My SGC bump...
 

I bought this card off eBay last April when looking for an EX-ish range version because I thought it looked high end for the grade:

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When I got it in hand, I was like huh? I must be missing something. I would have pegged at least one corner a 9, and the others 8's. Surface is bright and bold, and virtually flawless in terms of the print spots that normally plague this card. No creases or wrinkles anywhere. The back was bold blue with very little wear to the corners evident even with the full bleed back border. Only possible issue was a light scratch over the top of the upper righthand corner. You can't even see it in this pic I don't believe. I had cracked the card not long after I got it looking for what else could possibly be wrong with it, and found nothing to speak of.

Anywho, long story short - I finally got around to resubbing it earlier this month, and below is the result. Very happy with this obviously, as I never would have spent the extra $ that this card is now worth, even last year. Just goes to show that all grading is subjective, and they do miss sometimes. Also, even with SGC's new pricing structure, a 7 business day turn time isn't bad at all:

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That's a great looking card and congrats on the bump.

Just goes to show you what a farce the grading game is. Until the human element is removed, and a card gets the same grade every time it is submitted, the entire system will continue to be rampant with fraud and corruption.

Edited to add: I hope I didn't come across as accusing you of fraud and/or corruption. That wasn't the intent. It's a great card. It just blows my mind that the same card can be sent to the "professionals" and vary nearly two whole grades. One of these days, somebody will introduce 100% computer grading that eliminates the human element.

No, I know what you meant. I would agree with you it's a game. I'm not sure all grading is a farce, but beyond a certain point - all companies that use humans to eyeball cardboard (all right now besides ostensibly the newcomer HGA...) are doing no more than what veteran collectors can do. They have guidelines, but sooner or later they miss stuff. I don't fault them for it, necessarily. But yeah, it's a game. Even if I'm totally content with the way my card looks, I get some type of odd extra utility from knowing that a 3rd party grading company has validated my thoughts on the card. I've totally fallen for it too. Why is that?

Might it have something to do with the fact that your card magically about tripled in value? Just shows how absurd the whole thing is.

I agree with the sentiments on computer grading. I would like the system to operate without favoritism or bias. It will be great when no matter who submits a card, it's going to get the same grade. I might actually be able to get a card I submit to grade as a 10 without being a top ten submitter.

Coming soon, MGC - Mordor Grading Company (They applied for "Sauron Grading Company," but realized it would've been a conflict) with their all-seeing grading eye...

Attachment 448663

(Oh, nice card!!!)

did you crack and resubmit or review?

That is crazy...wow. Either way, SUPER nice card. Good eye. I constantly see graded cards where I can't believe they have the grade...both ways. Just goes to show...

Congrats. Card looks great.

I don't want to say the members name in case I get it wrong, but he had a PSA 2 receive a bump to a 6, and maybe even one grade higher, IIRC?

1. Different companies have different rules for grading
2. The rules change over time (pinholes, 'the card would never get that grade today', etc)
3. Even with the same rules, different graders will apply them differently.
4. Even with the same rules and the same grader, the same card may get a different grade when submitted at different times.
5. There are an infinite number and severity of flaws that have to be evaluated for a given grade.
6. There is a financial incentive for a grading company to encourage collectors to re-submit cards hoping for a bump. What if a company had enough confidence in issuing a grade that they would not regrade a card?
7. And finally, don't forget the conspiracy theory that a grade may, just may, be dependent on the name of the person/company that submits it.

Does anyone really expect consistency out of a process like this?

By the way, that is a very nice Mantle. His last, really classic card. Congratulations on a great acquisition.

Awesome bump 👏 I’m actually zero for like 10+ with bumps. Cracking out has been the only way that worked for me. One time I cracked a psa 4 Namath RC and accidentally dented the card, it came back a 6. Without the dent it could have gotten a 8 or better I swear.

Crack and resub.


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Nice, i would say 6.5 is the correct grade

I bought a beautiful PSA 2 1954 Sal Maglie, cracked it out, send it in, got a 7. It makes no sense...

It doesn't. My bump at this point was all for naught, as SGC upon closer examination sent that card back in a slab with a defective gasket that had pieces of plastic shard sticking out near the corners. I cracked it again this weekend. I have no plans to sell, so as long as the card is unscathed it's fine - but just a huge disappointing experience all the way around with SGC - especially after I got that grade. I gave them hell on Friday and they were mildly apologetic, but did not offer to refund my grading fees. They just lost my business for a good long while, if not forever.

The TPG giveth, and the TPG taketh away.

My SGC bump...
 

Slab gasket crap:

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Sadly that is very common in SGC gaskets, have owned several like that.

Yep. I knew about it as well, but had filed it away in my subconscious when submitting this time. I kind of felt like that Mantle was too good to be true, and I was right. Closer inspection over the weekend led me to cracking a few more of their slabs with similar problems, including a Ryan RC and fairly nice '64 Aaron.

At the end of the day these are PC cards, and I'd rather sleep soundly knowing they are not in those slabs. Sending them back for SCG to address the problem was probably an option I suppose, but I'm just way over it at this point. The thought of putting these cards back in the mail and paying $30 or whatever to insure them for shipping back to FL just made me want to vomit.

Are the gaskets plastic? The only one I've had apart came with the card it used to hold. (Interesting packing/shipping strategy) And it was thin paper maybe barely thick enough to call cardstock.

Either way they need to have those gaps in the diecut die closed up.

They are plastic and .02" thick, so a little thicker than most cards.

The newer ones at least are plastic. In the early 2000's it was like the gasket was made out of a different material, but I'm not sure exactly what it was. But softer, more like black cardboard, maybe. Those at least as I remember seemed to have a lot fewer issues with being cut improperly.

Great Card !!!!!

Who knows. One person may see something as more factory/production related vs actual damage. A lot is so subjective. In any case, nice card!

Man...that sucks. Even though I am not a "graded" card guy, I do enjoy a few things in slabs. I am almost done with a complete run of Harmon Killebrew and Hank Aaron in SGC, and I've kept my Rose Rookie in an SGC slab as there are just too many reprints. That said, last week I sent in my first ever (and most likely last) sub to SGC...just a couple of 1956 cards (2 Killebrews/1 Aaron) for my runs. Assuming they will run into the 2 to 3 range, don't care. Hope I didn't waste 100 bucks, if I see what happened to you I won't hesitate to crack away.


As mentioned earlier...that card is a beauty and regardless of the slab, anyone would be proud to own that...

Thanks. It's now in a One Touch and Superior Fit sleeve and still looks pretty bad @ss.