1888 S. F. Hess (N321) card controversy ends....it's FREE, at last it's FREE of TPG

[dstudeba]

So much discussion on a series I collect is great! Sorry I missed this earlier. One of the long discussed problems with grading is that they can make mistakes or judgements that hurt hobbyists who might not be familiar with the issue. That is what the original thread with Ted was about. Ted bought the card pictured without knowing it was different than a usual N321 pack issued card. It is a great vintage piece which he might have bought anyway but he didn't have all the information when he purchased it mainly because SGC slabbed it incorrectly.

As previously mentioned these were brought to the hobby by Terry Knouse years ago and many can be seen on David Rudd's page here.

I wanted to respond specifically to packs regarding his post here:

I think a real problem in the hobby is taking collector words for things. ...

Similar situation seems to have happened here. Original poster said they laid out information they had misinterpreted to a TPG. TPG took the collector's word for it because they are well respected. But in the end nothing was done to confirm anything.

Not condemning SGC or any other TPG. I think the real problem lies in the hobby. Not saying this applies to this scenario, but when people have vested interests in something being designated in such a way, their information is coming from a difference place. You want your card to be a new type / scrap / variation / etc because there's a monetary interest there. TPG's will do their best because they're human and rely on collector knowledge and experience when presented with something new. Not sure what the solution is.

My emphasis was added to the above quote because I applaud you for the disclaimer. In this case this was just about getting things right and hopefully stopping the mistakes that SGC was making with regards to this issue. As discussed in the current market Ted is taking a financial hit by reslabbing this issue. But he wants it right.

As for taking a hobbyists word for something, the TPGs would do well to take Mark Macrae's word for anything. I am sure there is something in cards he doesn't know, but if he doesn't know it you can bet that the TPGs don't know it.

For other hobbyists, myself included, I definitely can see your point about getting other points of view, but not with Mark Macrae.