Card
condition is one aspect of trading cards that determine the value of a card.
There are four areas of interest in determining a cards condition. Centering,
corners, edges and surface are taken into consideration, for imperfections,
such as color spots and blurred images, and wear, such as creases, scratches
and tears, when determining a trading cards value. Cards are considered poor
to pristine based on their condition, or in some cases rated 1 through 10. A
card in pristine condition, for example, will be evaluated much higher than a
card in poor condition.
Condition
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Description
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Pristine Super
As new
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Perfect card. No imperfections or
damage to the naked eye and upon close inspection.
Just like it was when
first printed. No creases or bends, writing (front or back), no marks of
any kind. It is a perfect clean card that's seldom seen.
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Mint condition
No marks either side
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No printing imperfections or damage
to the naked eye. Very minor printing imperfections or damage upon close
inspection. Clean gloss with one or two scratches.
Similar to mint in
appearance, with only minor corner bumps (wear). No bends, creases, or
soil. The may either be postmarked/stamped, or unused. NO writing or marks
on image side . It is a clean, fresh card.
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Near Mint
Slight marks
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Noticeable, but minor, imperfections
or wear on the card. Solid gloss with very minor scratches.
Corners may be slightly
bumped (worn) or rounded. May have an almost undetectable (very light, very
small, and/or very short) crease or bend that doesn't detract from the
overall appearance of the image side. No soiling, or tears. May have
writing or collectors name-mark-initials-stamp.
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Very Good
Corners bend, creases, tears
Image side perfect
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Noticeable imperfections or moderate
wear on the card. Heavy gloss lost with very minor scuffing, and an
extremely subtle tear.
Corners are more
bumped/rounded than very good, with noticeable bends and/or creases. May
have a small amount of light soiling (this includes stains and foxing) that
doesn't detract from the overall appearance of the image side. May have a
little bit of writing in small letters at edges on the front side of the
card, that doesn't detract from main image (many times, however, writing on
the front will detract from main image). May have a small tear,
no larger than 3/8 inch.
.
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Good
Image side still ok
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Noticeable scuffing or tear.
Heavy imperfections or heavy wear on
the card. Almost no gloss. Minor scuffing or very minor tear . May have
cut borders for a extreme rare card. May have total loss of paper and glue
remains if the card is rare !
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Poor
Paper loss
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Destructiveloss of paper, corners,
holes or wear on the card. No gloss. Heavy scuffing, severe tear or heavy
creases. Can
still be a valuable card if rare.
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