The purpose of this article is to let people know that a person's definition of mint may be different from another person. I as well as plenty of others have been told that the cards I would receive would be mint, but I did not receive mint cards and I do not like it at all. In this article I will be describing how to define cards as "Mint," "Near Mint," "Not Mint," and "Bad Condition." I hope that you take this into consideration, not only your cards but theirs too, and if this should be read by anybody, it should be read by the traders of Pokebeach.
This article is a response to this one:
http://www.pokebeach.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=65625&pid=1333063#pid1333063
Mint: (adjective)- Unused or newly made and never used
EG)This book is in mint condition.
This is how you want your cards to be. Mint. This means opening a booster pack, taking a card, and put it into a sleeve. Its not that hard. A mint card may be played, however it must have a sleeve on it (and be careful of bending cards or touching with fingers). A mint card should have no scratches, tears, edge wear, markings, bends or any other variations from a brand new card.
To ensure a card would be mint, I suggest that you put the card into a brand new sleeve (not a used one) into a toploader, into something like a shoebox or something of the sort (you can just put all of your mint cards in here). The sleeve will prevent scratches, toploader prevents bends, and the shoebox is used for extra protection/a nice organization thing. The only thing you really need to remember is that MINT means NO DAMAGE WHAT-SO-EVER.
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Near Mint: (adjective)- Somewhat used, but not often; still in perfect usable condition, with minor damage; something with slight wear and tear.
EG)This book is in near mint condition.
Near Mint cards are cards where there is a small amount of noticable damage on cards. Here is a good way to tell if a card is near mint: Hold the card up close to your eyes. do you see any damage? Yes? Now hold the card an arms length away. Still see the damage? No? Then your card is Near Mint. Be carful when dealing with Revers Holofoil cards, as they tend to scratch easily. And don't be fooled by Regular Holofoil cards as they are a bit harder to spot out the damage. Just remember this: If there is a MINOR scratch, or edge tear, your card is most likely Near Mint.
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Not Mint: (adjective)- Having easily noticeable damage on an object; of being in used condition, and noticeable change of condition.
EG)This book is not mint.
Having a card that is not mint is a bit unfortunate. Heres how you can tell if you have one. Firstly, if the card is bent or is slightly torn, or has a significant amount of edge tear, your card most likely belongs in this category. You should be able to tell if your card fits in this category at a glance of the card. Also if your card has quite a few scratches, as in it looks like sand scratched it, it probably fits here. To tell if a card is Not Mint, do the exact same process told in the Near Mint section, however if the card, at an arms length away, has any noticeable damage, you may classify it as Not Mint.
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Bad Condition: (adjective)- An object that is in bad or unbearable condition.
EG)This book is in bad condition.
I really shouldn't have to explain this... but I will. Its pretty close to not mint, and maybe not. If the cards has been torn (even a little bit), bent from one side to another, folded, scratched hard enough in which a white streak is showing, it's in Bad Condition. All Holofoils have a coat of silvery paper in between the front and back side. If scratched hard enough you will see this paper (its pretty cool). This paper also is a large contributor to edge tear, as it seems an extra piece of paper would do a bit more damage. All in all you should know if your card is in bad condition. End of story.
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When doing online trades, be very careful how you rate your cards. And be honest too, nobody wants a so called "Mint" Luxray GL Lv.X to have several scratches on it. When this happens, it ruins trading relationships, because after all, trading online is purely based on trust. So to end this, I would like to say: be honest about conditions, keep your cards mint, and I hope these guidelines help!
Written: 11/19/09
Edited: 11/20/09
This article is a response to this one:
http://www.pokebeach.com/forums/showthread.php?tid=65625&pid=1333063#pid1333063
Mint: (adjective)- Unused or newly made and never used
EG)This book is in mint condition.
This is how you want your cards to be. Mint. This means opening a booster pack, taking a card, and put it into a sleeve. Its not that hard. A mint card may be played, however it must have a sleeve on it (and be careful of bending cards or touching with fingers). A mint card should have no scratches, tears, edge wear, markings, bends or any other variations from a brand new card.
To ensure a card would be mint, I suggest that you put the card into a brand new sleeve (not a used one) into a toploader, into something like a shoebox or something of the sort (you can just put all of your mint cards in here). The sleeve will prevent scratches, toploader prevents bends, and the shoebox is used for extra protection/a nice organization thing. The only thing you really need to remember is that MINT means NO DAMAGE WHAT-SO-EVER.
----------
Near Mint: (adjective)- Somewhat used, but not often; still in perfect usable condition, with minor damage; something with slight wear and tear.
EG)This book is in near mint condition.
Near Mint cards are cards where there is a small amount of noticable damage on cards. Here is a good way to tell if a card is near mint: Hold the card up close to your eyes. do you see any damage? Yes? Now hold the card an arms length away. Still see the damage? No? Then your card is Near Mint. Be carful when dealing with Revers Holofoil cards, as they tend to scratch easily. And don't be fooled by Regular Holofoil cards as they are a bit harder to spot out the damage. Just remember this: If there is a MINOR scratch, or edge tear, your card is most likely Near Mint.
----------
Not Mint: (adjective)- Having easily noticeable damage on an object; of being in used condition, and noticeable change of condition.
EG)This book is not mint.
Having a card that is not mint is a bit unfortunate. Heres how you can tell if you have one. Firstly, if the card is bent or is slightly torn, or has a significant amount of edge tear, your card most likely belongs in this category. You should be able to tell if your card fits in this category at a glance of the card. Also if your card has quite a few scratches, as in it looks like sand scratched it, it probably fits here. To tell if a card is Not Mint, do the exact same process told in the Near Mint section, however if the card, at an arms length away, has any noticeable damage, you may classify it as Not Mint.
----------
Bad Condition: (adjective)- An object that is in bad or unbearable condition.
EG)This book is in bad condition.
I really shouldn't have to explain this... but I will. Its pretty close to not mint, and maybe not. If the cards has been torn (even a little bit), bent from one side to another, folded, scratched hard enough in which a white streak is showing, it's in Bad Condition. All Holofoils have a coat of silvery paper in between the front and back side. If scratched hard enough you will see this paper (its pretty cool). This paper also is a large contributor to edge tear, as it seems an extra piece of paper would do a bit more damage. All in all you should know if your card is in bad condition. End of story.
----------
When doing online trades, be very careful how you rate your cards. And be honest too, nobody wants a so called "Mint" Luxray GL Lv.X to have several scratches on it. When this happens, it ruins trading relationships, because after all, trading online is purely based on trust. So to end this, I would like to say: be honest about conditions, keep your cards mint, and I hope these guidelines help!
Written: 11/19/09
Edited: 11/20/09
