Okay so let me tell you about this whole Kerry Wood card grading adventure. Been trying forever to get higher grades on my cards, right? Usually they come back as PSA 8s or 9s, never that sweet 10. Gets frustrating spending money and waiting months for basically “nice” but not “great”. Heard whispers online about some Kerry Wood techniques supposedly boosting grades. Figured, why not try it myself?
Starting Out Totally Clueless
First thing I did? Grabbed a few Kerry Woods I had laying around. A couple Bowman Chrome rookies from way back. They weren’t mint by any stretch – a ding here, a soft corner there, the usual stuff. Figured if I could get these to pop, the method had something. But honestly, I had zero idea what I was actually looking for with Kerry Wood cards specifically.
Went hunting. Scoured forums, read old blog posts, even dug into some auction descriptions where cards graded high. Patterns started showing up. Seems like with Kerry stuff, graders go kinda easy on:
- Corners: Corners don’t need to be razor sharp like on some modern cards. Little bit soft? Maybe okay.
- Surface: Very small surface nicks or print lines sometimes slide through. Not huge ones, but slight imperfections.
- Centering: This was interesting. Kerry stuff, especially the Topps base rookie, seems to get a tiny bit more leeway if the centering isn’t absolutely perfect. Still needs to be decent though!
Anyway, so this is the “secret” everyone whispers about? Basically knowing which flaws graders might overlook specifically for Kerry Wood cards. Go figure. Seems obvious once you see it, but nobody spells it out.
Putting It To The Test
Right, time to walk the walk. I pulled out three Kerry Wood cards:
- A ’98 Topps base rookie – decent centering, sharp corners, but a tiny surface scratch you really had to look for under bright light.
- A ’99 Fleer Ultra – looked clean to my eye, corners seemed crisp.
- Another Bowman Chrome rookie – worse than my first one, slight whiting on one corner.
Cleaned them gently, just like any other card submission. No funny business. But this time, when I filled out the submission forms, I didn’t just mark “Authentic & Grade”. For fun, and because I’d seen this mentioned, on the notes/comments section for each Kerry card, I wrote: “Please note characteristic traits per player/series.” Feels weird typing that out, like a secret handshake.
Packaged them up, same as always. Sent them off to PSA, paid my fees, and tried to forget about them.
The Wait and The Surprise
Months later, the email notification pops. Heart jumps a bit. Open up the results:
- The ’98 Topps? PSA 9. Was expecting maybe an 8 considering that scratch I agonized over!
- The ’99 Fleer Ultra? PSA 10 Gem Mint. My first ever 10 on a vintage card! Almost choked.
- The lesser Bowman Chrome? PSA 8. Honestly, probably what it deserved, that corner was weak.
But here’s the kicker – the comments section for each Kerry card in the report actually had a little note saying something like “Graded on the curve” or “Noted characteristic surface for issue”. They acknowledged it!
So yeah. The Kerry Wood “secrets” boil down to:
- Knowing where flaws might be forgiven more easily on his specific cards.
- Politely reminding the graders to look for those common traits in your submission notes.
- Sending in cards that play to those strengths. Doesn’t turn junk into treasure, but helps nudge “good” into “great”.
Felt darn good cracking that first 10. Was it all the note? Or did I just pick well? Impossible to say for sure, but that one note feels less like voodoo now and more like… useful info. Gonna try it on some other early 2000s guys known for tough centering next. See what happens.
