Quote:
Originally Posted by jchcollins
PSA in the early 1990's saw a business opportunity in the hobby - no different than the folks who invented toploaders and plastic pages 15 or more years earlier. It was no surprise, and honestly could have happened even sooner. David Hall just moved the coin grading business model that he had come up with years before over to the burgeoning sports card hobby. I would agree with those that say it's all about the Benjamins and little if anything else, especially at this point. Do you REALLY need a PSA or an SGC to speculate on the authenticity, tamper-status, condition or condition nuances of your vintage card if you have been collecting and loving these things for 35 or 40 years? Well maybe you do, and I get the universal standard thing, but really? I don't. I laugh at anyone who thinks that the TPG's literally have any chance of knowing more about the cards you love in a 20-second-per evaluation than you do if you have been collecting for that long.
As for the complaints, who cares? PSA standards have waxed and waned - for decades. PSA's turn times and customer service quality have waxed and waned - for decades. The veritable laundry list of complaints against them have waxed and waned - for decades - in fact on this count, since they fraudulently slabbed their first card with the trimmed Gretzky Wagner.
Those who continue to buy into TPG's and prop them up - whatever their reason - to turn profits, or because they like the look or protection, or want to leave something easier to move in the marketplace for their descendants - these folks will always face the question of whether or not the BS and customer service issues are worth it. From my perspective, those questions and posts like this will likely never go away. It just depends on how much you are willing to put up with.
Disclaimer - I LOVE a properly graded SGC or PSA card in a nice looking slab. Don't get me wrong, it's a cool thing. But I left behind any notions of the infallibility of these type of companies a long time ago. Grading is subjective and always will be. The idea that it's not is a lemon they have sold to some of the collecting public and their bread and butter. Collect what you love. Buy the card not the grade. Buy the raw card and not the flawed slab. Do or do not do any of these things, whatever. In short - do whatever floats your boat!  |
I agree- there are millions of slabbed cards that aren't worth 10 cents. I collect cards, not slabs so it doesn't matter much to me. I only have a handful of graded cards, all vintage, because they were less expensive than raw in a similar grade.
What's going to happen to those millions of hot PSA 10 rookies when the player goes bust? Those cards where 2/3 of the graded are PSA 10? Maybe they'll be in the same place as the 1,000 count lots of Gregg Jefferies and Todd Van Poppel rookies that were going to make everyone rich.