I just got the word that my Kobe Bryant and MJ from 96-97 ex-2000 were about to be shipped. I was super excited because I felt like the cards were immaculate. (In fairness there was one small flaw on the Kobe). So I logged on to check the scores. MJ: 9.5 x 3 surfaces.....6.5. Kobe:9.5x2, 9.0 surfaces......6. I've always heard the surfaces were tough grades on this set, but I legitimately thought they looked beautiful before sending them to be graded. What exactly are they looking for on the surfaces that I'm not aware of because evidently they're seeing something I'm not seeing. The grades are what they are at this point, but I just want to know what to look for on the surfaces so I don't waste anymore time/money having stuff graded from that series.
According to the population report, 4613 cards from the 96-97 E-X2000 were graded -
https://www.beckett.com/grading/set_match/3121353
Of that, only 128 haved gotten a 9.5 or better which is about 3% of the time, pretty hard to gem these cards. I took a look at Kobe's specific reports.
BGS 5 (46 total) - all have a surface grade of 4
BGS 5.5 (16 total) - all but 1 has a surface grade of 4.5
BGS 6 (162 total) - all but 1 has a surface grade of 5
BGS 6.5 (91 total) - all but 3 have a surface grade of 5.5.
BGS 7 (286 total) - all but 32 have a surface grade of 6.
For these 601 cards graded, 94% of them graded low because of surface issues. Unfortunately I'm not familiar with the brand to comment on what flaws are typically found on the surface that graders appear to be so hard on.
According to Beckett's set information -
https://www.beckett.com/basketball/1996-97/e-x2000/ - "The cards are designated as condition sensitive due to the easy nature of damaging the cards." With a clear plastic surface, it's possible there's easy to miss surface scratches, roller lines, scuffs, bubbles in the plastic, warping, discoloration, or a number of other things that could affect the plastic.
Sorry they didn't grade higher but an MJ 7.5 and a Kobe 7 are pretty solid. I saw on ebay a Kobe BGS 7 sold for $229 and a BGS 7.5 for $162 (weird). An MJ 6.5 went for #40 and a couple 8.5's went for $75 so personally I think they were worth grading. At the very least you know the surface won't get any worse
Surface flaws can be really sneaky sometimes. Once you have the card back and in hand, at least you know the flaw is the surface and you can narrow your focus onto that to see what is wrong. Problem is, sometimes in the slab you can't tell until you remove it. I've had that a few times.
I must have gotten lucky. Overall for Kobe Ex2000 was a 9. All grades were a 9 but centering which was
8.5.
Card Serial: 12191317
Randbrus510 Wrote:I must have gotten lucky. Overall for Kobe Ex2000 was a 9. All grades were a 9 but centering which was
8.5.
Card Serial: 12191317
Do you have a high quality scan you could share? Could help the OP determine the difference between his surface grade and yours.
I can take a picture later sure. It will probably be hard to tell since it's in a case. A lot of times you can't see it with the naked eye. I bought an inexpensive Magnifier to help with that. I'll be more then happy to take a picture.
I'll have to try on my computer. I upload and add the attachment and nothing displays.