Sgc 11 / psa !!

[Fred]

Wow, how the heck did the Mack 1915 CJ reprint get encapsulated with an actual grade. Exception, not the rule - hopefully that's the case but there's just TOO much crap that gets by.

What's an acceptable screw up rate? .25% .5% 1% ????

When a trimmed card is slabbed with a high grade then it may be one of the low percentage screw ups, but it could be a $10K+ screw up. That's the kind of stuff these TPGs are supposed to not allow, but we see it time and again. I think the biggest alteration the TPGs miss is TRIMMING. Then there's bleaching, adding color or general repair to a card. Just my opinion - if a card doesn't meet a standard size requirement and the corners are RAZOR sharp, then it doesn't get a numerical grade - just call it AUTHENTIC. Sure, there are going to be cases the card is a true factory gem, but in most cases an undersized card with RAZOR sharp corners is TRIMMED. How many JUMBO cards do you see with RAZOR sharp corners? Crickets for the most part.

Originally Posted by Johnny630

For as much as well all have our criticisms of TPG’s I have accepted and acknowledged that if it wasn’t for the grading companies my collection wouldn’t be worth nearly as much as it is now without them. The bottom line is they have helped make me and others make lots of money over the years in cards. Sure I’ve lost some too but on the majority, it’s been an overwhelming gain broadly speaking.

Johnny, I want to preface this by saying that the following is not a knock nor a criticism so please don't take it that way. Collectors collect for different reasons.

I have NO clue what all my stuff is worth because I don't care. I collect this stuff because I like it. I don't spend money on cards that I can't afford to "lose". If card prices were to drop 90%, I couldn't care less. It just means there will be more card board for me to collect, but realistically that's not going to happen.

I'm sure that many people that have been collecting for years could probably cash out and retire but what fun is that? Sometimes I catch myself thinking I should do just that, but as mentioned before, this cardboard collection has no monetary value to me, it's just cardboard (some surrounded by plastic).


It would have been nice if an industry standard was set up for grading before the TPGs started mass encapsulation. Perhaps that would have required a crystal ball to foresee all the crap people would try to pull to screw people over. Least we forget PSA's first graded card.

Grading standards could have helped the hobby enrich itself. Instead the TPGs (that just don't care) have made themselves wealthy at the expense of a bunch of dorks that like to collect pictures of dead guys on cardboard.