How did this get a 4?

[glynparson]

I have actually sent in cards by myself and through Levi back in the late 1990s early 2000s when I worked for him. I had as many for and against head scratchers with Levi back then as I have gotten on my own over they years. This also could have been graded when standards were different. I know this shouldn't change but they did. It is an ugly 4 though no matter how you look at it. I know it's much sexier to believe in some vast conspiracy but if you think the big submitters at PSA always get every card pushed to the max your crazy. And I'm sure this was not a card Levi was pressuring anyone for special treatment on.

[sdkammeyer]

That's definitely a horrible grade for the card.

[lharri3600]

Originally Posted by glynparson

I have actually sent in cards by myself and through Levi back in the late 1990s early 2000s when I worked for him. I had as many for and against head scratchers with Levi back then as I have gotten on my own over they years. This also could have been graded when standards were different. I know this shouldn't change but they did. It is an ugly 4 though no matter how you look at it. I know it's much sexier to believe in some vast conspiracy but if you think the big submitters at PSA always get every card pushed to the max your crazy. And I'm sure this was not a card Levi was pressuring anyone for special treatment on.

I NEVER once said that anyone put pressure on anyone, and the word ALWAYS was never used, therefore, I'm sane!
Let me put it this way. At the National a few years ago I submitted what I thought was a sure 7. The TPG told me the card was a 2 and put forth their best effort to convince me the card had a "tiny" wrinkle. Well, by weeks end the card was submitted by a friend who is a "heavy hitter" and the card graded a 7. Go figure! Maybe, just maybe, this was just an anomaly?

[steve B]

While I'm ambivalent about grading I do think the major companies are generally consistent. The cards I've personally submitted are evenly balanced between undergraded, probably correct and overgraded.

And wild variations in grade are nothing new. TPG was intended as both a money making thing, and a way to hopefully eliminate the totally insane grades of many of the late 80's -early 90's dealers who had no experience other than an ability to read Beckett.

How many remember seeing T206s with corners rounded all the way into the image and 2-3 big creases being called "excellent" because it's "excellent given the age of it"? Or "Near mint" (now that the rubber band gouges have been mostly trimmed off)?

TPG has eliminated some of the blatantly wrong grades. Sure, there are mistakes, and there will always be cards that don't have clear grades like some of the wonderful looking ones that have back damage from scrapbook removal.

That's one of the great things about collecting. If someone else finds some aspect of the item unacceptable for some reason that's where the bargains are.

Steve B

[frankb22]

Favorable treatment obviously exists in the grading arena just as in
all walks of life. To think otherwise is foolish. You can't be sure that's
what happened here because incompetence also exists everywhere.