SGC or PSA for your T206? And why?

[ErikV]

I've always been a PSA kinda guy. Personal preference I suppose.
Here's a few reasons why. I like the simple appearance of the PSA
holder a little bit better (ie larger print and 1-10 scale.) PSA holders
are not as thick, and are a little bit smaller in size than SGC. In
addition, I think PSA holders by design are ahead of SGC when it comes
to cert. verification, which ties directly into a more user friendly
website and registry. Again, just one collectors humble opinion.

ErikV

[FrankWakefield]

.

Sgc

[T206Collector]

Cross Over Experience

A few years ago, I submitted 40 PSA graded T206 cards to SGC for crossover. The 40 cards were almost all between PSA 4 and PSA 6. SGC only agreed to cross-over 30 of them, and pointed out the crease in my PSA 6 Hal Chase (Pink) and how my PSA 5 Home Run Baker had been trimmed. Suffice to say, I lost all confidence in PSA's ability to properly holster a T206 card at that time.

Encapsulating creased cards as PSA 5

In addition, a poster above said that SGC was too liberal with corner rounding on PSA 5s. But to me creases are MUCH worse on a PSA 5 and I've seen more than a fair share of them in PSA 5 T206 cards. As long as my SGC 60 has no creases, I am more than happy with its fuzzy corners.

Paper Loss and Chipping

Also, PSA is really inconsistent when it comes to paper loss and chipping. SGC really hammers a card for that and I think that's the appropriate course.

No qualifiers

PSA uses qualifiers, while SGC appropriately assigns a grade to every card, taking into account the defect.

Customer Service

SGC may have the best customer service of any company that I deal with in any industry. They will take calls, call you on the phone directly on their own initiative, respond to emails, and respond on this website to concerns raised by collectors. Frankly, on this alone, there is no reason to ever go with PSA.

SGC Understands Prewar

SGC understands the nuances of prewar cards, particularly T206, which it has dealt with extensively. They understand the common issues and know what to look for. Frankly, their graders are more experienced at reviewing T206 cards and their expertise is reflected in the consistency of their grades.

Guarantee

Last time I checked, SGC will buy back at fair value any of its mistakes or overgrades. Try getting that with PSA.

A word about Set Registries and Pop Reports

It is one thing to use registries to catalog cards and have a place to showcase them and share with other collectors. It is another thing to use registries as if they have an inherent competitive/economic value. The fact is, having the #1 PSA registry of T206 cards may be worth something because people are willing to pay for it -- but does it really make any sense when there are a ton of T206 cards that are raw or in other holders? Also, paying big bucks because only 3 Unglaubs have been holdered by PSA makes no sense when SGC has holdered Unglaubs, too, and there are other Unglaubs out there just waiting to be "discovered." In short, to the extent PSA cards receive any bump from the registry/population report crowd, I find that bump to be irrational.

Bringing Post-War Collection Into Pre-War

Finally, my view is that when people come to pre-war for the first time, many go for PSA because that is what they have collected in post-war. It is only a matter of time before they realize that SGC knows what it is doing with pre-war cards better than PSA does. But a lot of people are intent on keeping their collection in one holder and so they stick with PSA, despite all the obvious deficiencies.

[nebboy]

From stand point of buying - I have found that in pre-war (at least of late) SCG is going for a higher percentage of BV than PSA. As a matter of fact I was using T206.org and T205.org for pricing and found that a large percentage of cards sell higher that the valuation price given. I would like to know when the last time there info for valuation pricing has been updated.
But in post war I can buy a SGC graded card at a lower price point and I get a card that I am happy with enough to KEEP fo my PC.
I do buy both and still go with the idea of buying the card not the holder. With that said I would rather have/buy in SCG.

[Peter_Spaeth]

"Cross Over Experience

A few years ago, I submitted 40 PSA graded T206 cards to SGC for crossover. The 40 cards were almost all between PSA 4 and PSA 6. SGC only agreed to cross-over 30 of them, and pointed out the crease in my PSA 6 Hal Chase (Pink) and how my PSA 5 Home Run Baker had been trimmed. Suffice to say, I lost all confidence in PSA's ability to properly holster a T206 card at that time."

Paul, you don't think the same thing happens in the other direction, either with crossovers or crackouts? I assure you that it does, including rejection of cards as trimmed.

[T206Collector]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Paul, you don't think the same thing happens in the other direction, either with crossovers or crackouts? I assure you that it does, including rejection of cards as trimmed.

1) While SGC is run by humans who make mistakes, I would like to see the evidence of this; and

2) If you can show evidence of this, SGC will buy the card from you, while PSA won't.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by T206Collector

1) While SGC is run by humans who make mistakes, I would like to see the evidence of this; and

2) If you can show evidence of this, SGC will buy the card from you, while PSA won't.

Not after you have cracked it out they won't. And I have had PSA buy back cards, so I don't know what the basis is for saying they won't.

[Wesley]

Originally Posted by T206Collector

2) If you can show evidence of this, SGC will buy the card from you, while PSA won't.

That is not true. I have seen both companies honor their buy back policies.

As for the original question, I would go with PSA for the T206 set. For almost every other prewar set, I prefer SGC.

[M's_Fan]

T206 collector gave an excellent summary of SGC's benefits, I just thought I'd add the following:

• No Subscription Service: PSA makes you pay an annual membership fee, which you have to maintain whether or not you want to submit cards. SGC is a straight up pay for grading service, its simple, easy, and gimmicky no long term commitments. However, if you only plan on buying graded cards, and not submitting raw cards, then this isn't an issue.
• One more vote for consistent grading: I've seen some awful cards in high grade PSA holders. SGC is definitely more consistent on their grading.
• The SGC holder is the best! The SGC holder is beautiful way to display your cards. Its black background makes the white bordered T206 really stand out. The PSA holder is ugly in my opinion. First, it is clear, with an ugly red label, and there is a little piece of plastic that covers up the bottom of the card. I don't like it.
• Customer Service! Its amazing, but you can call up SGC and talk to a real person, every time, usually the same guy (Brian), they just really take care of you. As I stated above, if you only plan on buying graded cards, and not submitting raw cards, then this isn't an issue.

That said, PSA cards are more common on eBay, so if you don't want to cross cards over to SGC, and want to acquire a collection quickly, and you like the PSA holder, then go PSA.