SGC: What am I missing?

[Casey]

Recently, I sent in a a batch of vintage cards to SGC for grading. All came back pretty much how I expected except for two. When I emailed Earl to inquire about a breakdown on one of the cards, he said they don't keep it, but that I could resubmit it and he'd make a note on what the grader(s) see.

So, I sent it back in and it came back the same, which is a 60 (5). More than anything, I just want to know what is keeping it from a 6 to 7 range as I feel like I'm missing something very obvious. I'm waiting for Earl to get back to me, but thought I'd post it here and see if any of you eagle eyes can help.

Are the three printer dots on the back an issue? There are no creases or surface wrinkles and no noticeable scratches on the surface. Help?

[danski496]

Hi - Just providing some input as I don't know much about '61 Fleer basketball cards. Is it typical for the 1961 Fleer basketball cards to have the choppy cut on the sides? Not sure if it's your scanner or maybe the case, it looks like the margin is marked or creased half way down when looking at the front of your card on the left side.

[Leon]

Probably the top left corner under magnification is the reason. If there is nothing else then I think it could have been anywhere from a 5 to a 6. That is grading...

[sycks22]

Is that a speck of paper loss on his left cheek? That might be the problem. Looks great other than that.

[ooo-ribay]

why did the Lakers have a giraffe as a logo?

[Casey]

Update:

I emailed Earl at SGC over a week ago but never heard back. We had a dialogue going and he said he was going to flag the card when I resubmitted it to find out what made the card get the grade it got but I don't know. I ended up selling it on eBay because I didn't want to deal with it any longer.

To answer some of the questions from this thread: There were no creases, just a mark on the holder. Also, no paper loss. I'm not sure if the rough edge was common or not, so I can't speak to it.

The upper left corner is a bit soft, but other than that (and maybe the edge if that is no common) the card is, in my opinion a 6, right? Maybe 6.5? I mean, the Dryden OPC rookie I had graded by them came back a 6.5 and the Baylor is nicer than that.

C'est la vie.

Also, I have no idea why the Lakers have a giraffe in their logo. I'm trying to find an answer and will update if I come up with anything.

[danski496]

I read somewhere that the giraffe was their official logo and was used during their transition from Minneapolis to LA. Can't remember where I read it

[ooo-ribay]

Originally Posted by danski496

I read somewhere that the giraffe was their official logo and was used during their transition from Minneapolis to LA. Can't remember where I read it

nothing says "Lakers" like a giraffe!

[cozmokramer]

That card is gorgeous and should be a 6... Maybe even higher.

[brian1961]

Casey, Based upon your excellent scan, each corner, except the top right, seemed a bit soft or blunted. There are various degrees of corner wear, to be sure, but with 3 of the 4 corners not being fairly sharp, I would imagine that's what the grader saw.

I'm sorry about your exasperation with SGC; I know I would feel the same. Customer service, accurate grading, and a nice holder have been SGC's hallmarks. If they simply scanned each card in, once holdered, then they could handle questions much more easily, and at lesser expense to the owner. Having to resubmit is costly and not user friendly. Sure, we often don't get the grades we want, and their customer service can't handle 100 similar calls per day. BUT.....

Maybe they should give a 10 words or less summation of a given submission on the return paperwork. With as much as they charge, and the to and from postage we must also pay, that's not a lot to ask. But when grading companies haven't been providing this kind of grading service since day one, it would take a monumental force to get them to start. If the grader sees said problems when he grades the card, why not have the submission form on the computer screen, then record the analysis (in 10 words or less), from card to card, and print it off.

If this were to be done, it might be beneficial to company and customer. Beckett used to do that, and many collectors liked this service. As always, we will never always agree with the grading umpires. But they're paid to call them as they see it.

Sorry if this comes off as burbling. --Brian Powell

PS---Love your Derek Sanderson avatar, or whatever you call your logo.