How we grade cards
Every single we list has been looked at front and back under a lamp before it was sleeved. The grade on the listing is our honest view of its wear; if a card has a specific flaw, the listing says what it is and where it is, and that description is part of what you are buying. We grade conservatively on purpose. A card graded NM by us should look NM to you when it comes out of the toploader, and if it does not, that is a return at our expense, not yours.
The five grades
NM — Near Mint. Looks pack fresh at arm's length. At most one or two tiny imperfections you have to hunt for: a single faint whitening spot on a back corner, say. No scratches on the front, no bends, no print lines you would notice in a binder.
LP — Lightly Played. Small but visible wear. Light edge or corner whitening on the back, a light surface scratch, minor print lines, slight edge roughness. Nothing that catches the eye in a binder page.
MP — Moderately Played. Obvious wear. Whitening on several edges or corners, several scratches, light scuffing, or a small crease that does not break the surface. Still perfectly presentable in a sleeve, and usually the best value way to own a card you want to play or to fill a set with.
HP — Heavily Played. Heavy wear: significant whitening, deep scratches, creases, minor water damage. Sold for playing or set filling and priced to match.
DMG — Damaged. Structural damage: a hard crease, a tear, a hole, writing. Always described in full, with a photo where we have one.
Finish is separate from grade
"Reverse holo", "holo" and the Ball-pattern reverses are noted on the listing as the printing, not the condition. A reverse holo LP is a reverse holo with light wear. The grade is only ever about wear.
How we check
Each card gets the same look: the front under a lamp tilted to show scratches and print lines; the back the same way, then the four corners and the edges for whitening; then a flex for bends. We do not use a loupe for the grade. A loupe will find something on almost any card, including pack-fresh ones, and grading to that standard would mean calling everything LP. If you are buying for grading and want the loupe view, ask before you buy and we will photograph the card under magnification: close-up photos of any listed card are available on request.
Pack-fresh is not the same as perfect
Cards come out of packs with print lines, light scratches from the foil, off-centring and the occasional dinged corner. We grade what is in front of us, not what the factory intended. A pack-fresh card with a print line across the holo is LP here, and the listing says so. The all-foil 30th Celebration cards in particular come out of the pack showing scuffs under angled light more often than ordinary cards.
Graded cards
A graded card ("slab") has been sealed in a case by a grading company with a numbered grade on the label, PSA, CGC, Beckett or ACE most often, on a 1–10 scale. The grade is theirs, not ours: we show the company and the number from the label, and link to the company's own register so you can check the certificate number yourself. A PSA 10 is "Gem Mint"; a PSA 9 "Mint"; 8 "Near Mint–Mint"; 7 "Near Mint". Our NM covers roughly the range a grader would put at 7 to 9, and we say so because an NM card is not a guaranteed 10 and we would rather you knew that before sending one off.
Japanese cards
We grade Japanese cards the same way. Japanese print quality is generally better than English, so Japanese NM is a little easier to find, but the scale is the same.
If you disagree with a grade
Send a photo. If we have got it wrong we will refund the difference or take the card back, our postage both ways. See delivery and returns.