My Babe Ruth Card Graded a 1.5?! #complaint 🤬
A collector shares their frustration with PSA grading a 1933 Worldwide Gum Babe Ruth card as a 1.5, which they believe is grossly undergraded. The speaker meticulously examined the card for authenticity and condition, finding it to be in beautiful condition with only minor corner tips and a tiny red dot, and argues it should have received a 3-4 grade based on PSA's own grading standards.
Summary
The speaker begins by acknowledging that complaints about PSA grading can be exaggerated, but then presents their own case as a legitimate example of poor grading. They recently acquired a 1933 Worldwide Gum Babe Ruth card as part of a collection purchase and decided to have it graded for sale, noting that authentication through grading is necessary because the card has many counterfeits and reprints in circulation.
The speaker describes their thorough examination process: they measured the card in both directions to verify it met specifications, checked for any alterations or signs of counterfeiting, and carefully assessed the card's condition. They found the card to be in beautiful condition with only minor wear—specifically, slight corner tips on all corners (upper left and upper right noted) and a very minor red dot near the right border. Based on this assessment, they confidently predicted the card would receive a PSA grade of 3 to 4, with even a 3 being exceptionally high eye appeal.
However, when the graded card was returned, it received a PSA 1.5 grade, which the speaker finds incomprehensible. They then systematically refute the grade by citing PSA's own grading standards for 1.5 cards, which specify extreme corner wear, advanced surface wear including scuffing and scratching, possible picture misregistration, brown and dirty borders, and possibly heavy creases. The speaker states none of these conditions apply to their card. They also note that centering must be approximately 90/10 or better, and their card significantly exceeds this standard in all directions.
To support their argument, the speaker compares their card visually to example cards of known grades—showing how beat up an actual PSA 1.5 card appears, a PSA 2 with a heavy crease, and a PSA 3 example. They conclude by emphasizing that when compared side-by-side, it's immediately obvious which card is in better condition, making the 1.5 grade inexplicable.
Key Insights
- The speaker purchased a 1933 Worldwide Gum Babe Ruth card in a collection and determined that professional grading was necessary because the card has many counterfeits and reprints in circulation
- The speaker measured the card in both directions, checked for alterations, and assessed condition closely, concluding it should receive a PSA grade of 3 to 4, with even a 3 being very high eye appeal
- The card received a PSA 1.5 grade despite having only minor corner tips, a tiny red dot on the border, and centering that significantly exceeds the 90/10 standard required for 1.5 cards
- The speaker systematically refutes the 1.5 grade by checking it against PSA's own grading standards, finding none of the required conditions for that grade (extreme wear, scuffing, creases, brown borders) are present on the card
- When visually compared side-by-side, the speaker's card is clearly in better condition than example PSA 1.5 and PSA 2 cards, making the comparison a no-contest demonstration that the grade appears incorrect
Topics
Transcript
[0:00] people complaining about the grades they get from PSA is a little overblown, but I'm going to submit my uh my example here. So, I recently bought a collection and included in it was this 1933 Worldwide Gum Babe Ruth. And the card was ungraded. Now, in order to sell this card, you need to get it graded because there's a lot of fakes of this card. There's a lot of reprints. Now, I looked over this card very, very closely. It's a it's expensive card. It's a five figure card even in low grade. I measured it in both directions. It measured perfectly. I was very very confident and it was an original 1933 worldwide gum. I checked…
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My Babe Ruth Card Graded a 1.5?! #complaint 🤬
A card collector expresses frustration after a 1933 Worldwide Gum Babe Ruth card he acquired was graded PSA 1.5 despite appearing to be in much better condition. He meticulously examined the card for authenticity and condition, finding only minor wear, and argues the grade is unjustifiably low compared to PSA grading standards.
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