PSA Question

[whiteymet]

Hi All:

I am an oldtimer and have never really bought into the grading thing. However, because of many examples of reproductions selling as originals of something I collect showing up more and more frequently on ebay and elsewhere in the hobby I contacted PSA recently to ask if they would grade Hartland Baseball tags.

Their reply is below. Beside the person replying apparently not even knowing what Hartland tags are, what do you think of the reply? Do you think PSA could/should grade these?

Are Hartland tags a licensed and catalogued product? I think they must be licensed, although they were issued back before MLB got involved in this stuff, but then again PSA grades lots of old stuff that have not been licensed. As for catalogued, I believe they grade Topps boxes among other things that do not appear in the SCD Standard Catalog. Am I wrong?

I would think PSA would LOVE another collectible they could grade to increase their business.

I look forward to all your takes on this subject.

Thanks,

Fred

Hello,



Based on the description you provided I don’t think this is something that we would be able to grade. Are these a licensed and catalogued product?



Thank you,



Priscilla Greasby

PSA Customer Service

pgreasby@collectors.com

(800) 325-1121 x438

fax: (949) 567-1311


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From: @aol.com Sent: Saturday, February 12, 2011 3:47 PM
To: PSA Customer Service
Subject: New item to grade?

Hi:

I am a long time collector, but have never really had anything graded. I called your customer service and they suggested I email my questions to you.

I am an advanced Hartland sports statue collector.

I called to ask if you folks have ever graded Hartland baseball tags. They are about 2" in diameter and come with string. I would think it would be an opportunity for your company to add another item to your catalog of collectibles you grade.

The problem is that there has been three or four reproduction tag sets made over the years and telling the originals from the repros can be difficult unless you know exactly what you are looking for.

I have attached a photo of some tags to this email. Two of the tags shown are originals the others are not.

Would you consider stating to grade these? Do you have holders these would fit in? I have a vast list of Hartland collectors that I could notify that would get you started.

I would be happy to sit down with your graders, or send you different examples and write out a whole list of things to educate them as to how to tell originals from the different incarnations of the tags.

If this would be of interest to you, please LMK.

If you would like references you can contact Bill Mastro, Rob Lifson, Bob Krawicz, Dave Hunt, Gar Miller etc.

[drc]

I would think if something is listed in the Beckett or SCD catalogs they would grade it. There are similar type items that are cataloged and graded. You could try Beckett for grading.