JSA and PSA/DNA are the best things to happen to this hobby

[Lordstan]

Originally Posted by Exhibitman

Yes, but...condemning all legit TPGs for making the occasional mistake is like condemning all doctors because sometimes patients do not recover or condemning air travel because every so often there is a crash. Mistakes will happen--like letting Travis post here--because all human Endeavors are imperfect [even a Space Shuttle blew up]. The bigger question for any service is whether on the whole it provides value or not. For many collectors TPGs do so. The fact that we can pick out TPG errors and recall them is because there are relatively few of them as compared to the volume of items handled. It just doesn't make good gossip when PSA or JSA gets it right, which they do the vast majority of the time.

Adam,
Your response made think about a few things and have a few more questions.

You use the phrase "Legit TPGs" What other legit TPGs are you referring to? The title of this thread is specific to JSA and PSA/DNA, as was my post. Let's be frank...There really aren't any other legit TPGs that have any significant amount of usage in the hobby. We all know the deal with Morales, STAT, Taylor, ACE, Priddy, Max, etc, so they're not whom we are talking about.

Your example using doctors and air travel really doesn't fit with what I wrote. I stated that having a service to provide authenticity opinions is fine as long as the quality of the service is there. I have what I think are a couple more appropriate examples.
1) Suppose there was a surgeon who had done a 1000 surgeries in his lifetime, but cut off the wrong leg on 2 different patients. Would you have a lot of confidence in that doctor, even though his success rate was 99.8%? Would you want to know he cut off the wrong leg twice? Don't you think that would be important information?
So the big guys can get all the Bo Diaz's, Doug Flynn's, Orlando Merced's, etc of the world right, which boosts their accuracy %, but they can't get ONE 30 thousand dollar autograph correct when it's as simple as being misspelled?? I'm supposed to look at this and say...I'm not worried, he only cut off the wrong leg twice, he got all the rest right! He's the best thing to happen to the medical profession. Suuuure.

2) How about an airline that has had 2 crashes in 1000 flights, both due to the fact that they bought inferior parts to save money? Now suppose that supplier was from a company run by the CEO's brother? Would you cry bias? Would you think that this airline was a net positive to the airline industry?

3) Suppose I came to a law firm as a new client. The lead guy I speak to sells me on his skill and I engaged his services. He then proceeds to give all the work to his associate, who hands it to the courts or me without the lead attorney's review. I go on to lose my case, not because no one can win every case, but because the associate has made some critical error or oversight. Now, I'm mad. Why? Well, I was sold on the head guys skill as a lawyer, but I got someone else's work. I realize that associates and assistants do a lot of the ground work, but I expect oversight from the lead attorney. Sure, the associate graduated from Law School and passed the Bar, but that doesn't mean he has the skill and experience that I was expecting when I hired the lead lawyer. Same with these guys. Sure Spence's and the guys at PSA names are on the letter, but whose work am I actually getting? Just because the reviewers collected autographs, maybe got some training in house, and have an exemplar file to look at doesn't mean that they are skilled at authentication.

If I hire Jim Stinson or Richard Simon to authenticate an autograph, I know whose opinion I am getting. I can speak with them and they will inform me as to why they feel the way they do. Unfortunately, most of the non serious collecting public don't know who they are, certs from them aren't viewed in the same way as PSA/JSA.
The big boys want to be paid for their opinions as experts, yet want no responsibility for the consequences of the decisions that are made based upon those opinions. As a family physician, I am paid for my expert opinions as well. The difference is that I am held responsible for the outcomes of my recommendations. This is especially true if my recommendations were made with carelessness, bias, sloppiness, and greed. Hell, some people will try to sue doctors for honest mistakes or poor outcomes, even though any outcome can never be guaranteed in the first place. So if I can be held accountable for my actions, why can't they? We are all PAYING for a service, I think it is reasonable and our right to question the quality of that service.
Again, I'm not saying they don't most correct, but the apparent reasons they get some wrong certainly don't inspire confidence.