1888 S. F. Hess (N321) card controversy ends....it's FREE, at last it's FREE of TPG

[1880nonsports]

when an album cut or poster cut is graded by TPG's and then on top of that it isn't labled correctly. An owner may think of it as a card but it doesn't fit the definition of a tobacco INSERT card - the basis of the catalog designations.

[packs]

I think a real problem in the hobby is taking collector words for things. I see people post cards all the time and call it a scrap. But how do you really know that the card wasn't intended to be distributed? You don't. But because someone who has been collecting for a long time designated it as such, the TPG's and hobby will consider it as such.

Similar situation seems to have happened here. Original poster said they laid out information they had misinterpreted to a TPG. TPG took the collector's word for it because they are well respected. But in the end nothing was done to confirm anything.

Not condemning SGC or any other TPG. I think the real problem lies in the hobby. Not saying this applies to this scenario, but when people have vested interests in something being designated in such a way, their information is coming from a difference place. You want your card to be a new type / scrap / variation / etc because there's a monetary interest there. TPG's will do their best because they're human and rely on collector knowledge and experience when presented with something new. Not sure what the solution is.

Some examples: Old Mill Overprints; Blue Old Mill Back; Brown Old Mills; Cycle Matty backs.

All of these variations were brought to people's attentions by collectors. In some cases they were verified as new variations (Matty back, Brown Old Mills), in some cases cards previously thought to be authentic (Old Mill Overprints) were discovered to be fraudulent, and others (Blue Old Mill) collectors are still skeptical about.

But all of these cards were slabbed.

[oldjudge]

Good points. At the end of the day, a responsible TPG should only include what they "know" on their slab, not what they have been told. It used to be that SGC would do due diligence on items they were unfamiliar with. Looks like this did not happen in this case.
Over the years, it has been the modus operandi for some dealers, who I will not mention here, to label created pieces and pieces trimmed from books, posters, etc as new discoveries, new varieties, new anything, either from ignorance or more likely to rip off the unsuspecting collector. I remember blown up Old Judges cabinets that were featured in SCD many years ago as one such example. It is the duty of TPGs to be the watchdogs for the hobby on this type of thing. Their mantra should be--if you don't know it, don't slab it, and if you put something on the slab be willing to bet your job that it is correct.