Is the Grading System Broken?

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Posted By: Bruce Babcock

I agree with JimB. "I sense a 200+ post thread coming on."

The concept of third party grading was touted by many as "the answer" to the problem of altered and counterfeit cards. I'm not sure how a fourth party opinion of the third party opinion is "the real answer." Would we need a fifth party to mediate the disputes between the third and fourth parties?

In a simpler time, remembered by old farts, buying a card at a show went something like this:

Buyer: How much are you asking for the T206 Joe Schlabotnik rookie card?
Seller: $500.
B: Hmm. Would you take $450?
S: Hmm. No, but I’ll go $475.
B: Done. Thanks. Did you watch the Mets game last night?

No mention of condition. Just price.

Now it’s likely to be:

B: Can I see the BFD 8 T206 Joe Schlabotnik rookie card in your case?
S: Sure.
B: Hmm. It looks like a weak 8 to me. Should have been a 7. Look at the centering.

S: Are you kidding me? It should have been a 9. Look at those corners.

B: Look at the uneven bottom edge. Could be trimmed. If this thing weren’t entombed I could smell the bleach!

S: Do you want the card or not?

B: It books for $20k in a 7 and $40k in an 8 and you’re asking $45k.

S: Let’s take it over to the “Sid’s Fourth Party Grading” booth.

(Sid was out to lunch but his assistant Bambi produced a notarized case history of the card, at a cost of $500, plus membership fee of $2500, which took 9 minutes, including carbon-14 testing.)

Results:
Submitted to ABC Graders 11 times.
Received nine grades of “7,” 1 grade of “8” and was rejected once as trimmed

Submitted to BFD Graders 13 times.
Received grades 10 grades of “8,” one of “7” and was rejected twice as recolored.

Final result from “Sid’s Fourth Party Grading” =

Grade of 97.3768576879
“Pretty gosh darn close to being nearly gem mint-mint.”
“From the Allen Haggler Collection”
Book Price (as per “Sid’s Fourth Party Grading” Guide) $65k.


Size of holder – 12” x 16”
Size of label – 7” x 9”
(Schlabotnik misspelled as Schlobotnic, misidentified as “1918 T205” and referred to as “throwing” instead of “portrait.”)

Reholder fee to correct errors - $95

(Card damaged while opening slab during reholdering process, now in g-vg condition.)

While waiting for the grading results, buyer and seller bought some nachos with cheese at the food court. They were later taken by ambulance to the emergency room suffering from food poisoning.
Mr. Not–So-Mint makes one time offer of $175 for the card as dealer’s stomach is pumped. Buyer sues card show promoters for $67,000,000 for damage to pants from vomiting up rancid nacho cheese. Case is awaiting trial.

(Card later shows up on ebay in PRO holder, graded as a "9," hyped as found in grandfather's sock drawer. Card, with BIN of $170,000.00, does not sell. Ungraded obvious reprint of same card sells on same day for $2343.56. Winning bidder's ebay handle is "mrnotsomint."

All names changed to protect to guilty.




Baseball card collecting is my hobby and has been since 1960. One of the reasons I enjoy collecting is that it can often divert my mind from some of life's inevitable stresses. If I were to look at my collection as a portfolio susceptible to a potential multi-hundred thousand-dollar hit because of a shift in public perception about a grading company, I would need to find another hobby to relieve the stress caused by my first hobby.