What is it, exactly, about grading?

[Archive]

Posted By: John S

Leon,

How many vintage cards do you need to handle before you can detect fakes, trimming, and other alterations? At a point the learning curve levels. I still seek second opinions on issues that I am less familiar with, but that information comes from fellow collectors, not grading companies. Again, I have nothing against third party grading, I was responding to Jeff P and his lack of understanding of the appeal of raw cards. And as I stated in my original post, I have been sending cards to SGC to be graded for resale. I have increased the "value" of some of my cards 300% or more. It still amazes me that I can sell a T206 common graded 60 for $100 - $125. I use this money to buy more cards.

So as a response to Al's original question what don't I like about grading is that it has become a maniacal pursuit for many "collectors" and nothing more that a numbers game. At a recent card show two individuals were discussing their 1956 Topps collections...each had his average grade memorized to the hundreths position.

If you like the appearance (and I must admit the SGC holders are sharp), preserving your collection, or for resale third party grading is an excellent option. To each their own, I really don't spend much time worrying about what group I fall into, I just collect in a way that is most enjoyable to me.