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One of the most common alterations to sports cards is surface alterations. This can include altering the gloss or texture of the card to make it appear more pristine. One way to spot surface alterations is to look for any inconsistencies in the gloss or texture across the card.
- A Ruler Isn’T Enough
- Why Are Sports Cards trimmed?
- What Do You Need to Start Detecting trimming?
- How to Identify Trimmed Sports Cards
- Check The Corners
- It’S Not An Exact Science
Let’s put the biggest myth concerning trimming to bed straight away. The ruler is not how to determine if a card has been trimmed or not. In fact, if you are relying on measuring a card to detect trimming, you are going to buy some trimmed cards. The only way to determine if a card has been trimmed is to examine the cards edge. That’s not to say th...
There are a few reasons as to why someone would alter a card by trimming.One is to hide edge chipping or other damage. Sometimes an edge is trimmed or beveled in order to remove natural edge chipping in an attempt to improve the apparent grade. Another reason is to attempt to improve the centering. A card that is only slightly off-centered can appe...
The most important tool you need is a proper loupe. This goes for trying to detect any kind of card alteration. Fortunately, the best loupe for card grading and alteration detection is not the most expensive loupe out there. A proper loupe has a 10 powered triplet lens that is corrected for both color and image distortion. If you have ever used a c...
The first step is to check all four edges for consistency. An example would be a card with three normal looking sides and one edge that is extremely smooth or uneven. An uneven or wavy edge can be a quick way to spot a bad edge. To check an edge for waviness, hold the card with your finger along the edge just behind the card. This helps to focus yo...
Corners that jut out from the card’s edge, or “dog ear” corner, can be the result of a bad trim job and or a corner that has been pressed out and not trimmed down. Next we are going to take our loupe and look directly onto the card’s edge. When a card has one or more edge completely trimmed off, it will be apparent when we look at each edge straigh...
As stated previously, detecting trimming is unfortunately not an exact science. It is a constant battle between the learned skills of the grader and the skills of the card doctor. Understanding what and why trimming is remains one important step towards being able to detect such alterations. And like any alteration detection, the more cards you exa...
Nov 20, 2023 · "But for most of the most common alterations such as trimming, power erasing, color adds, and cleaning - it is decades of grading experience that is the best tool for alteration detection." Rob from NEO Cards & Comics interviewed SGC CEO Peter Steinberg a year ago about this issue.
Sep 18, 2007 · A trimmed or sanded card will be flat and/or smooth in one or more spots, this is the most common indicator. Lightly run you finger along the suspected edge, if trimmed it will feel much more smooth than the other sides.
Mar 16, 2020 · Factors like the type of lighting used, the color of the surface, how “busy” the card design is can all help in masking a recoloring alteration. Let’s take a look at an example of a color ...
When something has been added to or taken away from a card, it has been altered from its original state. Some common alterations include: trimming, pressing, re-coloring, power erasing, stock restoration and corner rebuilding. See also: Doctored.
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What is the best Loupe for card grading & alteration detection?
May 29, 2019 · When you hear that a card may have had some color added, or as some call it in the hobby, re-colored, you may think that has to be the easiest alteration to catch.
