Card condition problems explained, flaw by flaw
Whitening, dents, creases, print lines, centering and surface wear: how TCGplayer measures each flaw and how CGC and SGC describe it on their grading scales.
By the Rip.fan Editorial Team.
Published 9 min read
A card condition problem is any flaw that moves a card down a seller’s condition scale or a grader’s number scale. The common ones are whitening, edge wear, dents, creases, print lines, off-center cuts and surface marks. TCGplayer sorts each flaw by type and size and sets the highest condition a card with that flaw can be listed at, on a scale of Near Mint (NM), Lightly Played (LP), Moderately Played (MP), Heavily Played (HP) and Damaged. It also treats some factory flaws differently from handling damage. CGC and SGC describe the same flaws grade by grade, and they don’t always agree.
Our guide to card condition grades covers each step as a whole; this one goes flaw by flaw.
Which flaws come from the factory?
TCGplayer calls a production error a defect: a change from the card’s intended design made during manufacturing. Its examples include miscuts, crimping, ink that is extra or missing, gloss errors, and holofoil stamps that are missing or out of place. It splits defects into two groups.
- Defects that make a card Damaged outright. These affect the card’s integrity, such as its structure or its ability to be authenticated. TCGplayer’s examples are foil bubbling larger than 1mm, missing text such as the card’s name, crimping, and problems with an authentication gem.
- Defects judged by size. Ink errors, blurry text, gloss coating errors, miscuts and square corners fall here. A defect covering up to 2.5 square millimeters is allowed at NM. From 2.5 to 5 square millimeters the card is LP at best, from 5 to 10 it is HP at best, and beyond 10 it is Damaged.
Note the jump: once a defect passes 5 square millimeters, the best condition falls from LP to HP, skipping MP.
There are exceptions. A dull or rough factory cut is not counted as edge wear, and an error found on every copy of a card, or one the measurements can’t capture, such as roller lines, may be judged under TCGplayer’s release notes. A product’s frequent miscuts, though, don’t usually excuse them.
CGC words this differently for TCG cards. Its 9 allows a few minor manufacturing or handling defects, its 8.5 small handling defects, its 8 small-to-moderate handling defects, and its 7.5 one moderate defect or several small handling defects.
What is whitening, and how is it different from edge wear?
TCGplayer files whitening under surface wear: the colored layer of the card buffed or scraped away until the bare card stock beneath shows. Edge wear is lost color, gloss or material along the edges, borders and corners, under names such as fraying, nicks and rough edges. The line between them is 0.5mm. Once wear reaches more than 0.5mm in from the edge, the part past that line is measured as surface wear.
They are treated very differently:
- Edge wear in one run of up to 20mm is allowed at NM. Longer runs drop the card a step at 20mm, at 80mm and at 160mm.
- Surface wear of any size rules out NM. Up to 2.5 square millimeters caps a card at LP, up to 10 at MP and up to 40 at HP. More than that makes it Damaged.
TCGplayer warns that white-bordered cards are particularly hard to judge, and that lost gloss or frayed card stock can be the sign of wear on them.
Peeling is sorted by its length. A peel of the surface layer under 2.5mm long counts as slight edge wear, one of 2.5 to 5mm caps the card at MP, and one longer than 5mm makes it Damaged.
The grading scales describe corners and edges in words. CGC allows two or three fuzzy corners at 6.5 and 6, and SGC slight fuzzing at 6. Chipping along an edge first appears at CGC’s 5.5 and SGC’s 5.
How are dents judged?
TCGplayer measures a dent by its area and by whether it shows through to the other side.
| Dent | Best TCGplayer condition |
|---|---|
| One tiny dent that doesn’t show through | NM |
| Up to 4 square millimeters, not showing through | LP |
| 4 to 25 square millimeters, or any dent that shows through | MP |
| More than 25 square millimeters | HP |
| A dent that punctures the card | Damaged |
Straight-line dents follow a stricter ladder. None is allowed at NM. One up to 20mm long that doesn’t show through caps the card at LP, one of 20 to 50mm (or any that shows through) at MP, and one longer than 50mm at HP. A dent left by the holofoil authentication stamp is counted as a factory defect instead.
A ding is damage to a corner from a drop or a knock that bends it, and CGC’s scale allows one dinged corner at 6.5 and 6 and two or three at 5. Notches along an edge, which come from a rubber band around a stack of cards, appear as slight notching at SGC’s 6.
When does a bend become a crease?
TCGplayer defines a crease as a line or ridge made by folding, pressing or crushing, and any crease caps a card at MP. Bends are graded by length:
- Up to 10mm with no crease: LP at best.
- Up to 20mm, or showing a crease: MP at best.
- Longer than 20mm, with or without a crease: HP at best.
- A bend that breaks the card’s structure: Damaged.
On the grading scales, a crease means a mid grade. CGC’s 4.5 is its highest grade that mentions a crease, and it allows one light crease. SGC’s 5 allows one very slight crease on one side, and its 4 a light hairline crease on one or both sides.
What are print lines and print spots?
TCGplayer names roller lines as a factory defect its size measurements can’t capture, so they may be judged differently, under rules in its release notes. It also treats a roller mark as separate from an ordinary hairline mark on the surface.
SGC names print and refractor lines in most of its upper grades.
| SGC grade | Print or refractor lines |
|---|---|
| 10 Pristine and 10 Gem | None |
| 9 and 8.5 | A minor one may exist |
| 8 and 7.5 | One may exist |
| 7 | Print lines are acceptable |
CGC’s scale speaks of print spots: a Gem Mint 10 must be free of them, and a 9 allows one minor spot or surface defect. SGC’s 10 Gem lets through one slight print spot seen only under close scrutiny, if it doesn’t spoil the look of the card.
How do fine marks, scuffing and grime differ?
TCGplayer separates four kinds of surface trouble:
- Hairline marks that don’t reach the layer beneath are allowed at every condition up to 40mm long. A longer one caps the card at MP.
- Scuffing is a dense group of marks that can look cloudy or buffed, and TCGplayer lists clouding and binder or sleeve gloss among its names for it. A small patch is allowed at NM. Scuffing across all of one side caps the card at MP, and across both sides at HP.
- Grime is dirt or smudges from handling, such as finger oil. Even a spot of up to 2.5 square millimeters keeps a card out of NM.
- Foreign substances, such as mold, tape, pen, glue or food, count as damage. TCGplayer won’t let a card covered in one be sold through Direct or its Marketplace listings.
Fading or yellowing from long exposure to the sun also counts as damage. On the grading scales, CGC’s 9 must keep all its original gloss, while SGC’s 9 allows a small gloss break or surface mark.
How far off center is too far?
On TCGplayer, a card can sit up to 70/30 off center with no effect on its condition. Past that it is Damaged, though a Listing with Photos can still describe it at the condition it would have if it were centered. A cut dot on the card shows the cut shifted, but it doesn’t by itself mean the card is past 70/30.
The graders are tighter. SGC’s 10 Gem asks for 55/45 or better and its 9 for 60/40. CGC’s Gem Mint 10 allows about 55/45 on the front and 75/25 on the back, and for sports and non-sports cards its 9 asks for 60/40 on the front. Enter your border widths in the centering checker to see which grades your card’s centering meets. A skewed, or diamond, cut is a flaw of its own: CGC allows a very slight one at 8.5 and 8, and SGC a slight one at 7.
What about curling and foil cards?
On TCGplayer, a curled card is Damaged once its center rises more than 5mm above a flat surface. Foils are judged by the same rules, though TCGplayer notes that flaws can be easier to see on them and that foil Magic cards are especially prone to curling. Foils also have flaws of their own, such as speckled foiling and foil bubbling.
Flaw by flaw: the short version
| Flaw | Best TCGplayer condition with a small one | On the grading scales |
|---|---|---|
| Edge wear, one run up to 20mm | NM | CGC’s 9 allows slight minor flaws on the edges |
| One tiny dent | NM | A dinged corner first appears at CGC’s 6.5 |
| Crease | MP | First named at CGC’s 4.5 and SGC’s 5 |
| Roller or print line | Set by TCGplayer’s release notes | None at SGC’s 10s, a minor one at 9 |
| Hairline mark up to 40mm | NM | A small surface mark is allowed at SGC’s 9 |
| Off center past 70/30 | Damaged | SGC’s 7.5 and 7 ask for 70/30 or better |
A small amount of whitening (surface wear), a straight-line dent or a bend with no crease can still be LP on TCGplayer, and a curl over 5mm is Damaged.
How should you use this?
Check a card flaw by flaw and take the lowest condition any single flaw allows. TCGplayer says condition depends on both the number of flaws and their size, so several small ones can lower it too. Our guide to buying raw cards online covers which photos to ask for, and the pre-grading checklist turns these checks into a grade estimate.
Our guides to handling cards safely and storing trading cards cover avoiding dents, creases and grime. Never try to fix a flaw: spotting an altered card explains how graders treat pressing and trimming. Rip.fan’s Pokémon card pages price each raw condition separately, from NM to DM, where a price exists, and the glossary defines card condition, a raw card and the grading scale.
Frequently asked questions
What is a gum stain?
A stain from the chewing gum that older packs held between the wrapper and the top or bottom card. Over time the gum leaves a stain, which lowers a card's value considerably.
Does a wax stain keep a card out of the top grades at CGC?
It holds a card to the middle grades. Wax stains first appear on CGC's scale at 7.5, where a very slight one is tolerated on the reverse. By 6.5 a light wax stain on the front is acceptable, and by 6 a fuller wax stain on the front.
Can a card with writing on it still get a grade?
Yes, a low one. At CGC, one small writing mark on the back still allows Good+ 2.5, a little writing on the front or back allows Good 2, and writing across the surface can still reach Fair 1.5.
How far can a crease run at CGC's lower grades?
At Good+ 2.5, creasing can be heavier but must not travel across the card from edge to edge. At Good 2, creasing may run from one edge to the other.
Do oversized cards get more room for flaws at TCGplayer?
Yes. An oversized card is 1.4 times the size of a standard one, so TCGplayer allows flaws 1.4 times larger at each severity.