At Legends Lounge Games, card condition is part of what you are buying. As the seller, we grade our trading card singles conservatively so that the card you receive meets—or, whenever possible, exceeds—the condition you expected from the listing.
Our goal is not to assign the highest condition grade we can justify. When a card appears close to the line between two conditions, we generally choose the lower condition. We would rather have you open your order and feel that a card looks better than expected than wonder why it received the grade it did.
This guide explains the standards we use when listing raw trading cards. Our approach is informed by established marketplace grading practices, including ManaPool's card grading guidance, while reflecting our own conservative standards as the seller. Condition grading is visual and involves judgment, so minor differences between graders can occur.
How We Grade Cards
We consider the card as a whole, including the front and back surfaces, edges, corners, printing characteristics, scratches, scuffing, whitening, dents, bends, creases, discoloration, and other visible defects. A single defect can sometimes be significant enough to determine the card's overall condition even when the rest of the card presents well.
Manufacturing defects are still part of the physical card you receive. Print lines, factory scratches, edge or corner issues, surface imperfections, and similar production defects may therefore affect the condition we assign.
Near Mint (NM)
Near Mint is our highest standard condition for raw singles. A Near Mint card should look clean and well cared for, with only very minor imperfections that do not meaningfully detract from its overall appearance.
Minor imperfections can include extremely small amounts of edge or corner wear, faint surface marks, minor print imperfections, or similarly limited flaws. A card does not need to be absolutely flawless to qualify as Near Mint, but obvious or accumulated wear will cause us to grade it lower.
Because we grade conservatively, cards that another seller might consider borderline Near Mint may be listed by us as Lightly Played.
Lightly Played (LP)
A Lightly Played card remains attractive and structurally sound but shows minor signs of handling, play, storage, or manufacturing wear. This can include small amounts of whitening, minor edge or corner wear, light scratches or scuffing, minor surface wear, or a limited combination of these imperfections.
Lightly Played cards should not have the level of wear we associate with regular or significant play. When we are uncertain whether the accumulated wear still fits our Near Mint standard, we generally list the card as Lightly Played.
Moderately Played (MP)
A Moderately Played card has clearly noticeable wear while remaining suitable for normal play. It may have more extensive whitening, scratching, scuffing, edge or corner wear, surface wear, discoloration, minor dents or bends, or a combination of multiple defects.
At this grade, the imperfections should be readily apparent during normal inspection. We use Moderately Played when a card has moved beyond minor cosmetic wear but has not reached the substantial wear or structural issues associated with Heavily Played or Damaged cards.
Heavily Played (HP)
A Heavily Played card has substantial and obvious wear. Examples can include heavy whitening, significant scratches or scuffing, pronounced edge and corner wear, dents, bends, creasing, discoloration, or numerous defects across the card.
The card should remain identifiable and generally usable as a trading card, but buyers should expect significant cosmetic wear. If damage materially affects the card's integrity or moves beyond ordinary heavy play wear, we list it as Damaged instead.
Damaged (DMG)
A Damaged card has one or more significant defects that go beyond normal play wear. Examples can include major creases, tears, water or liquid damage, peeling or delamination, severe bends, punctures, heavy inking or writing, major surface damage, missing material, or other structural damage.
Some damaged cards may not be tournament legal even when they can still be collected or used casually. Buyers should assume a Damaged card has a substantial defect unless an item-specific description or photograph provides additional detail.
Foil Cards
Foil cards are evaluated using the same conservative approach, with additional attention paid to foil-specific surface scratching, clouding, print lines, and other visible imperfections. Foil curling can occur because of manufacturing, storage conditions, temperature, or humidity. Minor natural curvature by itself may not determine a card's condition, but severe warping or associated damage can affect the grade.
Factory and Printing Imperfections
Trading cards can leave the manufacturer with print lines, roller marks, centering differences, cutting imperfections, surface marks, edge wear, or other production characteristics. Because our condition grade describes the physical card we are selling—not simply how the defect occurred—we take noticeable factory imperfections into account when grading.
What Our Condition Grades Do Not Mean
Our condition labels describe the physical condition of raw trading cards. They are not professional authentication or numerical grading, and a Near Mint listing is not a promise that a card will receive a particular grade from PSA, Beckett, CGC, or another grading company.
Centering, print quality, microscopic defects, and other characteristics considered by professional grading companies can also differ from the standards used to describe raw cards for sale.
Photos and Individual Card Notes
When we provide an item-specific photograph or written condition note, that information supplements the condition grade. We encourage you to review those details before purchasing, particularly for higher-value cards or cards with a notable individual characteristic.
If an individual photograph clearly shows a characteristic of the card, the photograph should be considered part of the item's condition information.
Our Conservative Grading Promise
As the seller, our responsibility is to set a reasonable expectation before your order arrives. We intentionally favor conservative grading and try to meet or exceed that expectation with every single we ship.
When a card is borderline, we would rather grade it down than grade it up. That approach may mean some cards in our inventory are better than the condition shown on their label. We consider that a better outcome than overstating a card's condition.
We're Human Too
Mistakes can happen when either grading or inputting the data into our system. We do our best to also check when pulling/ packing orders. If we find we've made a grading mistake, we'll reach out to you to talk about it and propose any fixes or refunds.
Questions About a Card?
If you would like more information about the condition of a particular card before ordering, please contact Legends Lounge Games and include the product name or product link whenever possible. We are happy to clarify a listing when additional information is available.