To PSA or not to PSA, that is the question

[steve B]

Originally Posted by the_classicist

Yeah, that ugly Mylar thing. In my mind, PSA not having a slab designed to fit the card in question just means they don’t take that segment (pre- and immediate post-war cards) seriously. Or at least they didn’t.

It could well be a matter of manufacturing costs. Injection molding dies aren't exactly cheap, and if you only expect to grade a few of an odd size card a year there's no way you'll ever make that back in fees.

That's one of the advantages of the gasket/frame system SGC and a couple others have used, it's easy to convert a gasket to a different size.

[toledo_mudhen]

Pretty Clear choice for me

This -



VS This -



VS This -

[swarmee]

Presentation may be nicer in SGC, but the slabs can be opened with your fingernails or a butter knife and resealed. For actually protecting the card inside and proof it's the one that was graded, I think BGS has the best holders. Holders are sturdy, tamper-proof, and despite the slight eyesore of a mylar baggy or penny sleeve inside the case, protects the card very well.

[toledo_mudhen]

Originally Posted by swarmee

Presentation may be nicer in SGC, but the slabs can be opened with your fingernails or a butter knife and resealed. For actually protecting the card inside and proof it's the one that was graded, I think BGS has the best holders. Holders are sturdy, tamper-proof, and despite the slight eyesore of a mylar baggy or penny sleeve inside the case, protects the card very well.

I think that if CSG could/would incorporate the black "gasket" in their slabs - they would have a winner (anyone from CSG listening? I know it has been mentioned before)

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by toledo_mudhen

I think that if CSG could/would incorporate the black "gasket" in their slabs - they would have a winner (anyone from CSG listening? I know it has been mentioned before)

This is spot on. I would submit cards to them in a heartbeat, if they adopted some form of the black framing. I dislike the way the smaller cards are swimming in a sea of void space in CSG's current slabs. Not quite as bad as PSA with their diagonal placement in crumpled up baggies, but close.

Right now I'm collecting only raw cards, because I can't stand any of the three "leading" authenticators and will not give them my business. CSG is missing the boat, if they want to be a player in the "vintage" market. Perhaps they only care about modern card submissions?

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by perezfan

This is spot on. I would submit cards to them in a heartbeat, if they adopted some form of the black framing. I dislike the way the smaller cards are swimming in a sea of void space in CSG's current slabs. Not quite as bad as PSA with their diagonal placement in crumpled up baggies, but close.

Right now I'm collecting only raw cards, because I can't stand any of the three "leading" authenticators and will not give them my business. CSG is missing the boat, if they want to be a player in the "vintage" market. Perhaps they only care about modern card submissions?

Their ability to grade would matter much more to me than how the card looks in the holder.

If people weren't high on Beckett's vintage grading, I suspect they aren't going to be high on CSG's.

[perezfan]

"Their ability to grade would matter much more to me than how the card looks in the holder.

If people weren't high on Beckett's vintage grading, I suspect they aren't going to be high on CSG's."


Have you observed poor/inaccurate grading from them to this point? Have they misgraded tens of thousands of altered cards like PSA, SGC and Beckett? I have heard they actually use rulers and blacklights. They certainly can't be any worse than what we've had for the past decade.

My statement assumed that all other factors being equal, the aesthetics matter. I like to display my cards.