Quote:
Originally Posted by glynparson
I have not seen a 23 year old grader at PSA, all the ones i know are in their late 40's to early 50's. Because customer service may have some younger guys in it doesn't mean the graders are young. SGC has no young graders either not sure where this information comes from. Second PSA BVG and SGC are three different companies the fact that they would not all grade the card the exact same grade is completely irrelevant. Is grading an exact science NO WAY but it is far less random than many of the criticisms want to pretend. Third point I was 23 in 1995 and more than qualified to be a grader so if there is someone grading at PSA that is 23 I wouldn't just automatically dismiss them as unqualified. Some of the most respected people as far as knowledge on this board have missed wrinkles and or modifications to cards. Having a great knowledge of a set may help greatly in knowing rarities and would obviously help in identifying counterfeits but it is not necessarily much help in detecting alterations or technical grade which are some of the key components and most important areas of grading.
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BIG, BIG +1. TPG's have eliminated a significant portion of dealers specializing in altered cards. I can think of one in my area who had virtually nothing but cards that were put through a paper press, then cut back to size, with razor sharp edges and one who advertised almost weekly in Sports Collector's Digest back in the early '90's. The cards appeared to the naked eye as NrMt-Mt, but would virtually always come back from PSA as trimmed. Upon inquiry to PSA, I learned to look at the edges of raw cards with a 16X loupe before buying (original cards should have rough edges; pressed and trimmed will have quite clean, sharp edges) The latter dealer seems to have vanished entirely from the scene and the other, while still apparently in business (and will go unnamed) appears to have cleaned up his act.
Best wishes,
Larry