How little does PSA care about the back of the card?

k13 · 07-27-2021, 04:36 PM

They are really tough on corners on the front but on the back they seem so lenient.

So many PSA 10's I see that have white corners, very visible corner damage, edge damage on the back.

I know PSA 10's are not supposed to be perfect but the back of the card should not be a PSA 7/8 and still be a PSA 10...

SleeperCards · 07-27-2021, 05:01 PM

They seem to care much more lately.

JR42collector · 07-27-2021, 06:25 PM

They have always cared about the back surface. Minor surface dents or impressions will keep a card from getting a 10. Although light print lines are generally allowed on most modern products.

JWBlue · 07-28-2021, 12:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k13

They are really tough on corners on the front but on the back they seem so lenient.

So many PSA 10's I see that have white corners, very visible corner damage, edge damage on the back.

I know PSA 10's are not supposed to be perfect but the back of the card should not be a PSA 7/8 and still be a PSA 10...

I have noticed this as well. There are eight corners on a card. Four front and four on the back.

towerymt · 07-28-2021, 12:39 PM

I had a Joe Burrow prizm PSA-10 that had a visible line across the back. Easy to spot through the holder. I was surprised...I hadn't been submitting cards with visible lines all the way across the card. But...maybe it's not something I should use to auto-reject a card for submission if everything else checks out.

One of the 2020 Topps Yordan Alvarez that I had graded came back a PSA-10 with this back corner. This was an early one, sent shortly after release, so probably sent to PSA Feb/Mar 2020, so this wasn't recently graded:

Magnified:

I think this would be more common on light-colored corners where it's not as visually obvious, but I picked up on this as soon as I reviewed the cards when they came back. Why did I sub this card? I'm not sure.

ChaseUA · 07-28-2021, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by towerymt

I had a Joe Burrow prizm PSA-10 that had a visible line across the back. Easy to spot through the holder. I was surprised...I hadn't been submitting cards with visible lines all the way across the card. But...maybe it's not something I should use to auto-reject a card for submission if everything else checks out.

One of the 2020 Topps Yordan Alvarez that I had graded came back a PSA-10 with this back corner. This was an early one, sent shortly after release, so probably sent to PSA Feb/Mar 2020, so this wasn't recently graded:

Magnified:

I think this would be more common on light-colored corners where it's not as visually obvious, but I picked up on this as soon as I reviewed the cards when they came back. Why did I sub this card? I'm not sure.

Sometimes I wonder on things like this if the corner got dinged during encapsulation. IE: It looked better when graded, and should have been caught after assembly.

jbball50 · 07-28-2021, 01:18 PM

Had a print line on the back of my burrow optic auto. Only flaw of the card and it got a 9.

Cardboardalstar · 07-28-2021, 04:05 PM

They should care about the back of the card.

Cardboardalstar · 07-28-2021, 04:06 PM

That's crazy, no sane person could say that card is gem mint.

Quote:

Originally Posted by towerymt

I had a Joe Burrow prizm PSA-10 that had a visible line across the back. Easy to spot through the holder. I was surprised...I hadn't been submitting cards with visible lines all the way across the card. But...maybe it's not something I should use to auto-reject a card for submission if everything else checks out.

One of the 2020 Topps Yordan Alvarez that I had graded came back a PSA-10 with this back corner. This was an early one, sent shortly after release, so probably sent to PSA Feb/Mar 2020, so this wasn't recently graded:

Magnified:

I think this would be more common on light-colored corners where it's not as visually obvious, but I picked up on this as soon as I reviewed the cards when they came back. Why did I sub this card? I'm not sure.

imbluestreak23 · 07-28-2021, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by k13

They are really tough on corners on the front but on the back they seem so lenient.

So many PSA 10's I see that have white corners, very visible corner damage, edge damage on the back.

I know PSA 10's are not supposed to be perfect but the back of the card should not be a PSA 7/8 and still be a PSA 10...

Do they have serial numbers starting with a 5?

Doubt it, at least few and far between

k13 · 08-01-2021, 10:22 AM

I'm looking at the backs of the same card graded PSA 10.

Not one has zero "white" or corner wear showing....

FT35 · 08-02-2021, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JR42collector

They have always cared about the back surface. Minor surface dents or impressions will keep a card from getting a 10. Although light print lines are generally allowed on most modern products.

My 2011 Trout Update is a 10 and has puncture/indent marks on the back surface.

f2tornado · 08-02-2021, 10:54 AM

My own observation only: PSA used to be a lot more lenient on the back side of cards and one reason I previously preferred BGS slabs. This is not the case today. PSA is much more strict on all facets of a card today.

07-27-2021, 04:36 PM	#1
k13 Banned Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 12,617	How little does PSA care about the back of the card? They are really tough on corners on the front but on the back they seem so lenient. So many PSA 10's I see that have white corners, very visible corner damage, edge damage on the back. I know PSA 10's are not supposed to be perfect but the back of the card should not be a PSA 7/8 and still be a PSA 10...

07-27-2021, 05:01 PM	#2
SleeperCards Member Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: The Internet Posts: 16,057 SleeperCards Sleeper	They seem to care much more lately.

07-27-2021, 06:25 PM	#3
JR42collector Banned Join Date: Jun 2021 Posts: 116	They have always cared about the back surface. Minor surface dents or impressions will keep a card from getting a 10. Although light print lines are generally allowed on most modern products.

07-28-2021, 12:39 PM	#5
towerymt Member Join Date: Mar 2019 Location: VA Posts: 8,830	I had a Joe Burrow prizm PSA-10 that had a visible line across the back. Easy to spot through the holder. I was surprised...I hadn't been submitting cards with visible lines all the way across the card. But...maybe it's not something I should use to auto-reject a card for submission if everything else checks out. One of the 2020 Topps Yordan Alvarez that I had graded came back a PSA-10 with this back corner. This was an early one, sent shortly after release, so probably sent to PSA Feb/Mar 2020, so this wasn't recently graded: Magnified: I think this would be more common on light-colored corners where it's not as visually obvious, but I picked up on this as soon as I reviewed the cards when they came back. Why did I sub this card? I'm not sure.

07-28-2021, 01:18 PM	#7
jbball50 Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Washington State Posts: 444 Jonaeite0	Had a print line on the back of my burrow optic auto. Only flaw of the card and it got a 9.

07-28-2021, 04:05 PM	#8
Cardboardalstar Member Join Date: Apr 2021 Posts: 53	They should care about the back of the card.

08-01-2021, 10:22 AM	#11
k13 Banned Join Date: Jan 2014 Posts: 12,617	I'm looking at the backs of the same card graded PSA 10. Not one has zero "white" or corner wear showing....

08-02-2021, 10:54 AM	#13
f2tornado Member Join Date: Dec 2019 Location: Bismarck, ND Posts: 2,367 f2tornado f2tornado	My own observation only: PSA used to be a lot more lenient on the back side of cards and one reason I previously preferred BGS slabs. This is not the case today. PSA is much more strict on all facets of a card today.