Thoughts on CGC potentially "Restoring" Cards

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

Don't get me wrong; it's do-able, and I would agree from a startup perspective would not be over-the-top difficult out of the gate. The Philatelic Society is what I'm assuming you are referring to with stamps - I think that's great.

I meant that current TPG's have no market incentive to do this, so why would they? Aside from the noise that has been made on Blowout and here and in a few other spots, other collectors and investors largely don't care about the alteration scandal.

So then why do these people pay such an enormous premium for a card graded "9" vs. one graded "A"?

Why even have a grading scale if nobody cares? What's the point of it all?

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by perezfan

So then why do these people pay such an enormous premium for a card graded "9" vs. one graded "A"?

Why even have a grading scale if nobody cares? What's the point of it all?

Not really a valid comparison. I'm saying they don't care about the scandal, and in many cases will continue to buy vintage graded 9-10 range, despite the fact that some cards there probably should be in "A" slabs.

"A" to many people implies alteration / skulduggery. PSA will put "Altered" on the slab itself; SGC puts A without an explanation on whether or not the card is altered, is for some other reason intact but cannot grade on a numbered scale - or whether or not the grader simply wanted it encapsulated as authentic and not rated on the 1-10 scale. I have a '56 Mantle I've had since I was a kid that I knew SGC would refuse to grade, because they have before. So I sent it in just to get an "A" tux. They slabbed it for me quickly and sent it back with no questions.

I digress. The point of it all is that consumers in the vintage sportscard marketplace don't always act rationally.

[ClementeFanOh]

Hi all- a couple days ago, I made a comment on this thread about CSG and a lack of specifics regarding their launch date and grading fees. I finally got specifics on the fees (no launch date though). Highlights include:

1) "economy"- $15 per card, max card value $500- FORTY DAY turnaround
2) "standard"- $25 per card, $1000 max card value - 25 day turnaround

There is an option for subgrades, $10 extra and 5 more days waiting. They also add a $5 "handling fee" for online submissions and $10 for paper form submissions.
The biggest groin punch is that they flatly state, WITH NO BACKLOG YET, that the turnaround times are "approximate"; however, I don't think they'd agree if you paid an amount "approximate" to their fees but not quite what they want.

There are other details, I merely selected some for brevity's sake. Website is www.csgcards.com

I think these prices are high and that they are wringing every dollar they can- while naturally refusing to be held to their stated turnaround times. These are not the "droids" I was looking for", for Star Wars fans. For those who are not, I am underwhelmed by these details. I thought the idea was to compete rather than to conform...

Trent King

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by ClementeFanOh

I thought the idea was to compete rather than to conform...

Agreed. I can live without grading, but for those who can't - that would lead me to sticking with the devil I know.

[stlcardsfan]

I collect both comics and cards. Comics that have been restored and are slabbed by CGC are clearly labeled as such. They are essentially red headed step children among the comic collecting group. Comic collectors refer to the restoration labels as PLODs (purple label of death). If they would get into restoration of cards I would anticipate they would similarly label cards as such and the perception would be even worse with cards than it is with comics.

[Seven]

Originally Posted by stlcardsfan

I collect both comics and cards. Comics that have been restored and are slabbed by CGC are clearly labeled as such. They are essentially red headed step children among the comic collecting group. Comic collectors refer to the restoration labels as PLODs (purple label of death). If they would get into restoration of cards I would anticipate they would similarly label cards as such and the perception would be even worse with cards than it is with comics.

Purple Label of Death is quite a funny term. And I would agree they would receive a similar label.

[swarmee]

The issue for most isn't that the grading company does that, it's that the submitter would get it back, crack from holder, and then submit to a different grader that sucks at detecting alterations.