[Leon]

Originally Posted by teetwoohsix

I voted for option # 1 because it is a grading service.Not only will they let you know if it's been altered,restored,trimmed,etc., they will give it a grade,according to their criteria,and slab it for you. So, I feel they have a system in place that works,for the most part. If you like raw cards, by all means, collect them that way!!! No one is forcing you to do otherwise.

Am I saying the system is perfect with no flaws? NO. As has been said before,it is people doing the grading,so of course it won't be perfect.

It seems like the biggest issues are consistency,crossovers,people not getting the grade they expected,pop reports (not being accurate),and what grading has done to the prices.I could've easily picked option #2,because they do need to improve (tweak) some things- but what else would be better than a ten point grading system? If you only used Authentic or Altered,you would still have dealers saying "this card is EX to Mint",,only to have the card arrive and be VG.There is no better safegaurd when buying over the internet than buying graded cards-and most of the stuff we collect has to be bought over the internet,or at card shows in other states.How many times do you want to get burned? If it were a perfect world,and there were no scam artists, maybe we wouldn't need anything more than a protective case,right?

There is no wrong answer on this poll,it's all about preferance.I don't always agree with a grade on the slab,or how one TPG's 4 is another's 3,etc.,but no one is forcing me to use them either.You should be buying the card and not the grade-just use the given grade as the example.And if all cards mean to you are a $$$ sign,well...................

Sincerely,Clayton

Hey Clayton- those are some pretty good thoughts. I voted #2 in the poll as I would like there to be some common sense applied (isn't most of grading subjective anyway) to things like the photo quality on OJ's and other photo type cards and less importance on things that can't be seen, but get dinged for, on blank backed cards. Again, I know this is subjective and it's an easy argument to say "but there is an erased mark that can only be seen at an angle on that back so it can't be a 3!!"....well, I disagree and think there could be a way to address some of those types of issues. Overall, I DO think we are better off with TPG's than without them. Otherwise we would still be getting NRMT Larry Frisch (RIP) cards with pieces missing.....as the norm.