Posted By:
Al CrisafulliNo doubt. Buy the card, not the holder.
The MAIN issue that people tend to have with grading services is the fact that there is a list of guidelines that cause a card to drop down a grade. Glue on the back of a card. A tiny bit of writing. A virtually invisible surface wrinkle.
If you're buying the card and not the holder, perhaps this doesn't bother you as much.
Example: Three cards I'm very happy with, all with a wide disparity in grade.
A very nice 8, with a little bit of toning.
One of the sharpest 5s I've ever seen, with miniscule surface wrinkle that is visible only in certain light.
THE sharpest 3 I've ever seen, with a roller line across it that dropped the grade.
Three beautiful cards, three different grades. I don't necessarily agree that the York is a 3 or the Owen is a 5, but that's what the grades are, using their technical definitions. I bought the cards, and they're all beautiful.
-Al