Future pre-war card scam...

[brewing]

Originally Posted by christopher.herman

Not cool. PSA and SGC should contact ebay directly about this.

While I agree with the concerns. I believe SGC and PSA should make cases that are more tamper resistant. While I abhor the quality of Becket vintage grading, their cases are tamper resistant.

[sb1]

Easy solution, spend $10 buy them and destroy them.

[chipperhank44]

Originally Posted by brewing

While I agree with the concerns. I believe SGC and PSA should make cases that are more tamper resistant. While I abhor the quality of Becket vintage grading, their cases are tamper resistant.

+1

tamper proof > tamper evident

[Clutch-Hitter]

Originally Posted by brewing

While I agree with the concerns. I believe SGC and PSA should make cases that are more tamper resistant. While I abhor the quality of Becket vintage grading, their cases are tamper resistant.

Crooks will find a way to open the cases, but I see what you're saying. We, here, usually see the cracked PSA cases and report our findings here and on Ebay. PSA is easy to spot and because we look at the card first, which has its own indicators, its really hard to miss using both avenues.

Although I don't recall any SGC examples, they must be out there because those cases are very easy to open and should be harder to spot with the black inserts and all. Been a PSA guy for more than a dozen years but still really like the SGC holders and their consistency. First, they need to modify/secure those holders slightly, and second, they also need to make a few other unrelated changes to better business across all eras and increase quantity of both submissions and submitters. These things, specifically six things, are very clear to me and I simply can't understand how they're not doing them; just maintain the things that's keeping them second place, with a tie for second being the case, no pun intended, occasionally, it seems. I really like them though; they're unique.

Beckett has gotten better with the vintage stuff, both with their grading of cards and their knowledge of certain issuers. Criticism: went from overly strict years ago with vintage to possibly a little too lenient, but I may be overstating since all three take other things into account when assigning grades (each company considers certain aspects above others). I don't like their holders at all. If it can't be scanned, there's a problem, and their holders, for the most part, can't be scanned. Even when the plastic doesn't interfere, one still has to increase the contrast a great deal for the card to be seen the way it looks when holding it, and the result is a holder that is too bright to read, or close to it. I have several that will be cracked.

Having said all that negativity, they all have issues that are caused, for the most part and in this context, by the criminal minds. If you take a minute to reflect on who does these things and with which company, we'll find that PSA holders are most often the ones the crook chooses because the uncommon vintage collector knows and recognizes the PSA name first and foremost. We tend to emphasize that PSA is doing something wrong in this regard, but that's not correct, nor is it rational. That's the crook's fault, not PSA's. Based on the above, I'd say that PSA has the lead in the holder area and the others could put pressure on if they choose to do so.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by Clutch-Hitter

We tend to emphasize that PSA is doing something wrong in this regard, but that's not correct, nor is it rational. That's the crook's fault, not PSA's.

I understand what you're saying, but I kind of disagree. PSA knows that their slabs are easy to crack, but have turned a blind eye. It's kind of like this. Let's say you have a Masterlock deadbolt on your front door that's known to the criminals as an easy lock to pick because of its design. If you're home got burglarized and the cops told you after the fact that Masterlock is known by thieves as the easiest lock to pick, wouldn't you think that Masterlock should share some of the responsibility? That may be a far-fetched example, but my point is this. When companies are made aware of design flaws in their products, they have an obligation to fix them. So, yes, in a way PSA is doing something wrong by turning a blind eye.

On a side note, I was speaking to Earl from SGC last month at the TriStar show and this subject came up (PSA cases being easy to crack). He said that during his tenure at SGC (which I think he's been there for about 5 years now), he has only seen 1 SGC case that was cracked open and the card replaced, and went on to say that it was poorly fabricated and easy to spot.

[ramram]

Geez, $18.50. Jim's one of the only guys I know that would sell his reputation for $18.50.

Rob M.

[tiger8mush]

Originally Posted by Clutch-Hitter

Beckett has gotten better with the vintage stuff, both with their grading of cards and their knowledge of certain issuers. Criticism: went from overly strict years ago with vintage to possibly a little too lenient, but I may be overstating since all three take other things into account when assigning grades (each company considers certain aspects above others). I don't like their holders at all. If it can't be scanned, there's a problem, and their holders, for the most part, can't be scanned. Even when the plastic doesn't interfere, one still has to increase the contrast a great deal for the card to be seen the way it looks when holding it, and the result is a holder that is too bright to read, or close to it. I have several that will be cracked.

I scan BVG cards on the same settings (I have a Canon CanoScan CCD scanner) as I scan PSA/SGC cards and they come out comparable, in my opinion. The card below is now raw, but once resided in a BVG holder:



I've cracked many holders from the big 3 TPGs. I always save the slips. I throw BVG holders in the recycling bin because I haven't found a way to remove the card without destroying the holder. SGC holders are usually the easiest, and sometimes they pop right open w/little or no frosting. Although in MOST cases there is frosting along the edges from opening the case. I usually save these holders to add stiffness to an envelope when shipping cards raw. PSA holders aren't quiet as easy for me as SGC and I usually end up damaging the side of the case more than an SGC, but still usable for shipping raw cards.

In either the SGC or PSA examples, even if I can remove the card w/o further damaging the holder, I still break open the entire holder before shipping it so it is in 2 pieces. Just habit.

Rob