The illusion of an objective standard psa, sgc, bvg

[barrysloate]

Originally Posted by glynparson

I have not seen a 23 year old grader at PSA, all the ones i know are in their late 40's to early 50's. Because customer service may have some younger guys in it doesn't mean the graders are young. SGC has no young graders either not sure where this information comes from. Second PSA BVG and SGC are three different companies the fact that they would not all grade the card the exact same grade is completely irrelevant. Is grading an exact science NO WAY but it is far less random than many of the criticisms want to pretend. Third point I was 23 in 1995 and more than qualified to be a grader so if there is someone grading at PSA that is 23 I wouldn't just automatically dismiss them as unqualified. Some of the most respected people as far as knowledge on this board have missed wrinkles and or modifications to cards. Having a great knowledge of a set may help greatly in knowing rarities and would obviously help in identifying counterfeits but it is not necessarily much help in detecting alterations or technical grade which are some of the key components and most important areas of grading.

Glyn- do you know what tools the TPG's use to detect altered cards? I know paper restorers can be extremely skilled, and are always trying to get doctored cards slabbed with numerical grades. And how successful do you think the graders are in catching and rejecting them?