Grading orientation question

[DynaEtch]

Wanted to ask some more seasoned grading people than me a question about slab orientation.

I collect novelties like the below- upside down graded cards- even in some cases paying a decent premium for them (yea yea, it’s weird ).





I do think these are error slabs, but after posting it in a FB group, someone made an interesting comment, that people can specify orientation when submitting to grading, but I thought that was just like if you wanted the front vs back facing for dual sided cards (like 1997 Topps Interleague Finest baseball cards which were 2-sided with players on both sides, if anyone remembers). For those who are bigger graders than me…would someone be able to specify an upside down card orientation like the above when submitting and they actually do it? Or would this have to have occurred as an error by PSA or BGS. Because that difference is meaningful to me and if anyone can just get an upside down graded card at will then I won’t spend as much of a premium when they do come up.

I also was under the impression if people could slab upside down cards at will then we’d see more cards like 1989 UD Griffey’s and 1986 Fleer Jordan’s upside down in the slab even just for the novelty factor, but we don’t really see those at all (I think). So would the above definitely have been the result of an error than you can’t merely request?

[towerymt]

Hoping someone has actual examples they submitted with a note to PSA. I haven't done that before...but I might ask them to slab my next '89 UD Griffey upside down

I have seen horizontal cards go either way. I thought there was something about card number being on top (?) on the back, but not sure what's typical.

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by towerymt

Hoping someone has actual examples they submitted with a note to PSA. I haven't done that before...but I might ask them to slab my next '89 UD Griffey upside down

I have seen horizontal cards go either way. I thought there was something about card number being on top (?) on the back, but not sure what's typical.

Hmmm….that would also make sense for what specifying the orientation means, horizontal cards and whether they face left or right.

I just have a hard time believing if you specified you want an 89 UD Griffey upside down, or say back of the card facing front, they would accommodate that. Not that many people have probably tried that, but if they actually do that I just think we would see an example out there, would be quite the oddity

[cfern023]

I can see upside down being requested so you can display it in a holder without the label showing.

[newcokeandtaco]

Horizontal items are the first thing that came to mind. They can be found loaded both ways at times. Autographed items can also be loaded in unique ways to show off the signature. Your examples are upside down/inverted in the slab. I am fairly confident PSA considers these "mechanical errors". A CRC request can be made to fix them if wanted. I am sure grading companies will try to accommodate customer's wants, but likely on a case by case basis. In other words, you are not going to get them to load 10+ Griffey rookies upside down or backwards to create "errors".

[discodanman45]

Originally Posted by newcokeandtaco

Horizontal items are the first thing that came to mind. They can be found loaded both ways at times. Autographed items can also be loaded in unique ways to show off the signature. Your examples are upside down/inverted in the slab. I am fairly confident PSA considers these "mechanical errors". A CRC request can be made to fix them if wanted. I am sure grading companies will try to accommodate customer's wants, but likely on a case by case basis. In other words, you are not going to get them to load 10+ Griffey rookies upside down or backwards to create "errors".

Calling these "error slabs" is weird IMO. The incompetence of PSA to slab a card correctly should not give additional value. However, we live in a collecting world that many people care more about the slab than the card inside. If PSA allowed this, we would be getting exactly what you described. People requesting cards to be slabbed upside down to call these errors or variations, to make money. This hobby is getting stranger every day for me. My graded collection is shrinking month by month.

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by discodanman45

Calling these "error slabs" is weird IMO. The incompetence of PSA to slab a card correctly should not give additional value. However, we live in a collecting world that many people care more about the slab than the card inside. If PSA allowed this, we would be getting exactly what you described. People requesting cards to be slabbed upside down to call these errors or variations, to make money. This hobby is getting stranger every day for me. My graded collection is shrinking month by month.

Hah trust me I probably align with your view on this, about the silliness of focusing on the slab vs the card in today’s card landscape.

I call them slab errors to differentiate from actual error cards, which they are not. Is there extra value in something like this? Idk, I paid a slight premium but it wasn’t much. I just pick them up as novelties that I find interesting. When there are a zillion normal facing silver holofoil Spideys in PSA slabs and basically one ever that Ive seen like the above, it kinda stands out as interesting to me. That interesting aspect would go down a lot if it’s something you can just do at will though. I suspect if I listed it (which I won’t since it’s in my collection), it could go for more than a regular PSA 9 Spidey holofoil maybe, but not much. Same if you had an upside down 89 Griffey PSA 8 or something…I could see it going for more than a reg PSA 8 since the pop of that has gotta be very low if it even exists. Not a ton more maybe a little more. Silliness across the board? You bet!

[rnocards]

Originally Posted by DynaEtch

Wanted to ask some more seasoned grading people than me a question about slab orientation.

I collect novelties like the below- upside down graded cards- even in some cases paying a decent premium for them (yea yea, it’s weird ).

If any character deserves to be slabbed upsidedown... it is Spider-man!

In my experience, PSA/DNA once slabbed a front autograph sideways that caused
the text on the back to be upsidedown. I had them correct it.

[DynaEtch]

Originally Posted by rnocards

If any character deserves to be slabbed upsidedown... it is Spider-man!

In my experience, PSA/DNA once slabbed a front autograph sideways that caused
the text on the back to be upsidedown. I had them correct it.

A very good point

[newcokeandtaco]

As always, collect what you want. These are certainly neat pieces that are rare and unique. They are definitely more interesting than a straight up label error/mistake that should be fixed before selling.

[Wisztradamous]

I collect the 1955 Topps All-American set, which is almost exclusively a horizontal displayed card; however, there are a few in my Registry set that are faced the opposite way.. not the most aesthetically pleasing.. lol