That's how I think of it as well. I'm happy with the cards I showed no matter what grade they got. I wouldn't have bought them if I didn't like them.
But I am puzzled by the grades, especially when I see a lot of cards with VG or worse corners getting 50 or 60. I may have the ones I showed reviewed. I haven't found the flaw with 2 of them yet. The Bescher I think should be higher based on their own standards. The Smith too.
[80/20 or better centering, minor rounding or fuzzing of corners, roughness or chipping along edge (no layering), one VERY slight surface or "spider" crease may exist on one side of the card, gloss may be lost from surface with some scratching that does not detract from the aesthetics of the card.
A 60 EX 5 card with higher grade centering or corners.
The Bescher has a slight bend on the lower left corner. Certainly nothing I'd call a crease. It's only visible by looking at the card from a certain angle and tilting it. while tilting you can see a change in gloss from one angle to another. So I'd think 60 would be right.
The Smith has a very small bit of chipping on one corner. That one is a bit less clear to me.
Overall I'm happy with SGC. Most of the few cards I submitted I feel got the grades they should have, usually 40 or 50. I'd been against grading for years, but I think that now there's enough questionable stuff that's raw, and the price difference for nicer cards is large enough that I should get some graded. I'm not sending in the ones with obvious problems that would keep them in the 1-3 range, as I still see no point to that.
Steve B
QUOTE=wonkaticket;878524]Uhh yeah “murcerfan” I think we are all familiar with the grading companies standards, but thanks for posting them just in case somebody here doesn’t have the internet or access to the TPG websites.
I don’t think anyone here at least Tony and I weren’t debating any third party’s rules or grading guidelines or crying the blues as we are very happy with our cards regardless of what some TPG says.
(correct me if I’m speaking wrong for you Tony)
The point we were trying to illustrate via shared scans was that cards can have a visual appearance well beyond the technical grade given by any third party, and those cards shouldn’t be ignored and in many cases offer a better looking card to that of an equally or higher technically graded card. Also as Jeff pointed out if you liked the card prior to the slab or the old slab it's the same card you can still be just as happy regardless of a number.
For me it’s all about how a card looks first and foremost, regardless of the plastic tomb it’s in or the number attached.
Cheers,
John[/QUOTE]