A few months ago a fellow ’93 Finest collector connected me with one of the few remaining cards in my set build. We worked out a deal and I added a Howard Johnson refractor to the collection. This card is one of the less often seen refractors, so I was glad to finally have one.
The rest of my set is already housed in graded slabs, so it was natural that I would send this example on to PSA for review. Close inspection revealed three minor issues: The card has a slight centering trouble, a horizontal refractor line, and a very minor ding on the lower right corner that is only visible on the back. Given PSA’s generous view towards refractor lines and the minor size of the other imperfections, I expected it to come back as a solid NM 7 or perhaps a NM-MT 8.
The card was received by PSA on May 16 and took just one day to complete the identification phase and enter grading. The grade became available on June 2 for a total processing time of 17 days, inclusive of weekends and a holiday.
The Result
I neglected to measure the card before sending it off, a major mistake given that Howard Johnson is one of the players often found with undersized refractors. It turns out the card is slightly smaller than the range of sizes PSA expects to find these cards. No evidence of trimming is noted, but the card’s dimensions pretty much kill off any chance of it getting a numerical grade. PSA only charged me for shipping costs, so I effectively paid $19 to show off my card for 45 seconds to some guy working in their office.
Oof.
