Is the Grading System Broken?

[Archive]

Posted By: Corey R. Shanus

Hey Greg,

The only asinine thing here is a guy continually shooting his mouth off about the need to clean up the alterations problem in the hobby, but then when we ask him to lead by example, by putting his cards to the test, the answer is an absolute, unconditional, uncategorical, emphatic, no holds barred -- NO. So let me guess what you'll say, why should he have to have 25,000 cards re-examined? Well then, let's start with his T206's. As I recall they total in the low hundreds, and wasn't there a post in which someone said they will subsidize the re-examination cost. And why, you'll then say, should he incur the financial loss when some of them inevitably come back as altered? I can think of three reasons: 1) a true collector would be interested to know the real state of what he has, 2) it will go a long way toward acccomplishing his incessantly stated goal of reforming the grading industry as regards alterations, which goal cannot be practically accomplished unless and until people are willing to have their cards re-examined, and 3) simple basic integrity -- to prevent the cards from someday being unloaded on some good faith purchaser who believes he is getting what he is paying for.