Frighten

Thanks for that info, never been into the comic space to know that was how they have handled things in the past. I can only assume that is what they are doing now, but they should really come out and say that so we know we are basically buying cards that are equivalent to being a qualifier on the grade. I already started a return for this particular card since I cannot trust their grading scale since they do not want to clarify their intent, oh well. Like their slabs but too much money involved for them to not be forthright with how they are deciding to grade this particular card.

Hmm alright, thanks for trying to get an answer anyway. Guess I'll have to return my purchase and avoid CGC graded cards for now. Too much money for a slab if the company cannot answer how they are grading a particular card with known manufacturing issues.

Would better images or high quality scans help? This card aside, can the grading team confirm if they are just accepting this manufacturing defect and not letting it hurt grades? If they are then that is fine it should just be known so people know what they are buying. If they aren’t then I would lean towards this card being over graded.

Thanks Mike, it is difficult to photograph this card being so shiny, but I can try and get better photos if needed. Also the cards cert # is 3997082016 but the scans on the CGC cert verification don't clearly show it.

Looks like photos are working for me now, so here are examples of the top edge being very obviously damaged. I do not believe it is chipping, since almost all of them have damage in this spot it is more likely from where they were electroplated, but it still shows as damage. But is CGC overlooking that since it is part of the manufacturing?

I know you are inundated with questions about the delay, but this is a different topic. I recently purchased a CGC graded metal UPC Charizard (quad 9.5s) and I am questioning how it got the high subgrades it got despite being damaged. I do not believe this was damaged in encapsulation/shipping, there are no paint flakes or dust inside the case indicating the chip happened post encapsulation. However, despite very obvious edge damage, it got a 9.5 edge grade. Is CGC just being lenient grading these cards because it is a manufacturer defect that they almost all have? If so I would like that clarified so I know if I got either an over graded card, or, if I should avoid CGC for these particular cards as they are being too lenient. I am kind of miffed that I paid what I did for a "gem mint" card that is arguably not even mint. I've tried attaching/inserting links for photos but isn't working, presumably because this is a new account.