New graders, HGA vs. CSG any opinions yet?

[Frank A]

From what I've seen so far, GMA beats them both.

[Snapolit1]

Originally Posted by Frank A

From what I've seen so far, GMA beats them both.

At what exactly do they beat other companies at? Price? Speed? Consistency of plastic resin?

If you want to resell a card or view it primarily as an "investment piece" that is undergraded or ungraded = bite the bullet and use PSA and see your card sometime next year. Good luck with the sale.

If you aren't so concerned with maximizing "investment value," don't want to put your "asset" in a "vault" any time soon, and just want a cool looking holder = use SGC

If you just want to protect a card from your six year old bending the corners and throwing up on it = buy a box of top loaders off eBay and encase your own cards in hard plastic for shits and giggles

If you want to touch a card and smell it and rub in around your face for a real tactile rush = don't encase it at all

If you want to waste a few dollars = use a third tier grading company

[Oscar_Stanage]

the addition of these 2 companies was not necessary. they have solved no problems in the marketplace and add nothing. my guess is they both fail.
there is a boneyard of useless, valueless TPG relics of the 90s... and this is a repetition of history.

[ullmandds]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

At what exactly do they beat other companies at? Price? Speed? Consistency of plastic resin?

If you want to resell a card or view it primarily as an "investment piece" that is undergraded or ungraded = bite the bullet and use PSA and see your card sometime next year. Good luck with the sale.

If you aren't so concerned with maximizing "investment value," don't want to put your "asset" in a "vault" any time soon, and just want a cool looking holder = use SGC

If you just want to protect a card from your six year old bending the corners and throwing up on it = buy a box of top loaders off eBay and encase your own cards in hard plastic for shits and giggles

If you want to touch a card and smell it and rub in around your face for a real tactile rush = don't encase it at all

If you want to waste a few dollars = use a third tier grading company

totally agree! i can't imagine why anyone would send to any of these 3rd tier graders...use SGC!!!!

[Frankish]

Originally Posted by ullmandds

totally agree! i can't imagine why anyone would send to any of these 3rd tier graders...use SGC!!!!

I'm the furthest thing from an expert (and know this is the WWII and older forum), but two quick points:

1. PSA and SGC have a lot of drawbacks in the ultramodern/contemporary card area. These often sleek and flashy cards don't look great in the staid holders (which I happen to like for my vintage collection). And the lack of subgrades is a turnoff to a newer generation of collectors.

2. Also, a lot of these collectors trade or flip these cards pretty regularly, and the card prices are pretty volatile, so that I imagine waiting the better part of a year to get cards graded is a non-starter.

BGS offers sleeker holders and subgrades but suffers the same backlog as PSA.

For vintage cards, though, I couldn't agree more. In fact, I was in contact with SGC today about submitting a large order of vintage Japanese cards.