Mike Baker Authenticated

[Throttlesteer]

Now if someone could sticker cards that haven't been owned by known scammers, doctors, or other bad actors, I might pay for that.

[swarmee]

Originally Posted by Throttlesteer

Now if someone could sticker cards that haven't been owned by known scammers, doctors, or other bad actors, I might pay for that.

And the stickers would automatically detach themselves once they sense touch DNA from one of them...

[swarmee]

The blowout guys are having a field day because of all the spelling/grammar errors on the card, and the fact that he's sending out "You have an MBA authenticated Gold Label PSA Card" with SGC graded cards...

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Also nobody has mentioned it yet, but wtf is the difference between a high end and a low end PSA 10???

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

Also nobody has mentioned it yet, but wtf is the difference between a high end and a low end PSA 10???

A cool sticker.

[icollectDCsports]

Originally Posted by bnorth

A cool sticker.

Yes, but wait for the low high-end and the high low-end variations.

[Fred]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

Also nobody has mentioned it yet, but wtf is the difference between a high end and a low end PSA 10???

9.98 - 9.99 - 10.0 - 10.01 - 10.02.... it's subjective! That .02 difference could mean 10's of thousands of $$$ to two people that want to pay for that .02 difference.

[swarmee]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

Also nobody has mentioned it yet, but wtf is the difference between a high end and a low end PSA 10???

Normally it would be centering, as a PSA 10 can technically be centered 60/40 and most collectors consider centering the most important sub grade for eye appeal. It's also the easiest to measure and/or determine it without an expert.

[drcy]

There's nothing "wrong" with it, but I don't see the point of paying for a service that one can do one one's own: examine the image of the card.

Same goes for grades on autographs. If you can't tell an sharpie signature is Mint you should probably not be collecting autographs.

But I know, I know. These are "investments."

[Snowman]

Digging up this old thread because I'm about to send off some cards to MBA that I think are under-graded. I realize that it sounds ridiculous to pay someone to "grade the graders", but this does address/solve some of the problems with grading today. So many cards are now being criminally under graded by PSA; as well as SGC, although I would argue less so. I have recently graded cards in PSA 6 slabs that look like they belong in an 8 holder. Also, centering and overall eye appeal are extremely important with vintage cards. And while, yes, you can see the centering on a scan, you often can't see other minor flaws that greatly affect the eye appeal of a card in hand. How many times have we all bought that nicely centered VG-EX 4 card thinking we found a diamond in the rough only to have it show up with a surface crease/wrinkle that you couldn't see from the scans? That's just the limitations of buying and selling cards online, which is where the vast majority of cards trade hands nowadays.

I think this service addresses some of these challenges, and the market clearly agrees. The data is in on MBA Diamond stickered cards, and they sell for a significant premium, often bringing the price of a full grade bump higher for the Gold stickers. And no, it's not just the premium that a well-centered card would have otherwise gotten. It definitely adds value (I ran an ANCOVA model with the data and the stickers are statistically significant even after accounting for cards being well-centered). Sure, you could risk cracking your "under-graded" cards out and sending them back in for grading again, hoping to get a bump, but with grading fees as high as they are today, and with PSA and with how ridiculously harsh they're being with many of their grades now, it's often just not worth it. Plus, I think the Gold Diamond stickers look nice. They're subtle and classy looking. Especially on the newer SGC tuxedo slabs.

Here's an example of one of the cards I'm planning to send off to MBA. This Gretzky RC is laughably under-graded. This is not an EX-MT card. Anyone selling this card raw would describe it as NM or NM-MT and no buyers would ever question that description upon receiving it. I could crack it and send it back to PSA. Maybe they give me a 7? Perhaps an 8? Who knows. But perfectly centered, under-graded cards with great eye appeal are very difficult to find in this hobby. I say they deserve an award, and I plan on giving mine little gold diamond stickers because I like how they look. It's like the trophy shelf of my collection. And they display nicely too. Plus, now I can tell that clown who says, "comps for a PSA 5 are about $5k" to take a hike just that much more easily without having to defend why I'm asking above "comps" if I ever decide to sell.

Don't get me wrong, I fully realize why many collectors have no interest in this service. But this is why I like them and why I plan to send off many of my favorite cards to MBA. Sometimes the grading companies just get it wrong. And if Mike Baker agrees that they "got it wrong" or that it's a premium card of that grade, then I'm definitely willing to pay a significant premium as a buyer over some random eBay listing where the seller writes "LOOKS BETTER" in the title only to have it show up with a crease and 7 indents on it.