[JustinD]

Originally Posted by jingram058

With all the forensic analyses the fake Wagner went through in order to definitively, 100% conclusively determine it to be a fake (thickness derived from CT scan, microscopic printing analysis, etc.), I have to believe that any really high-dollar card would have to get a similar level of attention to detail by a respectable TPG. Zero possibility a fake gets through that. I highly doubt a lower echelon card, however, gets anywhere close to that kind of analysis.

Let’s be honest, that was 100% to build tension for the show and to interest people with little knowledge of cards (like the owner). The hosts of the show know absolutely nothing about cards to the level of it being comedic and did this for production value. A cursory 30 second look could tell someone mildly skilled that the card is a fake and the pile of wasted money does not address the prevalent grading error of missing alterations. The fakes that pass, although they make great funny posts are an infinitesimally small number of completed graded items. Now doctored high grade, in my estimation, are much closer to a notable percentage. Adding several thousand dollars in CT testing to an already expensive process seems extraneous.

As it is, cards are inspected carefully and as most submitters use microscopic computer cameras to blow up cards for corner inspection and flaws, I assume the graders do as well. They are fairly inexpensive. The improvements really need to be removing opinions or a good or bad day for a grader. The human element is the flaw in the sauce for the huge variable grades shown by resubmitters.