ve actually bought 7s or 8s with more whitening and less scratches or print lines over a PSA 9. So, with a PSA 9 or 10 that would bother me the most, and I’d prefer some whitening or slightly off-centering instead of scratches or deep/noticeable print lines. The other thing is, PSA is slightly more lenient on card centering even when awarding a 10, so the centering becomes less of my concern at the 9 & 10 range. On non-holo cards, the surface becomes less of my concern.
So I would say this is my personal rank from the worst to least worst issues:
- Holo Scratches
- Print Lines
- Edgewear
- Front centering
- Corner dings
- Silvering
- Rear centering
How would you find those? From pictures / videos, I find I can’t properly assess the surface condition, als it always depends on the light source and the viewing angle? So do you find those nice PSA 7s and 8s from in-person purchases?
Usually if its a 7 or 8 with more whitening on the back it will have a cleaner holo/surface in my experience. On the other hand, if it has less whitening it will usually have print lines or scratches or just really bad centering. It all depends on the card. If you buy on PWCC, you can see HD scans of cards which allows you to see the surface condition better.
Otherwise, all you can do is ask for pics online or see it in-person. But so far I’ve had good luck buying 7s or 8s with more whitening and getting a clean holo surface.
Tons of PSA 10s have at least one of those defects because it is nearly impossible to find a completely perfect card, particularly when it comes to vintage. PSA’s parameters make it clear that the card does not need to be entirely flawless to score a 10. This is one of the main reasons why PSA 9s are such a great value pick.
2 Likes
Here’s my list from most to least bothersome. Overall, I care most about the holographic surface of the card, and I care least about the back centering.
- holo scratches
- print line
- edgewear
- front centering
- corner dings
- silvering
- back centering
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I rly dislike when front centering is bad on my cards. Holo scratches grind my gears too lol.
We have the same list of condition preferences 
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Most Bothersome
- Holo Scratches
- Print Line
- Edgewear
- Corner Dings
- Front Centering
- Silvering
- Back Centering
Least Bothersome
Technically all of these bother me, but I’m more likely to forget about back issues after a couple days. Front issues and direct eye-appeal, not so much.
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The front surface and centering are what I care about most, but back edge wear seems to define NM vs LP the most
Holo surface is the only one I’d rank number 1 in almost any scenario. The rest depends, although I will say I’d rather have a tiny amount of edgewear than corner dings or chips.
Centering is less important to me but it still matters. Silvering…eh, depends on the set.
I’m suprised so many people are tolerant of silvering. Honestly it looks terrible. It’s like the equivalent of significant edge whitening but on the front and typically along the whole edge. I remember when completing my PSA 9 jungle holo set, I’d see people pay 10x or more for gross silvered copies while there were plenty of 9s with clean edges
4 Likes
This is really interesting I think!
I’m much more tolerant of silvering than print lines or holo scratches (though a lot of silvering usually means scratches on the holo anyway). I’ve come to view silvering on cards almost fondly- a lot of my cards as a child were second hand, and thus played with quite a bit.
I can only speak for my own experiences, but I think I’m more willing to overlook a little silvering because of the nostalgia factor. Sleeves were completely unheard of, we played and traded outside on the asphalt and dirt, and silvering on cards reminds me of then.
I think it makes sense in that the most tolerable damage is factory caused damage. Silvering is typically straight from the factory, whereas back edgewear most likely means the card has been handled. I am personally in the camp of centering, print lines, and silvering being most tolerable as those are all factory issues and not handling wear.
2 Likes
I guess I’m in the middle on this because I agree with you on silvering, but not print lines. Haha, Being most familiar with Neo Destiny, I feel like the silvering doesn’t really detract from the card at all on pack fresh cards. Usually you need to catch the card at the right light to even see it. Some (not all) print lines can be absolutely horrendous for eye appeal though.