My GMA Experiment
 

The last couple of months, my three boys have been getting into collecting baseball cards which is super exciting for me. I only collect T206 or T205 cards now but had crates of cards from my younger days and decided to break them out. As I went through them and distributed them to the kids, I picked the really good ones for safe keeping and decided to have them graded and encapsulated just for posterity.

The graded T206 cards I have are a mix of BVG,PSA and SGC which hold their value and are trustworthy. I didn't want to plunk that kinda money down on cards I planned to keep so I sent them to GMA just for fun. The first batch I got back pretty quickly and was kinda surprised at the grades. I only got two 10s and two 9s the rest were 8.5 to 6.5 which I thought was pretty fair. The second group of cards I sent twelve cards including some T206 and T205 raw cards. I pulled a few HOF and the better conditioned cards from my collection to see how they would grade. I got them back today and was kinda shocked. Out of the 8 T-cards I got a two 4s, a 3.5, a 3, a 2.5, a 1.5 and two Authentic grades. I thought the grades were pretty fair except the two Authentics. One was a solid Homerun Baker that I figured was a solid 2 with creases and some stains on the back but no evidence of alterations. The second was a a T205 common with straight corners but had a burn mark on the back. I am just puzzled by the authentic grades from GMA. Why not grade them out as Ones? I guess the moral of the story is that all grading companies have quirks when it comes to vintage cards. At least they didn't all come back as 10s.

What the hell is GMA?

Grand Meft Auto

Its a lower end grading service I found.

I have purchased a handful of their lower condition graded cards over the last few years and it seems like they do a decent job with their grading. Perhaps that WWG DiMaggio should be sent to them to verify trimming.

Brian

I like them for the service they provide. If you have some cards you want slabbed at a low price to protect them they are great. As far as resale value I don't believe they would be very good for that.

Guy slabbing cards at his house in Florida. May be cheap, but doesn't increase resale value because nobody trusts him and collectors expect the cards to be altered in the slab.
It's probably lowest on this rung of currently still existing grading companies:
PSA
Beckett
SGC
KSA
BCCG (because of their wacky scale) and collector distrust/disinterest
GMA

Did I miss any? Is KSA (Canadian grader) still in business?

I didn’t send them to GMA for resale. I’m a card collector not a card dealer. Usually when I have something I think I may resell I send it to PSA or SGC. I would put them above KSA and BCCG personally. The cards I have sent him with the exceptions of my two Authentic grades have been spot on. I’m just not going to spend $20 a card on grading just in case I might sell it. I could used that money for more cards.

Also I have learned to buy the card not the holder. I got bit one to many times by these grading companies by buying the grades.

No, I realize; I was answering the guy above that didn't know who they were. Some of the Panhandle guys submit to GMA for mid-grade vintage and cheaper modern cards just because of the quicker turnaround and lower price. But it doesn't normally improve the value of their cards.

I gotcha. I just thought those guys were being sarcastic. I think all the grading companies have their pluses and minuses. I was just glad to find a cheaper alternative for stuff I won’t sell. I love the people at SGC but their holder are so darn bulky.

I was being serious, I had never heard of GMA. When I saw the thread title I thought you had found some clever way of getting on Good Morning America

Lol, no I was just trying to find a cheap way to grade some mid tier cards.

That is what I thought too, Good Morning America :). I think of the GMA as a PRO-like product to avoid.

.

I read a lot of threads about them prior to sending cards there and there were two camps on them. One absolutely against them and one that said they had good experiences. The stuff I sent them the first time was just relic cards and rookies from the 90s and 2000s so it was worth a shot. For $55 I got 10 cards graded and I felt they did a good job. I felt they deserved a positive mention for it.

I think what you did was smart...you could have paid PSA more than the cards aare worth to grade them...why bother!

They are protected and that was your goal.

On a side note, whatever happened to ISA?? I thought they were supposed to be the next big thing.

And please put your name next to your post per the rules. Shout outs are great and appreciated. But, and this probably isn't the case, someone could work for them and shill their services. That is why names are important. Same rules for everyone ....

Also, back to the topic,if you ever want to sell them you would probably get more for them if they aren't in those holders...imo

I apologize. I thought I did put my name up there. How to I fix it?

I thought about that too. You are right PSA and SGC are where I usually go with my cards. I actually have an order set up with SGC right now. Worst case is, I get them re-holdered and am out $5.

Thanks for your understanding and putting it there. Speaking of SGC, they will be taking submissions at our Texas Card Show, in Frisco TX, later this month. :) Hope to see a lot of members there. And yes, 5 bucks isn't that big of an experiment for cards.

Yes, KSA is still in business. Changed owners a bit ago, but last I heard are still accepting submissions.

Where would you rank GAI graded cards in your list? I believe I've read here some anecdotal comments around early gradings are quite good, but issues with later gradings.

GAI had something in common with GMA. At the end GAI was a guy slabbing cards out of his house. The difference was one is in Florida and one was in Iowa.

I've heard the same about their cards, but especially their graded packs. Early ones are unopened, many resealed ones got through later on.

I'd say they're close to SGC when they were good, but I don't have personal experience. I've bought some SCD graded 1952 Topps for my PSA set, cracked them out, and they did okay, even with PSA being thought to have tightened their standards:
https://www.blowoutforums.com/showpo...7&postcount=45
Of course, I think I bought them all for around PSA 4-5 prices, so even the ones the dropped still "improved" in value.

For your consideration (of GMA)
 

For your consideration, the bottom edge of this Huggins

https://i.imgur.com/xlcL0Ip.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/Ak3Lqpz.jpg?1

This looks like more of miscut than a trim - Yes?

Not True. I am now using them for most of my grading and they do a real good job. Their grading is pretty damn good and there is no 3 to 4 month wait. have been selling a number of cards on ebay and they do well. If you have not tried them then you should not condemn them. It just makes you a big mouth with no knowledge of what you are talking about. FRANK.

I agree the card is diamond cut.

Thanks. Me from two years ago has been appropriately scolded.

KSA has surged recently with the popularity of the Gretzky rookie. I am pretty sure they have graded the most OPC Gretzky rookies and might be the biggest hockey grader in the market. they definitely have a much better reputation under the new ownership and lots of collectors really like them.

They've been around for a long time, and like many TPGs, there are issues/lack of confidence in their older slabs. I have a few KSA cards, and my only issue is with the grading scale. They do not seem to account for centering, and because of this, you sometimes need to reduce the grade by 2 levels. i find that to be annoying- they have some bad cards graded as '8's. Some say that you need to do this with SGC and other graders as well, but I do not see it. It always depends on the card, but I view SGC/PSA to be within 1 grade of each other and it not always in the same direction.

CSA was a Canadian firm the graded Star Basketball before Beckett.
Not a darn this wrong with their service. Not sure they’re in business
but the grades are pretty much spot on.

An “Authentic” grade in a GMA slab is insult to injury :(

Matthew Broderick got his own card?

I do not collect cards, but I read many threads. When I looked at this, other than seeing Ferris Bueller, I though I could see trimming. The top looks like it dips in the middle. The bottom slants up from left to right..

I look at it as they were good enough to find the problem. Unlike PSA.

A factory mis-cut receives my vote. I have a hard time believing a sober person would purposely trim the card into that shape. A kindergartner with safety scissors could’ve done a better job.

I have purchased a total of four cards in GAI holders, three of them labeled "First Graded." I am well aware of the controversy surrounding their grading practices, but I don't care about their investment potential, so they work for me. If you're thinking about selling them one day, then I would go with one of the more established grading companies which means PSA would be the first choice for many collectors, investors, flippers- you get the idea.

Phil aka Tere1071

CSA spot on lol. NOw I have heard it all. I have read some nonsense on here this is right near if not at the top.

Grading cards aren't $20. I am all the time getting cards graded for under $10. You have to catch a special, but it can be done.

LOL, It's not even the the most nonsense posted in this thread. If you want real nonsense you need to find a thread that someone calls out one of the countless PSA blunders. One member is so silly they actually will call the poster a liar or con artist. Of course the poster calling out PSA is always right. The other is always wrong and too big of a AH to apologize for his posts saying the OP has a tampered slab as an example.:eek::D

Wow, my head is spinning reading this.

If it's just some BS company that doesn't affect the value of a card either way (actually probably immediately throws it under a web of suspicion), why not spent $10 and buy a box of top loaders and store your cards like that?

I was thinking Good Morning America as well.

Wouldn't it be a lot easier to but a box of top loaders and use those to protect your cards? And not have anyone else handle them?

Odd.

In one of those protection devices Paul has the chance to breathe through that slot at top. Stick him in a slab, be it PSA, SGC, GMA or whatever, and the Big Poison suffocates.

Brian (a humanitarian and carditarian simultaneously)

yes!

I don't have any graded cards (that are not busted out) but from a pure visual perspective I think their holders look the best, as in don't detract from the cards itself.

From an interesting Wheaties set....
 

Every time I see the title of this thread I think of Good Morning America.

As for GMA, or slabs in general, I am sort of neutral right now. I know my raw cards do fine in penny sleeves and top loaders.

Raw isn't so bad...

http://luckeycards.com/pf272unc1941dimaggio.jpg

Leon, do you know what year this pic of DiMaggio is from ?