Buy the card, not the grade - stories

[irv]

I purchased these 3 cards 2 years ago and played a guess the grade game.

All who replied chose the Smalley as the highest grade, as they should have, but he was the lowest of the 3 graded. Personally, I don't have a lot of faith in PSA as they are inconsistent and there has been far too many other stories on here about their grading. The washed out Dimaggio comes to mind, let alone the Wagner.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by irv

All who replied chose the Smalley as the highest grade, as they should have, but he was the lowest of the 3 graded.

Wow. That Smalley has 6 or 7 corners. Yeah, I agree - just too many examples even recently where it's like what? In '60s and '70s cards, I have a few 5's that look better than some of my other 6's, and at least one 6 that probably could have been a 7. I understand that at least in some cases, technicalities can be resonsible for a card that looks better getting the lesser grade, but I also have slabs where that does not appear to be the case and I'm stumped.

[irv]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

Wow. That Smalley has 6 or 7 corners. Yeah, I agree - just too many examples even recently where it's like what? In '60s and '70s cards, I have a few 5's that look better than some of my other 6's, and at least one 6 that probably could have been a 7. I understand that at least in some cases, technicalities can be resonsible for a card that looks better getting the lesser grade, but I also have slabs where that does not appear to be the case and I'm stumped.

When I joined the site back in 2016, I asked a lot of questions about grading and what some of my cards would grade out as. One member told me to do it myself, learn, look, read, quit asking questions, and get at it, to which I did.
I thought I was getting there and thought I had a pretty good idea/understanding but then I started noticing cards/grades, anomalies, threads and pics here and elsewhere, and all was thrown out the window! The inconsistencies I seen/noted, like the 3 cards I posted above, made it almost impossible for me to even considered myself an amateur grader!

Needless to say I gave up on PSA and I no longer consider them as a possible TPA if and when I choose to get my cards graded.

I found SGC far more consistent, and also a tad meaner, if you will, with their grading standards, but now, reading how many forged sigs slipped past them, I think I am now done considering getting any of them to grade/encapsulate my cards.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by irv

When I joined the site back in 2016, I asked a lot of questions about grading and what some of my cards would grade out as. One member told me to do it myself, learn, look, read, quit asking questions, and get at it, to which I did.
I thought I was getting there and thought I had a pretty good idea/understanding but then I started noticing cards/grades, anomalies, threads and pics here and elsewhere, and all was thrown out the window! The inconsistencies I seen/noted, like the 3 cards I posted above, made it almost impossible for me to even considered myself an amateur grader!

Needless to say I gave up on PSA and I no longer consider them as a possible TPA if and when I choose to get my cards graded.

I found SGC far more consistent, and also a tad meaner, if you will, with their grading standards, but now, reading how many forged sigs slipped past them, I think I am now done considering getting any of them to grade/encapsulate my cards.

Grading in theory is nice. In reality, the "expertise" has proven to be fraudulent, far too many times. Learn how to grade yourself, as we did as kids in the 1980's; it's worth it. It's tougher today buying sight-unseen, but still possible to maintain some of your own personal accuracy over the long run if you learn what to look for. I'm not saying to buy raw cards only necessarily, but I'm starting to realize with decent scans, I can tell the difference between high end for the grade, and mediocre slabbed material.