Posted By:
davidcyclebackThere's nothing wrong with asking for an educated second opinion on a graded card, but, as long as the card is held within the holder, there's a limit to what someone, anyone, can detect. It may be that some kinds of problems will be able to be identified while the card is in the holder, which is why it's fine to ask someone to look over your newly purchased graded cards. However, the idea that all graded cards are beholden to an examination where the cards never leave the holder is silly. The graders at SGC examine all the cards raw, which means they have a superior view of all of the cards.
Again I'm sure problems can be identified while the card is in the holder, but it's not legitimately possible to say a card isn't altered that hasn't been examined raw. One of the basic rules of examining paintings or prints or photos or such is that you have to remove the object from any holder, because the holder obstructs view.