Thoughts on Grading Cards...

[Harliduck]

I am like MANY collectors on these boards...die hard child collectors (bought first pack in 1978 at 8 years old)...collected hard until the junk wax era...quit collecting when you could buy cases at Costco (1990ish, last pack I bought was a 1990 Donruss, lol)...moved the 100,000 or so cards I had to the attic and years later grew nostalgic (regretted selling 69 topps set I built as a youth) and got back in 4 or 5 years ago and never looked back. Everyday I see more and more 30 and 40ish year old guys EXACTLY like me coming back...haha...love it. Hopefully when we all die off our beloved cardboard still has value as I am raising kids who could care less...but I digress...

The biggest difference to the community when I came back aside from Ebay and forums like this that made the cards of my youth that were once untouchable, touchable...was the grading business. My first thoughts were "this is absolutely ridiculous". Paying someone to give their opinion of the condition of my card? What a scam. I bought a couple to see what they were all about, and promptly freed them from their bondage, opinion still intact. Move forward a few years, I have definitely changed my mind and now own a couple hundred SGC slabbed cards that will remain. Here are some of my random opinions on grading, completely from someone who has zero history, a rudimentary understanding of the process, and zero stake (I collect 100% for hobby, zero interest in investments...I have a lawyer and an accountant for that, haha). I have read countless posts/threads on grading here and come up with these conclusions that for whatever reason, I am sharing...haha -


* Grading high grade cards is necessary for the hobby. Anything a 7 and above deserves to be separated from the pack for those who invest or care about quality (hey, even I have OCD and appreciated a high quality card). Whatever anyone is into (I also collect muscle cars), there will always be those who want the best of the best and I applaud and respect that, and to some degree fall into that category.

*The difference between an 8, 9 or 10 is kind of a subjective joke, and I am continually baffled how such a high difference in cost between the grades when there are countless examples of the difference between an 8 or a 9 or a 9 or a 10 is the opinion of some dude who might feel difference on a Tuesday vs a Wednesday, and just how many dollars can ride on that decision. I read where people will submit and resubmit until they get the grade they want...what? Cards can do a lot of things...but improve is not one. To me that business model with so many dollars on the line with eventually fail.

*Collectors who have thousands tied up in PSA cards defend PSA to the death, to protect their investment. I don't blame them, if I had thousands tied up and countless stories of fraud were out there with relatively little being done by the company to preserve their integrity would be scary as hell. If there is things being done, this collector has certainly not seen anything and perception is reality. Admitting there is a massive problem, and don't kid yourself, there IS...has financial fallout.

*How does graded cards in general effect a collector like me? When it comes to buying high dollar Post War cards for my set collecting I now buy graded to guarantee I am getting the real deal with no surprises. I simply can't trust, won't trust, a PSA graded card solely based on my education from these boards. I can't stand the look of BVG and others, and my OCD on conformity kicks in and SGC is the only slab I trust as I have yet to hear of one example of an issue.

*Granted, I only buy graded cards second hand, I have yet to submit any cards nor will I ever do that. No interest, they are only a means to an end to avoid fraud for me. That said, I am making them no money and have zero vested interest in their companys as a whole. Like I said earlier, I am glad they exist for my own selfish protection.

*I have seen first hand and noticed lots of folks making good money exploiting the grading company's. In the mid range, the 3, 4, and 5s...there is huge margins selling these cards after popping. If you buy a 4 for example that looks solid but has only a few small issues, pop the card, and that VG-EX now looks EX+ raw where buyers feel they may have a 6 or 7 and pay more. I discovered this by accident really....as I popped a PSA 4 1967 topps Dan Schnieder hi number card last year. I upgraded that card a month or so later. I payed 16.50 for the graded version. I put up the raw card on ebay, and it nabbed 27. The card looked much better in the scan, and I almost doubled my money? I started digging in, and noticed many, many ebayers do this routinely. I am surprised to never see this topic discussed here. I hate selling cards and rarely do, but there is money to be made there whether that is ethical or not...not sure on that and don't care as I will never pursue...just an observation. Since then if I popped a card I will now disclose the company and grade to cover myself and give more info on the card, and I do believe that costs me money. Funny how that works.



Anyhow...not sure if anyone cares about a mid range set collector's opinion on graded cards, but I thought I would share from my perspective. Very interesting phenomenon really. I have liberated more 5, 6s, and 7s than I can count, and will continue doing so. I will admit my Killebrew collection is 8s and 9s, but that is not financial...just fun!