Posted By:
BobV117- I share your angst over grading, I think we all have had some lulus come back with lower than anticipated grades. Your more important question, though, seems to be with cards which are graded and are not as they appear to be. I think it is important to check out the card scans these days and not just rely on "PSA 4" or "SGC50" or "GAI 4" designations, not because people are slipping in crads to the holders, but because there is a lot of disparity and subjectivity in grading. Even though SGC and GAI bounce me around with lower than expected grades on caramel cards and reject cards for trimming which I feel are ok, if I happen to get a card in one of their holders I feel the card is legit. I think it is also important to know which companies are death on certain things: for instance SGC is brutal if an otherwise nice card has border chips (ask Josh) but is lenient on staining. I bought an SGC 40 caramel recently which had only a front scan and the front looked 40ish but the back had bad staining the length of the card. It helps to know. It also helps to ask questions, such as "any staining or paper loss on the back?" even if it is an SGC or GAI slabbed card and most certainly if raw, where a back scan is not provided. Gone are the days when I'll have someone offer an SGC40 or 50 or GAI 3 or 4 card and I'll buy it sight unseen. Gotta have that scan now and yes you are right: BUY THE CARD NOT THE HOLDER!