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T206Collector...the grade that came back on the Manion is a perfect example of why we need responsible third party grading. If you had listed that card raw on ebay advertised in EX-MT or higher condition, you might have a very disappointed buyer (with better eyes, or at least higher standards, than you). While you may have looked at that card through a 10x loupe, you're missing something, be it creasing, wrinkles, paper loss, glue/paper stuck on it, a pinhole.... something. If you think it was a mistake, resubmit it for a reevaluation -- either by cracking it out, or in holder. SGC will give you an explanation, I am sure, one way or another.
Just a couple of anecdotes, from the two times I was confused about a grade I got (yes, in my 200 or so submission to PSA and SGC, only two confusions total). First, I submitted a VG condition T206 card of Miller to SGC. It came back a 10/1 Poor. I couldn't believe it. I was furious. What did I miss? Well, after closer inspection, I noticed that there was a piece of paper that had been glued onto the front of the player's jersey, as if it had been stuck upside down into a scrap book at one point and then carefully removed. I'm not sure why I missed it after countless observations, but I did. Had I sold that card on ebay without SGC's help, I would have duped some unsuspecting buyer. I might've had an angry client on my hands. SGC erases the doubt.
Second, I submitted a VG-EX Chance to PSA years ago (I don't submit cards to PSA because I no longer find them trustworthy or responsible) and it came back with an MK. For years I thought the MK was because of a little stain on the back of the card, and I could never understand why that got an MK, because it certainly wasn't an intentional mark. Then, quite literally years after I had gotten it back, I was examining the card under a 10x loupe for the millionth time and saw it -- a very fine pencil erasure (a number and/or a few letters written in pencil had been erased) that I had never seen before. That's where the MK came from and that's why it only crossed over to an SGC 40. Had I never seen that pencil erasure, I never would've understood grading. Again, if I had sold that card as VG-EX, I may have pissed off a buyer. SGC removes the doubt.
I guess my point is, when I'm buying vintage baseball cards of any value on ebay, they had better be graded by SGC or GAI (I will concede PSA is a real risk). Even the best sellers miss wrinkles and writing erasures. They aren't negligent or intentionally deceptive. But I trust SGC. Because when I bought my Chance, it wasn't graded and I thought I was getting a card without pencil erasures on it.
Finally, you can bash grading all you want, but the simple truth of the matter is it has made many more collectors than it has taken away. And, it has restored a sense of security and honesty into an industry that was frought with fraud and deception. Are there exceptions? Sure. Does PSA suck? Totally, and they have done a good job of restoring fear and uncertainty in today's collectors. But there is a 100% iron clad unreversible never going away (and I really do mean never) need for trustworthy third party grading. The internet transactions mandate this. It is a paradigm shift -- like horse drawn carriages to automobiles. Were there people who refused to give up their horse buggies for cars? Sure there were. Were they wrong that horse buggies were safer and more economical? Of course not. Do most people own cars today? Indeed.
I'll sign off with this metaphor: You are all free to stick with your horse drawn buggies, typewriters and rotary phones, but when you lash out at cars, personal computers and cell phones you kind of look senile to many of us.
Cars are a joke. Personal computers are a joke. Cell phones are a joke. MP3 players are a joke. Airplanes are a joke. The wheel is a joke.....
Paul (aka T206Collector)