To Grade or not to Grade ?

[jchcollins]

Raw cards that have been in my collection for some time and I have no plans to sell will not get graded. The only time I ever sent in "keeper" cards for grading was more than 10 years ago when it was still a fairly new concept to me, and I was just curious. I sent some '56 Topps cards in to SGC. I do look for graded cards just for peace of mind when buying online, but as far as professional grading just for it's own sake goes, I'm not really a fanatic. PSA, SGC, and BVG - despite being decades in now and contrary to some people's opinion - can still be very subjective when it comes to grading (or in PSA's case, where standards seem to change over time...) and they still make mistakes - sometimes large ones - all the time. I don't claim to be any kind of expert on paper stock or aging or anything else that would go into grading - but I've been collecting cards for 30 years and have not yet found reason to believe that any "professional" grader has any additional grand insight over and above mine when it comes to evaluating cards based on accepted guidelines. They may see way more in terms of volume of cards, and their opinions may be different, but that doesn't mean they are more valid.

Just my opinion. What I get for coming into the hobby and actually caring about grading in the days before PSA existed.

PS - just to clarify - professional graders I think DO have additional insight over and above my own analysis if you care about things that can only be seen under a blacklight, etc. I generally don't...

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