Fantasy Grading

[Archive]

Posted By: Al C.risafulli

I think when it comes to grading, a lot of people are quick to apply exceptions to the rule.

The reality is that I don't know any collector who would invest $5,000 into a card based solely on the grade, regardless of who the grading company is. I don't think anyone at a grading company would advise any collector to do that, either. Reasonable advice would be to take a good look at the card, or at least a large, clear scan, before buying that card - from a reputable seller.

That being said, Gil's analysis appears well-reasoned, but it does not factor into the equation one of the most important elements of card grading: eye appeal. Any card can receive a well-deserved bump, or demerit, based on its eye appeal. More and more, I'm seeing eye appeal factor into the price as well, as people are beginning to understand the myriad of different issues that can make one card better than another, even within the same grade.

Ultimately, I don't find the problem with grading to lie with the grading companies themselves - I find the problem lies with how collectors and sellers choose to adopt slabbed cards themselves. People who are absolutists, living solely with the number assigned to a card and the printed "value" of that card generally don't have a problem with grading. People who use grading as a guideline and pay a price they're comfortable with generally don't have a problem with grading. It's the people in the middle, who WANT to be able to embrace the number as the final arbiter of a card's condition, but also WANT the flexibility of being able to change what constitutes a card's key attributes, that can't fit the square peg into the round hole and vice-versa, and thus struggle with the concept.

But, for the purpose of this thread, Gil, I'd add print registration, paper blemishes, trimming, restored corners/edges, toning, and overall quality of image (or richness of color) to your list of attributes. There are probably some others I'm neglecting to mention as well.

The long and short of it, in my opinion, is that grading services (in general) do an excellent job offering a fairly objective opinion on a card's condition to be used as a guideline, and then protecting the card in a holder that prohibits most further deterioration of that card's condition. Human beings need to be a part of the process, though, because at the end of the day, grading is an "opinion"; all you need to do in order to understand that is look at two PSA 5s or SGC 60s side by side and see that while they both meet the technical standards of the grade, they have different strong and weak points.

A card can be a 5 and have softer corners but a beautiful image and surface. A card can also be a 5 and have perfect corners and centering but a minor surface wrinkle. It's up to the collector - and not the grading company - to figure out which of those 5s you'd rather have in your collection.

-Al