Posted By:
Sean SkeffingtonSteve,
That's quite a mouthful. The first and perhaps the only issue I agree with you on is that a grading company is only as good as its graders and their integrity. For that I feel SGC is on solid footing because I know the senior graders at SGC are world class and their honesty and integrity has never been questioned. I find it odd that you stopped submitting to SGC when Derek left the company (January 2003) and 18 months later you feel compelled to write your fable about SGC. I strongly question your motives.
Without submitting a card to SGC (post Derek) or without meeting or knowing our current graders what credentials do you have to question SGC's grading practices and integrity? In your words you said "...I cannot say anything good, bad or indifferent about the graders at SGC as I have never met them or know a thing about them..." It is clear that your decision to not grade cards with SGC had nothing to do with our ability to grade cards or the quality of our cards on the market.
Your attempt to smear SGC's good name and reputation due to a personal conflict with Dave Forman that goes back many years is disappointing and desperate. You claim that "..you write this not to cause any controversy but to make sure that the great and very knowledgable collectors on this board know what they are buying when they use a particular grading company." This is very noble of you and I believe the members of this board are intelligent enough to make their own choices. Unlike yourself, their choice will be made based on how accurately we grade cards, not rumor and innuendo.
It is unfortunate that there are a number of conflicts of interest that exist in the hobby, the least of which is that Dave Forman's brother is a card dealer. Steve Forman submits cards to all three grading services (SGC, PSA and GAI). If he was getting the preferential treatment you suggest from SGC there would be no reason for him to use the other services. Check out his eBay auctions (stevessportscards) or his showcase at a show and you will see that SGC is not his primary grading service of choice.
You can feel free to make up all of the consipracy theories you wish, but I have been at SGC from Day 1 and actually know how things operate here as opposed to your rediculous speculations. Every card submitted to SGC is graded in the same manner regardless of who submits the card and it is my job to enforce that policy. Unless you wish to call my ethics and integrity into question, I suggest you go on your way.
Regards,
Sean Skeffington
Vice President-SGC