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  1. #1
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    1999 Topps Finest Refractors Gallery

    They aren't for sale or for trade but wanted to show off my progress grading the 175 card set for 1999 Topps Finest Refractors. I'm hoping once interest cools a bit on grading pricing might come back down a bit so I can finish grading the set with sub grades.

    http://jplarson.com/finest/1999/Refr...bgs/index.html

    I have 5 of the 6 total BGS 10 Pristines graded.

  2. #2




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    See krunchtyme's Items on eBay COMC Cards For Sale

    WOW!!!!!!! That is AWESOME!!!!!!!

    Did you send those in yourself? What did you do to review the cards first? I have a large "microscope" for lack of a better term. It has a light around the 5 inch lens. I check for surface scratches (which you normally don't see with the naked eye)., Centering, edges, corners, over all color and eye appeal (which includes picture focus and any ink outside the lines (see every 80's Topps set!) Then I have my son check them after me. If we agree, I send it. We have had a few get by us, but overall we do pretty well.

    Those cards are insanely nice.

  3. #3




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    First i had to come back and apologize to the OP for the hijack of your thread.

    This is the kind of chat I was hoping to see!!!

    Krunch, when you say microscope are you meaning magnifying glass?

    I also use one and a jewelers loupe. The magnifying glass main viewing area is a small magnification I don’t remember exactly but I think it’s like 5x and it has a little window that is 10x. Maybe smaller? The jewelers loupe is like a 30x magnification. You can really see the print dot pattern with that one.

    I have yet to submit any cards my self but have been buying up lots of raw cards with the intention. I’m a bit nervous. I have found very few cards I personally think will grade a 10.

    Maybe this needs to be a new thread topic....

  4. #4




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    Yup...Magnifying Glass. Sorry old age steals words. LOL But this magnifying glass has a light around it and a 5" lens. This is basically it: https://www.toolots.com/rt301-01-led...yABEgIbQPD_BwE

    I look at every card before I send it. If PSA ever grades the 20+ Michael Jordan cards I submitted, we will see how I did on my last round. I know they all weren't 10 because some of them I graded because of the card itself some because they were gorgeous.
    @FireRob...feel free to start a new thread if you want to discuss grading etc... Even better. I will start one and sticky it!

  5. #5
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    WOW!!!!!!! That is AWESOME!!!!!!!

    Did you send those in yourself? What did you do to review the cards first? I have a large "microscope" for lack of a better term. It has a light around the 5 inch lens. I check for surface scratches (which you normally don't see with the naked eye)., Centering, edges, corners, over all color and eye appeal (which includes picture focus and any ink outside the lines (see every 80's Topps set!) Then I have my son check them after me. If we agree, I send it. We have had a few get by us, but overall we do pretty well.

    Those cards are insanely nice.

    Thanks! I admit I get to cheat a bit on this. 1999 Topps Finest cards come with the peel on. I peel them off and send them in, ensuring that the surface is pristine. A couple times I noted some residue left on the card after peeling that is in the same shape as the wording on the peel "TOPPS FINEST PROTECTOR PEEL AND REMOVE COATING". It's not ink, almost like Topps printed the cards on a sheet, then applied the coating, then printed the wording on the coating. The press of that ink then compressed the sticky residue of the coating which was left on the surface of the card. A little bit of microfiber cloth action resolves that.

    Then it's a question of centering, which I look at my previous examples that have snagged a 9.0 on the sub or better. For these cards either they are on point or extremely noticeably off center.

    Edges and corners is all about being honest with oneself :). Most of the cards I put in for grading I pulled from packs myself or carefully curated when buying online. I've had a couple misses - the Randy Moss Sensations has a hilarious ebay backstory.

  6. #6




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    Let’s hear that Moss eBay back story!

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