Posted By:
Joe D.as this is turning into an anti-grading thread,
I feel compelled to speak.....
As a kid in the hobby - pregrading.... if I went to buy a card at a card show - EVERYONE's card was mint - at least in their eyes. Whether it was trimmed, bumped corners, etc. On the flipside / any card brought to a table to sell to the dealer was 'vg-ex' even if it was mint. A dealer wouldn't mind ripping off a ten year old kid every step of the way.
It was frustrating to say the least.
With grading... the pendulum has shifted a bit away from the dealers. And that is a good thing.
I do not rely on the grading of the grading companies -
but I am happy that the hobby goes by the grading company opinion (and not the opinion of each dealer at each table).
I don't care how many mistakes the grading card companies make -
I will take a hobby with them over a hobby without them any day.
(of course there are good guys who are card dealers / many whom I really enjoy spending time with at shows and corresponding with / the intention of my post was not to paint them all bad.)