Two Interesting Experiments With SGC Grading (T206 Cards)

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Posted By: T206Collector

About a month ago, I submitted 12 T206 cards to be graded by SGC. Of those 12 cards, 3 of them previously had paper and/or scrapbook glued to them. I soaked the cards and carefully removed the foreign substances, pursuant to the techniques outlined in previous links on this board. I was very happy to learn that SGC graded all 3 of them, and, in fact, I got a "5.5" on the best one that once had half of it's back covered by paper.

Also, I crossed over a PSA 4 Ty Cobb "Bat On" into an SGC 60 (i.e., 5) holder, without having broken the Cobb out of the PSA holder prior to sending it in to SGC. Although some may argue that SGC was the softer grader, I have to give SGC a lot of credit for recognizing that the Cobb is a "5" not a "4". Indeed, the reason I felt confident sending it in was because I've got a lot of "5's" that are not as nice as this Cobb, and it was the nicest "4" that I had owned. The only real problem on the card is the light corner wear typical of many "5's." Here are the scans of the Cobb in both holders:



So, the morals of the story are: (1) go ahead and soak those T206 cards; and (2) if you want to cross over your PSA card into an SGC holder, they'll look at the card, not the number on the PSA holder.

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Posted By: Josh K.

Thanks for the info - Ive been debating crossing over several cards in psa holders but did not want to break them out.

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Posted By: quan

From the scan to me the Cobb is not a 5, the 2 bottom borders show rounding and the top 2 don't really come to a point that would classify it as a 5. Otherwise nice photo and clarity. To me it's a 4 or strong 3.5

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Posted By: T206Collector

...that the Cobb is subject to a rating as a 4 based on the corners, but I maintain that it's one of my better 5's in overall condition, and I have close to 100 T206 cards graded by PSA, SGC or GAI. The 3.5's I have have much more severe rounding and/or creases.

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Posted By: Bryan

switching over some of my cards from PSA to SGC mostly because I like the holders better. I hate how PSA have the floating holders when it comes to some E cards like the e93s. But I just hate to spend the money to cross over cards that I feel would get the same grade. Is there anyone else out there that crosses over cards just to have them look better in the holder? Stupid question I guess - I just like the dark background I guess.

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Posted By: MW

As far as the T206 Cobb is concerned, I think it's really a judgment call. From what I can observe, I'd say the card is a low-end Excellent condition card and I think SGC graded it properly. That being said, perhaps when given a placement within a large submission group of strong EX to EX+ T206s, one might be inclined to assign an extremely conservative grade of Vg-Ex. In any case, the card looks much better and would probably sell for hundreds more in the SGC holder

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Posted By: warshawlaw

I think the criticisms of this card as being less than excellent are overstrict. I have always considered a card with solid centering, no creases, no printing flaws of note and good resolution but with soft corners to be in excellent condition. if the corners were near points and the other factors were equal, it would be ex+ or possiblu ex-mt. Part of the grading decision that cannot be seen in a scan is the crispness and presentation of the image. Some cards simply "pop" and deserve a better grade than would otherwise be typical for their corners and wear. I have a number of cards like that where I think they are 1/2 to 1 grade better than the edges/corners dictate and I found that SGC generally met my expectations in that regard. The most recent one I can think of is a T205 Marquard I purchased that had a perfect image and typical vg-ex corner wear but had a tiny area of paper loss on the front. I felt it was a vg card in light of the general appearance of the card and SGC agreed.

I have crossed a lot of cards over to SGC holders for looks and protection. I am about to cross over the last couple of cards from my 1948 Leaf boxing set. If you don't want the card broken out unless it crosses at the same or better grade, say so and they will accommodate.

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Posted By: MW

Adam,

Good point on visual presentation. It seems as though some of the grading idiosyncrasies that involve registration, color, border whiteness and gloss have become discarded relics in an age where pedantic assignments of "NM-MT 8" and "Mint 9" are unduly influenced by centering, corners and an occasional dime-sized print spot.

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Posted By: Elliot

Looks like a reasonably strong 4, but a weak 5 as those bottom corners show a lot of wear for a 5, despite any visual "pop" the card might have. Card does have a lot of positives, though, such as it's centering. Still, I don't think a grade of 4 is wrong for the card.

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Posted By: Jason

A grade of four might not be bad, but I don't think a grade of 5 is either. I've had a few T206's that looked similar. (Some with a bit better edges) that have been graded PSA 5...

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Posted By: leon

4.5.....gift of a 5 and robbed on a 4........

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Posted By: Julie

corners is "excellent." These qualities in a card the corners of which come to real points would make it ex-mint.

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Posted By: Dennis W.

how much better the Cobb displays in the SGC holder w/black background. I'm not exactly pushing SGC but they should at least be given extra points for style.

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Posted By: dan mckee

An easy EX. NO creases or problems, absolutely EX. I am old school.