Reputation of the Individual Grader is the Key !!!! [GRADY and BAKER]

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Posted By: Tom L.

Let's face it, when you send a vintage card to SGC, the grader is Derek Grady 100% of the time.

When you send a vintage card to GAI, you know that Mike Baker (formerly of PSA) is going to be the grader. Which is why they have scooped so much vintage business away from PSA (Sorry, I meant to call the new company Global and not 'GAY'. My bust. But come on guys, didn't you think of the acronym's pronunciation ahead of time?)

Anyway, Global now has a top grader and PSA doesn't. So PSA's response has been to tighten up on its grades to show all of the doubters that they still have high standards. But unless they can hire back Baker or land Grady, I think that PSA will eventually bleed to death, at least in the vintage card market. And it sure seems like BGS is taking a lot of PSA's modern card business as well. Seen the Collector Universe stock lately?

Anyway, the coin industry is completely aware of who the grader was for every slabbed coin on the market (they equate companies with particular graders), and it's been that way for years. The serious coin collectors can name all of the main graders at the primary grading companies. Because of the insurmountable grading reliability and other issues which plague our hobby (which I discussed at length before), each card company's vintage grader is absolutely key.

This new Grade Tech company may have a lot of bells and whistles (but then again, so did USA, and so did SCD, and so did . . .) but in the long run individual grader reputation will be the main determinant in which companies are successful - or at least viable. Having a card background is a plus, obviously, for the Grade Tech guys, but a proven track record over time is all that will eventually matter. And over-grading a counterfeit is not a good beginning.

Just my opinion,
Tom