1987 Griffey Jr. Rookie?
 

Hi all,

I cam across a 1987 Bellingham Mariners, 1987 Griffey rookie card graded by CTA. I am unfamilar with them and have read that some of their graded cards were trimmed. I am interested in getting his 1987 rookie and having the card graded already. I am worried about getting a knockoff buying it raw. Thank you in advance for opinions.

Due Diligence on the origin

Safe to question every off brand grading company card of any significance.

There is a guy offering a Steve Garvey rookie on ebay, graded by some off brand grading Co and it is as close to a perfect grade as you could get. This thing has been relisted dozens of times. The guy regularly starts it at around $10K and quickly drops the price by 1/2 or more.

I read somewhere else that this particular company was known for grading trimmed cards. Don't recall where I saw this and I had never heard of the company, but I am suspect of the card either way. I don't know this to be a bad deal for sure, obviously, but it is just a gut feeling.

If you have a card that nice, why go to the generic brand when the known companies will net you much more attention and dollars. I suspect there can really be only 1 reasonable answer to that question...fake or altered.

Cta
 

CTA I believe stands for Clarks Trading Association. They were based in Rohnert Park, California. Owner was Mike Clark.They started grading around the same time PSA started if I remember correctly. They did have some issues with graders giving favorable grades to "friends". Don't remember hearing any issues with trimmed or altered cards but that does not mean it didn't happen. They went out of business a long time ago.The thing I liked about them was the grading sheet that came with the card and noted the different t areas of imperfections on each card.

Brett

Cta
 

My bad on the name, CTA- Certified Trading Authenticators. Here is a copy of the submission form and an info pamphlet. sorry the picture isn’t that great
Brett