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warshawlaw I went to the Hollywood Park show over the weekend out here in LALA land. Very impressive vintage tables from Tik and Trevor. Stratospheric prices as usual on the really old stuff. And no WIWAG to be found there.
GAI was doing onsite pregrades, Beckett was grading and encapsulating on site and PSA was accepting submissions. Since I think Beckett has become a non-factor in the hobby, I didn't bother speaking with them. I'll run down my dealings with the other two:
GAI: For $3 they would review the card and grade it. They put a foil sticker over the holder opening so it can't be reopened. If you want to submit the card after the pregrade while you are at the show, they said they will stand by the grade. If you want to mail it in later, they will not guarantee the grade. Since I went there on Friday afternoon, there was virtually no wait. They pre-graded my card while I sat there. A lot of dealers were pre-grading cards then offering them for sale in the pre-graded state. Now for the problems. First, how can a grade be guaranteed if you turn in the card at the show but not later on? I checked it out thoroughly and found that GAI would indeed accept a transacted pregraded card for the grade given (i.e., if I bought a "4" off a table, I could turn it in and get the grade). This is nonsense--the card could be tweaked while on display at the show, just as it could while in the mail. Second, the grading process consisted of a guy looking at the card under a bright light for all of twenty seconds (if that) then pronouncing judgment. If this is the level of scrutiny they employ, no wonder mistakes are made. Hell, I spent a lot more time looking at the card in question when I was buying it. Third, I heard inconsistent things. On the one hand, I was told that the pregrade was the grade if I elected to encapsulate, but I also was told that another grader had to review the grade.
PSA: I tried out their new service, which is grading a card and certifying the autograph on it for $20 (I have a fair number of deceased players' autographs on vintage cards that I would like to have encapsulated for display and possibly sale). Two of the three cards I brought over were immediately granted DNA numbers by a fellow who presented his business card to me as "Steve Grad, Senior Authenticator" for James Spence Autographs, which as I understand it means that they are certified at that point. Again, these cards took all of ten seconds of scrutiny each (Ted Kluszewski and Walter Payton) before the autographs were granted the numbers. The third card, a boxer named Tony Canzoneri, they wanted someone else to review (it did not look to me like either of the guys knew what Canzoneri's autograph looked like--I do and I think the item is authentic BTW). However, they do so by sending a digital photo of the item to Spence HQ in PA. Am I the only one uncomfortable with scrutiny via scan over the internet? I guess their theory is that I can't bitch since the price ($20) is less than a third of the $75 Spence quotes for reviewing a Canzoneri autograph (checked the price list while I was sitting there).