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Posted By: David

Tom, your post sounds reasonable to me. It seems that there is an inherent degree of inaccuracy in grading, in part because grading is partially subjective (as it should be). This would suggest that one of the major problems with the graded card hobby is not the graders themselves, but the unrealistic expectations and manipulations of many collectors and sellers, including the '10 hunters' and 'resubmitters.'

I've long thought that there is a legitimate and useful place for graded cards. Having an expert give an opinion on a card, saying that he or she thinks it's authentic and unaltered and even give a grade is useful, especially for rare cards or for online auctions. I've never begrudged collectors for going the graded card route and understand why the Leon would have his cards checked out (though we know that part of the motivation is to show of his new cards to Derek). Personally, if I were to buy a T206 Magie error online from a guy 2000 miles away, I would prefer it was graded by PSA or SGC. I'd eventually crack it open and check for myself, but the fact that it was inspected by someone of some experience would make me feel safer when considering whether or not to bid.

The problem is the many collectors' and dealers' silly obsession with graded cards, treating the label on a piece of lucite as if it was the word from God (or trying to convince the potential buyer that it’s the word of God)— resulting in all the foolishness like BCCG, SGM, AAA, population count, SCDAuthentic Grade of ‘11’ and Ken Golden's 'Gem Mint Blue Chip Special'