[brian1961]

As someone may have already stated, "It's always all about the money."

The SGC holders and how our cards look in them are amazing, though their current one, with the loud, boldface number and blacker appearance, is not as elegant as their original forest green cert. Moreover, I enjoyed their old, unique grading scale, and became somewhat used to it. My only complaint with them, however, was the fact they very, very, rarely awarded a card with "98 Gem Mint". PSA seemed to award many more cards with GEM MINT 10. Even though this suggests SGC were "tougher" graders than PSA, I think over the years the lack of SGC "98 Gem Mint" irritated collectors. They could understand the lack of cards receiving the exceedingly rare "100 Pristine" grade. However, it was almost as rare to get the "98 Gem Mint", and after awhile, you just want to say, "nuts to SGC and their nice holders", I'll go with PSA---at least they'll give a great card "PSA 10", and their holders have been fine all along the way, never changing that much. Furthermore, ya get more money for your PSA-graded cards, so..... it becomes an easy decision.

Now, for a time, 10-12 years ago, I had to go with SGC, because they would grade some of my confirmable unique, ultra rare, over-sized items that PSA wouldn't grade. I must stress the few over-sized items I sent to SGC look magnificent in their over-sized holder, because they could custom-cut their black insert to fit the large card/flat box/ larger premium PERFECTLY!

Honestly, I've never been attracted to any master set player registry, because by its nature, you MUST collect all the items to be competitive. I don't have any intention nor interest along those lines, and it's not just because of the sheer cost. I ONLY want items that really capture my fancy, whereby I respect how they were issued and the promotion from whence they came. Moreover, I only wanted to "collect" pieces I found exceedingly beautiful, with compelling eye appeal. There's often a lot of mundane or flat-out ugly items that comprise a player set registry. I don't care if it's ultra rare; if it's ugly, I don't care---to own it. Be that as it may, if my fellow collectors choose to pursue any of PSA's set or player registries, that is great and I sincerely wish them happy collecting and fulfillment. I also think of my friend Chris De Bono, who for years aggressively hunted down as many different items of Mickey Mantle as he could. Some are professionally graded; some are not---that was not particularly important to him. What was important was getting as many different genuine Mantles issued during his career as possible. Chris has over 400, and all I can bellow is a sincere, "WOW!!!" One of his most fascinating adventures was the procurement of a 1960 Home Run Derby set (the year is correct--read chapter 8 of the E-book on a CD, NEVER CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN) for the solitary reason of getting the Mickey Mantle. His strategy was to have all the cards graded by PSA, then sell the cards one by one, and keep his prized Mickey Mantle. The strategy worked brilliantly, and he patiently got all his money back, including grading fees, and essentially, got a Home Run Derby Mickey for free!!!!!! That is saying something, but I don't believe he could have achieved the same glowing results had he gone with grading his set by SGC.

The matter of PSA versus SGC has gone on and on, ad nauseam. It is important though that our hobby has three good grading companies, with Beckett being the third. At least we have a choice. Each company has its pluses, just as each company has its respective chagrin.

In the end, the principles of supply and demand, and what generates the most money will win out, far and away. I guess I've had my say, except to stress, collect and be happy, 'cause life is shorter than you think. ---Brian Powell