A new hobby low. . .

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Posted By: Hankron

I wish to add two points. Within reasonable parameters (i.e. excluding counterfeits, copyright infringements, non-cards), I don't think it's fair to expect a big grading card company to exclude cards that are submitted to them, especially if the objection is one of aesthetics (which I think is the essential basis of the complaint of this grading. Some think its distasteful or 'beneath' the grader to grade this reprint). I'm not into Britney Spears swatch cards, but that doesn't mean I think they should be banned from grading. Just because one collects old baseball cards, doesn't make a 1914 Cracker Jack Zach Wheat essentially any less silly than a Britney Spears card. It's really hard to argue to someone who doesn't collect that a little piece of cardboard sold in a box of Cracker Jacks with candy stains still on it is inherently noble and should belong to an exclusive club that excludes the inferior. Likely, you will get a roll of the eyes or, at best, "Isn't that cute. You collect kids toys." ... So, in the scheme of things, I don't think GAI or others should act as arbiters of taste.

As Jay pointed out, if a grader accurately labels and authenticates a card, no matter whatever is the card, they've done their job. If the worst that graders of this world did was to grade something they shouldn’t but accurately label and authenticate it, the hobby would be a much better place.

Lastly, I still think much of the grading card hobby is rather silly-- and, not to offend anyone, I find the grading a 10 cent reprint reflective of this. I do not place the blame so much on the grading companies, but on the collecting public. If a legitimate grader says that their grades have an accuracy of plus or minus 10 percent, and people bid as if the grading is 100% accurate (i.e. paying 6x as much for a 10 as for a 9)-- the problem lays with the bidders and not the graders … I have no idea what the current or future bid on this reprint will be, but if a collector pays $15 for a GAI graded reprint, the issue should lay with the bidder and not the grader … I think, at its core, good grading provides a valuable service to the hobby (offering an expert, though not perfect, opinion on cards, in particular to facilitate distance buying or trading where the buyer cannot examine the card in person before buying), but I find that the graded card hobby is about 40 percent practical and about 60 fashion and flavor of the day.

I don't mean to offend any, but, paying $800 for a 1957 Topps common card for the sole reason that you can be #1 on the PSA registry, is about the stupidest thing I've ever heard of—and should, in a distorted way, illustrate why I find much (not all) of the graded card hobby to be a matter of fashion and clubbiness, and not of reasonable use of grading card companies (P.s., just because 'everybody does it', doesn’t make it any less silly).