Grading standards
 

I started collecting 1956 Topps in 2004 or so, and in that time I feel like grading standards for sgc and psa have steadily sharpened. Cards in older holders regularly appear to be a whole grade higher than they would receive if freshly graded. Is this just me? I mostly look in the mid-grade range so it might be confined to those cards (especially 5 to 7). What do you think?


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I am nearing completion on a 52 Topps set, mostly comprised of 5s and 6s. I started the set back in 2005 and about 20% of the cards in my current set are from that era. IMO, "most" of the 5 and 6s I have picked up recently are a point to a point and a half better (as cards from '05 did not use 1/2 point grades) than the 2005 cards I started my set with. However, there are a handful of these cards from the middle of the last decade that are nice for their grade and I likely will not replace/upgrade those. So generally speaking, yes, grading is tougher today than it was 12-15 years ago on mid grade cards. That is just my opinion though.