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Condition guide

At Kādo, we understand that judging the condition of a trading card can be subjective, opinions vary between collectors on what qualities deem a card to be Near Mint or Excellent. So, we have decided to include our easy to understand Condition Guide as a way to guide you in understanding what we deem our cards to be. You will find below the guidelines for raw cards, graded cards, booster packs and booster boxes. If you would like any further clarification, please do not hesitate to get in touch via our Contact Us page.

 

 

Raw cards

NM/M (Near Mint / Mint)

  • A card in Near Mint / Mint condition will have no more than very minor wear, or may have a small piece of whitening along one edge of the card.

EX (Excellent)

  • A card in Excellent condition will be showing some signs of minor play. A card in this condition may exhibit one or more of the following:
    • Very small marks on the sides of card
    • Light wear around one or more corners/edges of the card
    • Minor surface scratches on either the front or back of the card
    • Small binder bending/creases
    • Surface scratches on the foil of a holographic card

 

  • All of our artist autographed cards will be deemed as EX unless graded by a professional grading company.

 

US (Used)

  • A card in Used condition will show more significant wear. A card in this condition may exhibit one or more of the following:
    • Whitening around multiple sides
    • Fading/whitening of front and/or back surface of the card
    • Shuffling marks/creases at the edges of the card
    • Distinct corner wear
    • Moderate binder bending
    • Clearly visible surface scratches on a holographic card
    • Minor creasing

 

  • Used condition cards will also include:
  1. All artist-signed cards that are otherwise in EX or US condition.
  2. All cards which have been written on by previous owners, but are otherwise in NM or EX condition.

 

  • You should assume that opaque sleeves will be required to play a Used condition card in officially sanctioned tournaments.

 

HP (Heavily Played)

  • A card in Heavily Played Condition is deemed to be our lowest card condition. These cards show more significant wear or damage, and will not generally be sold on our website. A card in this condition may exhibit one or more of the following:
    • Major Inking
    • Physical Damage (minor tearing or holes)
    • Heavy corner wear
    • Major front or back whitening
    • Creases – 1 or more
    • Major water damage
    • Writing on the front or back of the card
    • Major shuffle creases
    • Cards with very obvious surface damage, minor indentations etc
    • Heavy, consistent, border wear
    • You should assume that opaque sleeves will be required to play a Good condition card in sanctioned tournaments.

 

PSA Graded Cards:

  • GEM-MT (Gem Mint) 10
    • A PSA GEM Mint 10 card is a virtually perfect card.
  • MINT 9
    • A PSA Mint 9 is a superb condition card that does not quite reach the required criteria that a GEM Mint 10 card expects.
  • NM-MT (Near Mint/Mint) 8
    • A PSA NM-MT 8 is a super high-end card that appears Mint 9 at first glance, but upon closer inspection, the card will have flaws.
  • NM 7 (Near Mint)
    • A PSA NM 7 is a card with just a slight surface wear visible upon close inspection.
  • EX-MT (Excellent-Mint) 6
    • A PSA EX-MT 6 card may have visible surface wear or a printing defect which does not detract from its overall appeal.
  • EX (Excellent) 5
    • On PSA EX-5 cards, very minor rounding of the corners is becoming evident. Surface wear or printing defects are more visible.
  • VG-EX (Very Good-Excellent) 4
    • A PSA VG-EX 4 card’s corners may be slightly rounded.
  • VG (Very Good) 3
    • A PSA VG 3 card reveals some rounding of the corners, though not extreme.
  • GOOD 2
    • A PSA 2 Good card’s corners show accelerated rounding and surface wear is starting to become obvious.
  • FR (Fair) 1.5
    • A PSA Fair 1.5 card’s corners will show extreme wear, possibly affecting framing of the picture.
  • PR (Poor) 1
    • A PSA Poor 1 will exhibit many of the same qualities of a PSA Fair 1.5 but the defects may have advanced to such a serious stage that the eye appeal of the card has nearly vanished in its entirety.

Click here for a more detailed description of PSA’s grading standards.

 

Beckett Graded Cards:

Beckett Grading Services uses an easy-to-understand 1 to 10-point grading scale, with descending increments of one-half point (for example 10, 9.5, 9, 8.5, etc.). You are provided with a detailed report on your card's key attributes, there are no confusing qualifiers to decipher.

Top-graded cards are identifiable at a glance thanks to Beckett Grading Services' premium-colored labels. A gold label on the front of the unique cardholder signifies the highest graded cards (9.5-10). A silver label graces cards graded 8.5 to 9. Cards in all other grades are identified with a distinctive and attractive white label.

For more information regarding Beckett’s Grading guidelines, click here.

 

Booster Boxes/Sealed Products

Sealed/Like New

A box or sealed item listed as “Sealed/Like New” will exhibit no signs of wear or damage to the cardboard exterior or surrounding plastic wrap. You can expect an item listed in this category to be worthy of displaying for sealed collectors.

Sealed/Excellent

A sealed item listed in this category will be a “Like New” but will also exhibit some signs of wear and tear. These sealed items will still be untouched inside, but may show one or some of the following:

  • A tear to the external plastic wrap – not significant enough for the contents to be removed.
  • A dent to the cardboard surrounding
  • A crease in the cardboard surrounding.

 

Sealed/Broken Seal

An item listed in this category will be show significant signs of seal damage on the plastic, but the contents will remain untouched. You can expect these items to not be worthy of displaying as a sealed item, but will still be worthy of opening up to view its contents. Items in this category may show one or more of the following:

  • Significant tears in the outer plastic wrap – enough for the contents to be accessible.
  • Dents or tears in the cardboard surrounding
  • Folds or creases in the cardboard surrounding

 

Opened/No Seal.

It will be very rare for us to sell an item that has no external plastic wrap surrounding it. On the rare occasion that this may become available, you can expect to see one or more of the following:

  • No external plastic wrap – the contents are accessible and may have been altered before arriving in the Kado warehouse
  • Dents or tears in the cardboard surrounding
  • Folds, Holes or creases in the cardboard surrounding
  • Folds in the interior packaging. If this is a booster box, the booster packs may show signs of wear and tear.