| name | card-anatomy-fundamentals |
| description | Use when evaluating any trading or sportscard for grading, pricing, or authentication. Establishes the vocabulary every other skill in this corpus uses.
|
Card Anatomy Fundamentals
Every modern card has six layers and is graded on four axes. Master the vocabulary or every other skill in this corpus reads as noise.
The six physical layers
| Layer | Function | Common defects |
|---|
| Cardstock core | Structural | Bend, crease, edge fray |
| Back ink | Printed reverse | Print smudge, roller mark |
| Front ink | Image + frame | Print line, registration shift |
| Laminate (gloss/matte) | Surface protection | Scratch, dimple, fingerprint |
| Foil substrate (if applicable) | Holo/refractor | Foil bleed, peel |
| Top coat | Final seal | Snow, haze |
Pre-war and vintage may have only cardstock + ink — no laminate.
The four grading axes
Every reputable grader scores: Centering · Corners · Edges · Surface. Total grade is gated by the WEAKEST axis. A card with 10/10/10/9 = 9 overall in most systems. Read every card by walking these four axes in this order.
Era-tolerance bands
Graders apply different leniency by era:
- Modern (1981+): 55/45 centering caps a 10
- Pre-modern (1950–1980): 60/40 acceptable for high grades
- Vintage (1948–1949): 65/35 may still earn 9
- Pre-war (pre-1948): 70/30 possible at 8
Never apply modern tolerances to vintage — you'll grade everything down two points.
Where this fits in the X3 empire
Foundation for every CardPrepAI tool. The Concierge agent reads cards by walking these four axes. Use this skill to ground LLM responses about grading.
