Posted By:
nbbrazil"....collectors will realize that beauty lies in the content and quality of the image and not in the condition of the mount. "
that someday will come when our society refuses to idolize movie stars and pay more attention to teachers.
Very interesting discussion. As someone mentioned above, grading was created in response to the increased presence of counterfeit/overpriced/altered cards in a booming market (mainly popular pre and post war cards and popular modern cards (mcgwire, jordan, gretzky)). In an ideal sense, grading eliminates the scum of this hobby by putting dealers and buyers on the same level. Buyers know the condition and authenticity of the cards they purchase. Dealers, previously driven by the need to accumulate profit to meet overhead AND take a tidy sum home, will need to jump on the grading bandwagon in order to survive in this internet auction world. Prices of cards will trend toward the basics of supply and demand...and not on the whim of beckett, SCD or dealers at shows. Therefore, previously overgraded and unauthentic cards will no longer be their tools of profit and novice collectors will no longer be their prey.
But, unfortunately, two aspects make the grading market not as perfect as one would think it to be.
1.) Grading is subjective. On the whole, i think grading from the big 3 are consistent. But, on the whole is not 100%...or even 95%. Weve seen numerous examples of overgraded and undergraded cards from all companies. This, of course, forces the buyer to "purchase the card, not the slab." But, by doing this, we defeat the basic purpose of grading....confidence in the condition and authenticity of the card. When i buy a PSA 3, it better damn well be a PSA 3!! But, as weve seen, that's not always the case. Someone above mentioned a 0.5 grading system to measure the margin of error in grading. Well, i doubt that will happen because as mentioned above the current system that is in place is already established and entrenched in the minds of collectors. Additionally, the margin of error you see in such things as surveys and political polls are statistical by nature. The margin of error is a function of the variability associated with the sampling design. In grading, margin of error is based on what??....the subjectivity of the grader and nothing else. That impreciseness is not something you can quantify.
2.) Alteration has become more sophisticated. Soaking, fine precision trimming, etc have likely become more prevalant in our hobby today. This has been the pre grading countefeiters' response to grading. The counterfeiter thinks "Ok, so these companies are going to ensure the condition and authenticity of cards. Well, i'll just one up them and advance the tools of my trade." Additionally, you have such things as slab swapping, WIWAG, tampering and other terms that define the increased focus on trying to get cards in higher conditioned slabs.
I fully believe that our hobby will not be going to hell in a handbasket. I support grading in its idealogical sense. But, since grading is tied to human subjectivity..it will have its flaws. That's why a place like this...an open forum where collectors from all around the world can get advice...is very important.