[T206Collector]

Cross Over Experience

A few years ago, I submitted 40 PSA graded T206 cards to SGC for crossover. The 40 cards were almost all between PSA 4 and PSA 6. SGC only agreed to cross-over 30 of them, and pointed out the crease in my PSA 6 Hal Chase (Pink) and how my PSA 5 Home Run Baker had been trimmed. Suffice to say, I lost all confidence in PSA's ability to properly holster a T206 card at that time.

Encapsulating creased cards as PSA 5

In addition, a poster above said that SGC was too liberal with corner rounding on PSA 5s. But to me creases are MUCH worse on a PSA 5 and I've seen more than a fair share of them in PSA 5 T206 cards. As long as my SGC 60 has no creases, I am more than happy with its fuzzy corners.

Paper Loss and Chipping

Also, PSA is really inconsistent when it comes to paper loss and chipping. SGC really hammers a card for that and I think that's the appropriate course.

No qualifiers

PSA uses qualifiers, while SGC appropriately assigns a grade to every card, taking into account the defect.

Customer Service

SGC may have the best customer service of any company that I deal with in any industry. They will take calls, call you on the phone directly on their own initiative, respond to emails, and respond on this website to concerns raised by collectors. Frankly, on this alone, there is no reason to ever go with PSA.

SGC Understands Prewar

SGC understands the nuances of prewar cards, particularly T206, which it has dealt with extensively. They understand the common issues and know what to look for. Frankly, their graders are more experienced at reviewing T206 cards and their expertise is reflected in the consistency of their grades.

Guarantee

Last time I checked, SGC will buy back at fair value any of its mistakes or overgrades. Try getting that with PSA.

A word about Set Registries and Pop Reports

It is one thing to use registries to catalog cards and have a place to showcase them and share with other collectors. It is another thing to use registries as if they have an inherent competitive/economic value. The fact is, having the #1 PSA registry of T206 cards may be worth something because people are willing to pay for it -- but does it really make any sense when there are a ton of T206 cards that are raw or in other holders? Also, paying big bucks because only 3 Unglaubs have been holdered by PSA makes no sense when SGC has holdered Unglaubs, too, and there are other Unglaubs out there just waiting to be "discovered." In short, to the extent PSA cards receive any bump from the registry/population report crowd, I find that bump to be irrational.

Bringing Post-War Collection Into Pre-War

Finally, my view is that when people come to pre-war for the first time, many go for PSA because that is what they have collected in post-war. It is only a matter of time before they realize that SGC knows what it is doing with pre-war cards better than PSA does. But a lot of people are intent on keeping their collection in one holder and so they stick with PSA, despite all the obvious deficiencies.