Posted By:
warshawlawwith MW's analysis. I had no feel for SCD until his comments, and, frankly, I'd like to see how their cards sell before I send them my "babies".
I disagree on the point made elsewhere about cross-overs not grading as well because the companies don't like to "admit" that they have lax standards vis a vis the others. That may be true of PSA (I've never sent them anything to cross over from, so I don't know), but it is emphatically not true of SGC. I have had several PSA 7 cards that I considered to be 7-8 'tweeners regraded SGC 86 and even 88, and have only had a handfull of PSA slabs ever rejected by SGC as overgraded (I normally request that they not cross-over the cards unless they receive at least the same grade). My feeling is that SGC has grading standards most closely attuned to mine, which I feel are strict, realistic, and in line with generally accepted standards in the Hobby. I can look at a card and with a small margin of error (about 10% over hundreds of iterations) accurately predict SGC's grade. PSA always surprised me with at least a few "bizarro" grades per order, and that was before their regime change, which I perceive has caused their work product to slip.
GAI I have dealt with only on a limited basis. I felt they were ok; good customer service. Their holders have one feature I really like, which is the index information printed at the top. Makes sorting a lot more convenient. I don't avoid GAI holdered cards; I also don't go after them or pay a premium for them. I have noted that GAI has acquired a solid foothold in smoky SoCal, though, because of their heavy show schedule where they grade on site and pregrade, and they offer deals with sufficient agressiveness that several dealers I've worked with on a long term basis are sending all of their stuff to GAI.