Posted By:
warshawlawMy submission was 10 modern entertainment autographed cards (Lord of the Rings and The Mummy Returns; yes, I am addicted to autographed film cards--please help me confront this inner demon...) which I wanted encapsulated to display, and two vintage cards. Oddly, IMHO the moderns were undergraded--I sure as hell could not tell why they weren't all mint, since all were sharp, centered and pristine, yet ranged from 7.5 to 8.5, and all looked just like the PSA 9 walter Koenig (Checkov) card I just got (Star Trek too; I really do need help...). The vintage were 1 graded dead on (1940 PB Heilmann, true ex condition and properly graded ex 5) and 1 over-graded (1954 Dan Dee Rosen 75:25 l/r, hairline crease and very minor grease spot, sharp corners, should be vg, drew a vg-ex+ grade). Since my last GAI card was a vg N28 that drew a vg+ grade, I've bought several GAI vintage cards that were 1/2 grade overblown, and I also own a zeenut that is vg but graded higher, I have to conclude that as between SGC and GAI, I think that GAI is more liberal in its grading of vintage cards, by 1/2 to 1 grade. As far as which I'd trust, I'd say that SGC's determinations are most closely aligned with my sense of grading and aesthetics. Based on what I've seen to date, I would tend to treat "typical" GAI-graded vintage cards as overgraded by 1/2 to 1 grade. That said, both services appear consistent on their application of grades within their systems on vintage cards (unlike PSA--no wildcard grades that leave me scratching my head in wonder), which is important to me as a buyer--kind of like a pitcher likes a consistent umpire even if his strike zone isn't exactly consonant with the rules.
Total aside: the Dodgers are really gonna suck this year. Even Shaun Green is as much as saying so in the LA papers.