[Exhibitman]

On the subject of getting an issue catalogued then graded...I've had a good share of experience on both ends. The graders are just trying to find good information; I've never seen evidence otherwise. Sloppiness at most (I got a good laugh some years ago when one of them refused to grade a catalogued card because it wasn't in the book; turns out their book was several editions out of date). I've found PSA is more stubborn than the others w/r/t new issues. I suspect this is a function of size. They are a bit bureaucratic and simply do not make judgment calls. I experienced this a few years ago with an Exhibit card that PSA insisted was from a different year than the actual year of issue because of a missing ad back, even though the players on the front would have been anachronisms if they were right. We eventually sorted it out but they do not just readily accept a neutral (wasn't even my card) third party's opinion that isn't written down somewhere. The SGC guys used to call me with with questions about boxing and Exhibit issues. I always found their research people willing to listen rather than rely on a catalog (probably since I wrote the f'ing catalog). FWIW, when I have something really good to report on w/r/t a set I try to break it with Sports Collectors Daily first and then (if it relates to my subject matter) put it into the next editions of my books before I even think about taking it to a TPG.