SGC Grading Challenge Video - can you guess the grade?

[ClementeFanOh]

Thank you for sharing, I did watch the video. First thought is that the
participants seemed to have a really good time (which is part of the goal,
right?) I did not attempt to "grade" the cards myself, as trying to grade
based on video of a card was a non starter for me.

It has been noted (accurately) on these boards, that SGC is particularly
harsh on vintage cards in recent memory. These 2 participants were also
harsh on the older cards, and, based on their ages, got me thinking that the
graders are getting younger at TPGs, not older. So many collectors are used
to seeing cards that come out of packs minimally at 8.5, that I'm wondering
if those same folks now employed as graders, are subconsciously hard on
cards that were created in more primitive times. If a new grader at company
"x" is 27 years old, he probably started collecting around 17 years ago,
2005-06. He hasn't bought packs with cards that have rough cut borders or
gum/wax stains, and might have no context in how to approach evaluating
them. We (older collectors of older cards) have to hope they learn, I guess

Fun thing to watch, thanks again parkplace! Trent King

[hcv123]

Noticed Geoff and his associate as if didn't know how to grade vintage cards.

[perezfan]

Seriously.... both of the guest graders don't understand the concept of an original rough cut? And how long has this Geoff person (who calls it "fraying") been in the hobby?

Frustrating to watch but thanks for posting.

[insidethewrapper]

Can't believe these guys didn't know about how 1950's cards look ! Graded down because of the border cuts. That's the way they were cut back then. They know the shiny ones.

[YazFenway08]

thanks for sharing this. i thought it was fun to grade along. i am usually terrible at these but i also would have “won” compared to the two guest graders.

if those ‘56s would have really come in at 3s and 4s, i would have, from this point forward, only collected 3s and 4s.

and not to be a grumpy old dude…but the difference between a shiny 10 and a shiny 8.5 will never, ever make sense to me…and i love all interactions of both baseball and baseball cards. i am not anti-modern, i am just anti-silly

[Fred]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

Can't believe these guys didn't know about how 1950's cards look ! Graded down because of the border cuts. That's the way they were cut back then. They know the shiny ones.

Just curious, when we look back at cards from different eras, we see some idiosyncrasies with different aspects of the production process (for example, rough cuts and size variation). Should there be a ding in the grade if a new and shiny card had a rough cut? If so, shouldn't the grading criteria for one era be assigned to all eras? I would think for consistency sake that all cards be graded according to the same criteria.

A lot of us have seen cards from the 50s that are truly NrMt in look/appeal but have a rough cut to them. In the end, if the TPG cuts the card a little "slack" because of the rough cut, then the ultimate judge will be the price people are willing to pay for the card. However that becomes a little skewed because not all people buy the card, they buy the number on the flip.

Ramble, ramble, ramble...

[Rad_Hazard]

That was an excellent video! I love the explanations from the senior graders at SGC, they are an absolute class act of a company.

Now, if someone wants to donate the Rusie and Keefe OJ's, I have a great spot for them...

[JollyElm]

Originally Posted by perezfan

Seriously.... both of the guest graders don't understand the concept of an original rough cut? And how long has this Geoff person (who calls it "fraying") been in the hobby?

^This. That annoyed the hell out of me. Not even a basic understanding of Topps era cards??? SMH.

However, it was a good watch simply to gather a bit of insight into what the graders are keying in on. That made it worth the view.

[jcmtiger]

Didn’t get involved in this contest. Lol

[oldjudge]

My sense is that people will be guessing too high

[Leon]

Personally, I wish they knew how to grade cards better.