Question about regrading through PSA

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Posted By: David Yoken

I've got a beautiful, and expensive vintage card that was graded by BVS as an 8.5, with subs at: 9 - corners, 9 - centering, 9 - edges, and 7.5 for surface, and was thinking about trying to get PSA to regrade at a 9. Does anyone have any experience with regrading, either from GAI, SGC, or BVS to PSA? Should I even bother? Do they have to take my card out of its original slab to evaluate it?

Thanks for your help!

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Posted By: WP

Buying a vintage card in a Beckett holder is dangerous. Chances are the card is altered and won't be graded by PSA or SGC.

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Posted By: David Yoken

Umm...I've never heard of a situation where a BVS card had been altered. They are fairly reputable, although not used as much for vintage cards as SGC or PSA....Where did you hear this?

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Posted By: WP

I believe there have been BVS slabbed rebacked T206s discussed on this board. Anybody recall??

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Posted By: Josh K.

Im not sure I agree that Beckett routinely slabs altered cards - yes, their expertise is the new junk and they dont grade vintage material very well, but they are not PRO either. If you are worried about alterations, send the card to sgc in the slab for a crossover (it will cost 7, I think). You can tell them the minimum grade you will accept (which cant be higher than the assigned grade. They will review the card in the slab and if it meets the minimum grade or higher, they will reslab it in an sgc holder. If it doesnt meet the min. grade (which can also be lower than the assigned grade) they do not break it out of its current slab.

I do think that they have recently changed their cost structure and will only cross over cards valued (by you) at less than 500 - so if you paid 600, you need to value it at 500 to get it crossed over - otherwise you need to submit the card under a regular grading tier which will cost more.

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Posted By: JimB

PSA will not give it a higher grade than any other grading service if it comes in their holder. If you break it out and submit it raw, maybe.
JimB

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Posted By: Josh K.

I agree with JimB about psa. I have rec'd higher grades with sgc submitting in the holder on 4 occassions (out of about 30-35 cards that Ive crossed over). Ive also had about 4 cards that have come back lower - usually when it was in a gai 3.5 and I set a minimum grade of sgc 40 since they dont have an equivilent to a 3.5.

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Posted By: barry arnold

Hi Dave

I've done a few crossovers over the last few years and none did me any good.
I suspect the companies don't want to see themselves as 'easier' on the
grading than competitors.
I know that once in a while there are some ethical reevaluators as Josh
noted.

all the best

Barry

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Posted By: Richard

I currently have a lot of Beckett Vintage Graded cards and BGS graded cards and have also crossed over BVG cards over to PSA and GAI so I think I can add something to this discussion.

I have read and heard about the bias against BVG over the past few months on this board and the PSA board, and I feel that a lot of it is unwarranted. Beckett does have a lot of vintage graders who lack the experience of those at PSA GAI and SGC, but I do believe that they are learning / have learned very quickly.

Does Beckett grade sheet cut cards? Yes, absolutely. Can you tell which cards in BVG holders were cut from a sheet? Yes, absolutely. Simple solution - just don't buy those cards.

Has Beckett graded altered cards? Yes, absolutely. But the percentages that are making it through their system are probably now in the ballpark of what gets past PSA. (In the ballpark does not mean equal to) Keep in mind that a BVG grader has seen plenty of 68 Ryans and 54 Aarons and 63 Roses. They know enough about these cards to spot altered or fake cards. Would I send an e95 Cobb to BVG for grading? Heck no! Would I buy an e95 Cobb graded by Beckett? Heck no! What would a BVG grader do a year ago if he saw an e95 Cobb? He would probably grade it using his modern card skills. What would a BVG grader do today if he saw an e95 Cobb? I believe he would be very cautious, do some research and seek multiple opinions. Perhaps even send the card back as "questionable" if there was any doubt.

Personally, I like Beckett cases the best. They are the most secure and look the best imho. I feel that their subgrade system, while you may not like it as a seller, is great as a buyer. For my personal collection, I don't mind having BVG slabs.

I also believe that BVG, in many cases, severely undergrades cards. I have never tried to cross over to PSA in BVG slabs, but I have cracked out several cards with good results. Such as:

61 Oscar Robertson BVG 6 to PSA 8
63 Bob Lilly BVG 6 to PSA 7

I also had several crack outs graded by GAI:

52 Willie Mays BVG 4.5 to GAI 6
58 Jim Brown BVG 5 to GAI 6.5

and a couple slab reviews bumped by GAI:

76 Walter Payton BVG 6.5 to GAI 7
66 Topps Test Bobby Hull BVG 6.5 to GAI 7

Of course, these were cards that I felt were severely undergraded by BVG so the results look skewed.

As for altered cards in BVG holders . . . I have a nice 57 Mantle/Berra that once resided in a BVG case which has a nice power erase on the side . . . anyone interested? All of the big companies make mistakes. I have cards rejected by Beckett for trimming sitting in PSA cases, and the other way around too. Are they really trimmed? Or are the graders being overly cautious?

Happy collecting!

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Posted By: Richard

By the way, Dave, it looks like you may have a sheet cut card residing in your BVG case. Subgrades of 9 or 9.5 across the board except for a low surface is a dead giveaway. What card is it?