Posted By:
warshawlawI was wondering when we'd get another one of these going...
Everyone makes mistakes, guys. No benefit to be gained railing about it.
I do not for a minute think that the current management at either PSA knowingly mandates that they grade trimmed cards just to create high end registry items. However, I happen to side with the folks who believe that 100 year old cards are not likely to remain in existence in nm and better conditions. Maybe they do, but I think it more likely than not that they had a little help from their "friends". I just doubt the ability of PSA to catch those cards. For that matter, I don't think any of the services are particularly good at it. Altering cards is an art; catching it is too. There is room for artistic interpretation either way.
I own exactly one high grade prewar baseball card, an SGC 80 T206 Waddell portrait. I don't "care" about the grade; I'd rather have a 4 for my collection so it fits in, but the clarity of the portrait is the finest I've ever seen on a T206. The blue, the red, just mesmerising.
As far as which service to use, everyone has their preferences. I prefer SGC for a variety of reasons: better holders, better service, nicer looking displays, and what I feel is better care in grading older and/or obscure issues. If I was solely looking for the resale bucks on high end mainstream cards I would likely send my cards to PSA simply because of the registry bugs. If someone has $30,000+ to spend on a $2,000 set, hey, free country.