I'm not a professional grader, just a longtime collector. I have a pretty good idea what constitutes gem mint, and what's considered poor. It's just everything in between that throws me. I've scanned one of my cards here. Help me out by giving it a grade in the embedded poll.

1964 Topps Pete Rose #125
I am a baseball purist, and though that's a position rife with double standards and moral high ground easily eroded by convincing arguments about the game's need for change, I firmly believe that Pete Rose will never be reinstated by Organized Baseball and enshrined in the Hall of Fame. But I'm also drawn to cards of Pete Rose, moral high ground be damned. So when I saw this card in a lot for $20 on eBay, I pounced. I think it's one of the best cards of the 1960s, and certainly one of the highlights of the lackluster 1964 set. But it's offcentered. And how much does that affect it's grade? I have no idea. Help me out.

I'm not a professional grader, just a longtime collector. I have a pretty good idea what constitutes gem mint, and what's considered poor. It's just everything in between that throws me. I've scanned one of my cards here. Help me out by giving it a grade in the embedded poll.

1962 Post Cereal Roberto Clemente #173
There was a time when I was only a handful of cards away from completing this set. Then something happened: I stopped caring. I couldn't bring myself to pay $10 for a couple of Cubs. I passed on an Adcock error. I had doubles of Marty Keough. I sold off most of my near-complete set, but I saved a few of the stars, including this one of Clemente. There's an inherent DIY type of beauty in collecting cereal-box cards. For one thing, the cards had to be cut out from the cereal box. You're probably not going to find cards with incredibly straight edges. I have to stop writing about this set. I'm going to want to start collecting it again!

I'm not a professional grader, just a longtime collector. I have a pretty good idea what constitutes gem mint, and what's considered poor. It's just everything in between that throws me. I've scanned one of my cards here. Help me out by giving it a grade in the embedded poll.

1954 Topps Whitey Ford #37
I paid $40 for a lot that contained this card and the 1956 Topps Whitey Ford. I thought it was a deal, especially considering the book value of the 1956 card alone is over that. This is an attractive card, with the added detail of the black-and-white action shot that was probably the photo study for the artwork on Ford's 1953 Topps card. 

surveys & polls

I'm not a professional grader, just a longtime collector. I have a pretty good idea what constitutes gem mint, and what's considered poor. It's just everything in between that throws me. I've scanned one of my cards here. Help me out by giving it a grade in the embedded poll.

1956 Topps Roberto Clemente #33
This is just an awesome card. A few years back I did the unthinkable—by my expectations—and completed the 1956 Topps set. It's the most comprehensive Topps set of the 1950s (in my opinion), since it features Mantle, Williams, Jackie Robinson, Bob Feller, Roy Campanella and Willie Mays on the same checklist. Nineteen-fifty-seven's a great set, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't have Bob Feller, Jackie Robinson, or Monte Irvin, for that matter. The last of the oversized card sets, 1956 has a stellar checklist full of big names. But what makes it a great set also makes it a burden for the budget-minded collector like me. I think I paid somewhere around $50 for this card. Did I overpay? Help me out in the embedded poll.

Now, I'm not a professional grader, just a longtime collector. I have a pretty good idea what constitutes gem mint, and what's considered poor. It's just everything in between that throws me.
I've scanned one of my cards here. Help me out by giving it a grade in the embedded poll.

1953 Topps Ed Mathews #37
This has always been one of my favorite cards—the subject, the artwork, the classic 1953 Topps set. It just works aesthetically for me. I think I paid $25 for this, and it was encased by a no-name grading company. They had it as a 4, I think. It was a struggle to remove it from its airtight case. I don't think I was ripped off at $25, but did I get a deal?