Is the Grading System Broken?

[Archive]

Posted By: Corey R. Shanus

Perry,

So PSA saved the hobby. That's the company that gave us the set registry, that worthless system that serves only to outrageously drive up prices out of the reach of many true collectors so people who call themselves collectors but are no more than braggarts can extol the grade on their slabs. What's in the slab is ancilliary here, what counts is the slab. That's not collecting, but it gives the Jim Crandells of the world the satisfaction they crave. The fact that a significant number of their vintage (e.g., T206's) 8's are altered doesn't seem to affect their enjoyment of what they own, and heaven forbid they should try to find out which are the altered ones. So they go merrily on their way blasting the rest of us who long for the days when a card was a card and people collected for the pleasure of owning what the card depicted, not the number on the slab. In those forgone years we didn't have idiots who would pay exponentially more for a card that not only was indistinguishable from a "lesser condition" version, but in some cases even possessed characteristics they made it less aesthetically pleasing than the less expensive lower-graded version. So let's all thank PSA for bringing the braggart investors into our hobby who "collect" for reasons having nothing to do with true collecting.

And one more thing, to anticipate the response that don't we need grading companies to ferret out alteratons, well, yes, on that one they could be of use, if of course they had the equipment and expertise to do it. But, what's wrong with a slab that simply says "Unaltered"? Anything after that will be up to the collector to look at what's inside and determine how it meets his/her tastes. Then, and here's another heaven forbid, those people who get their satisfaction by competing with everyone else will be forced to enjoy what they own based on their cards' intrinsic characteristics. And if that is too much to ask, let's all pray to heaven that they get out of our hobby and find another hobby to corrupt.