Wayne Gretzky RC, no crease, good corner, big surface wear on back: KSA 1 ???

[Estovia]

I'm surprised they would grade a card when parts of the card are missing.

If I had to guess, you're right on about it being damage from tape - tape that was allowed to dry out before it was pulled off, which is why there's no residue. It just tore off the paper where it was bonded to the tape.

Damn shame. That card is in fantastic condition otherwise.

[centrehice]

A decent company would not have graded that card, but sent it back to you with a nice letter, stating that it's past the gradable stage.

Sorry, that card is a disaster. Grading it only shows that the grading company is greedy.

[Camarotuner]

A decent company would not have graded that card, but sent it back to you with a nice letter, stating that it's past the gradable stage.

Sorry, that card is a disaster. Grading it only shows that the grading company is greedy.

I believe it was 2 years (ish) ago that a CGC (comicbook grading company, or something like that) Action Comics #1 (first superman) auctioned off for somewhere in the 60k range. Why so low? It was missing about 40% of the front cover. They still graded it and people still placed a huge value on it despite the damage. So yeah I still think there is a market for key collectibles within a field even in terrible graded condition for those on a budget. Yeah there's a huge difference between a 60000 comicbook and a gretzky rc but I'd imagine if you had a gordie howe rc graded bgs 1 you'd have no trouble finding a buyer if the card was at least somewhat attractive. Let alone stuff like a Ruth RC, Mantle RC, a Wagner T206, etc.