The Standards · Public Rubric

Measured.
Not estimated.

Card grading is a luxury service. Customers should know exactly how their cards will be judged before they send them in. Below is the entire Excalibur rubric: the same one we apply to every examination, every time, on camera.

Step 01 · Sub-grades

Four measurements.

Each card is examined across four independent dimensions. The final grade is the average of all four.

01 — CENTERING

Centering

How close the width of the four borders are to one another, measured precisely in millimetres.

02 — CORNERS

Corners

How many of the four corners are rounded to the perfect 3.175 mm radius.

03 — SURFACE

Surface

How much damage, if any, appears on the front and back of the card.

04 — EDGES

Edges

How much damage, if any, appears on the outside edges of the card.

Step 02 · What we measure

Three levels
of damage.

Every defect on a card falls into one of three buckets, each scored on millimetre tolerances. We also flag misprints and edge damage independently.

Tier · Micro

Micro damage

Visible only under microscope or extreme close-up. Light scratches and micro whitening that does not penetrate deeper than 0.25 mm into the border.

Tier · Minor

Minor surface damage

Card material intact but visibly affected — dents, bends, creases, grooves. Holographic-layer damage up to 8 mm also counts as minor.

Tier · Major

Major surface damage

Card material removed or obscured — holes, rips, scratches, scrapes, weathering, foreign substances and markings.

We also flag misprints (missing ink, blurred, wrong text, shifted, foil defect) and edge damage (faults, lips, fraying, peeling, whitening) independently of the surface buckets.

Reference

Damage
in pictures.

Real cards, real defects. The same vocabulary we use on every examination video.

Continuous rolling dent on a card surface
Continuous / rolling dent
Markings on a card surface
Markings
Hole through a card
Hole
Pressure lines on a card
Pressure lines
Print lines on a card
Print lines
Tear or rip on a card
Tear / rip
Scrape on a card surface
Scrape
Severe whitening on a card edge
Severe whitening
Minor whitening on a card edge
Whitening · minor
Micro whitening on a card edge
Micro whitening · < 0.25 mm
Whitening on a card edge
Whitening
Step 03 · The Scale

From Atrocious
to Prismatic.

After examination, the card receives a final grade between 1 and 10, derived from the average of the four sub-grades.

10
Prismatic The apex. Pristine on every measurable axis.
Apex
9
Gem Mint Flawless to the trained eye.
Top tier
8
Mint Effectively new condition.
High
7
Near Mint Subtle, almost imperceptible wear.
High
6
Good Light, visible handling.
Mid
5
Decent Honest play wear.
Mid
4
Light Damage Clearly handled but intact.
Worn
3
Medium Damage Significant wear across multiple axes.
Worn
2
Heavy Damage Substantial degradation.
Damaged
1
Atrocious Severely compromised condition.
Damaged

Same rubric, every examination. Without exception.

Step 04 · The fine print

Specs,
grade by grade.

Exactly what each grade tolerates across the four sub-grades. Numbers are millimetre tolerances unless noted.

  1. 10

    Prismatic

    Centering
    Perfect borders front · < 0.25 mm back. Cannot be printed on a slant.
    Corners
    4 / 4 perfectly rounded
    Surface
    No damage, misprints or print lines
    Edges
    No damage
  2. 9

    Gem Mint

    Centering
    ≤ 0.25 mm front · ≤ 0.5 mm back
    Corners
    3 / 4 perfectly rounded
    Surface
    Misprints / print lines ≤ 20% of surface · cumulative micro damage ≤ 1.5 mm
    Edges
    Cumulative micro damage ≤ 1.5 mm
  3. 8

    Mint

    Centering
    ≤ 0.5 mm front · ≤ 0.75 mm back
    Corners
    2 / 4 perfectly rounded
    Surface
    Misprints / print lines ≤ 30% · cumulative minor ≤ 4 mm and/or micro ≤ 25 mm
    Edges
    Cumulative minor ≤ 4 mm and/or micro ≤ 25 mm
  4. 7

    Near Mint

    Centering
    ≤ 0.75 mm front · ≤ 1 mm back
    Corners
    1 / 4 perfectly rounded
    Surface
    Cumulative minor damage ≤ 8 mm
    Edges
    Cumulative edge damage ≤ 8 mm
  5. 6

    Good

    Centering
    ≤ 1.25 mm front · ≤ 1.25 mm back
    Corners
    0 / 4 required
    Surface
    Cumulative minor damage ≤ 20 mm
    Edges
    Cumulative edge damage ≤ 20 mm
  6. 5

    Decent

    Centering
    1.5 mm+ front / back
    Corners
    0 / 4 required
    Surface
    Cumulative minor ≤ 35 mm · major ≤ 5 mm
    Edges
    Cumulative edge ≤ 35 mm · major ≤ 5 mm
  7. 4

    Light Damage

    Centering
    1.5 mm+ front / back
    Corners
    0 / 4 required
    Surface
    Cumulative minor ≤ 55 mm · major ≤ 10 mm
    Edges
    Cumulative edge ≤ 55 mm · major ≤ 10 mm
  8. 3

    Medium Damage

    Centering
    1.5 mm+ front / back
    Corners
    0 / 4 required
    Surface
    Cumulative minor ≤ 75 mm · major ≤ 15 mm
    Edges
    Cumulative edge ≤ 75 mm · major ≤ 15 mm
  9. 2

    Heavy Damage

    Centering
    1.5 mm+ front / back
    Corners
    0 / 4 required
    Surface
    Cumulative minor ≤ 95 mm · major ≤ 25 mm
    Edges
    Cumulative edge ≤ 95 mm · major ≤ 20 mm
  10. 1

    Atrocious

    Centering
    1.5 mm+ front / back
    Corners
    0 / 4 required
    Surface
    Cumulative minor > 95 mm · major > 20 mm
    Edges
    Anything beyond grade 2 thresholds

Final grade = average of the 4 sub-grades. Not rounded. A sub-grade of 4 or below pulls the overall to that floor.

House rules

Things
to know.

A few hard limits and guarantees we apply without exception, on every submission.

RC · restored (graded 1–10)    CC · custom (no grade)    AC · altered (no grade)

Ready when you are

Send us only the cards
you’re confident about.

Now that you know exactly how we grade, choose your cards accordingly. Submission is one form away.

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