Crossing over T-206 and t-205 Cards

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Posted By: Chris Ko

I know this has been discussed sometime long ago. I currently have a several t206 and t205 cards that are graded in the oh so not popular-these days PSA holders. I am considering crossing over my PSA cards for the following reasons:
1) paranoid about PSA's grading standards and whether some of my cards were tampered with and have 'suspect' cards in PSA holders,
2) PSA holders scratched and in some cases cracks forming,
3) prefer SGC holders (they just feel better), and more importantly,
4) SGC has been highly regarded by many of you.

So my question is, has anyone done this and what was your experience? Furthermore, I know you can state what the minimum crossover grade you want to accept, how close are PSA and SGC in their grading standards?
Thanks.

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Posted By: TBob

I am getting ready to ship a large shipment of M116 Sporting Life cards which were slabbed by PSA 5-8 to GAI for crossing over. The main reason is for aesthetics. PSA holders often are found which allow the cards to "float" ad not fit snugly in their holders, plus I prefer the black "backgrounds" that the cards are holdered in and the more consistent grading.

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Posted By: B C D

psa has lots of problems but there cards overall command more money regardless. If that is an issue.go with PSA. The holders are not as nice nor black but will get you more money except from leon and that is a fact.

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Posted By: B. Hodes

If you want asethetic appeal I like the SGC-GA holders more. Most of the vocal Board "members" favor SGC. It is smaller than PSA and much more customer friendly to Vintage collectors

Conversesly, if resale (on Ebay for eg) is on your mind, I agree with BcD. Sell them in the less attractive PSA holders.

From my experience, the cross-over manuever doesn't seem to work to improve grades because the companies are wont to admit that they grade much easier than one another. Also, grading in general (as to PSA and SGC) has gotten more strict over time so older grades are usually more charitable than new ones.

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Posted By: TBob

It doesn't seem to matter whether you are one of the "good old boys" or not, the grades are fair and logical. I don't think it matters if you send in 10 cards or 10,000, the grades are consistent and impartially made. I can't say the same about the Big 2. I agree with Brian that when it comes to selling slabbed cards, PSA still rules but SGC is closing the gap somewhat and GAI is making real advances.
As always, buy the card, not the holder.

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Posted By: MW

edited

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Posted By: warshawlaw

with MW's analysis. I had no feel for SCD until his comments, and, frankly, I'd like to see how their cards sell before I send them my "babies".

I disagree on the point made elsewhere about cross-overs not grading as well because the companies don't like to "admit" that they have lax standards vis a vis the others. That may be true of PSA (I've never sent them anything to cross over from, so I don't know), but it is emphatically not true of SGC. I have had several PSA 7 cards that I considered to be 7-8 'tweeners regraded SGC 86 and even 88, and have only had a handfull of PSA slabs ever rejected by SGC as overgraded (I normally request that they not cross-over the cards unless they receive at least the same grade). My feeling is that SGC has grading standards most closely attuned to mine, which I feel are strict, realistic, and in line with generally accepted standards in the Hobby. I can look at a card and with a small margin of error (about 10% over hundreds of iterations) accurately predict SGC's grade. PSA always surprised me with at least a few "bizarro" grades per order, and that was before their regime change, which I perceive has caused their work product to slip.

GAI I have dealt with only on a limited basis. I felt they were ok; good customer service. Their holders have one feature I really like, which is the index information printed at the top. Makes sorting a lot more convenient. I don't avoid GAI holdered cards; I also don't go after them or pay a premium for them. I have noted that GAI has acquired a solid foothold in smoky SoCal, though, because of their heavy show schedule where they grade on site and pregrade, and they offer deals with sufficient agressiveness that several dealers I've worked with on a long term basis are sending all of their stuff to GAI.