[ullmandds]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

This is precisely the point. There is a way to tell, or there should be - based on the TPG's passing themselves off as "experts." The expertise is the fraud. Just like when David Hall's defense of PSA giving the Gretzky Wagner an 8 was "It doesn't look trimmed to me." What? That's Joe Blow the ripoff guy at your LCS's line, not what you would expect to hear from a supposed "expert" in his field. Well David - what about the cardboard's specific qualities lead you to believe it was not trimmed? What do your years of study of different paper fibers and their aging properties tell you? It's much the same with autograph authentication. The fact of the matter is, while nominally grading of any type (authentication, 1-10, autos...) is "helpful" when buying cards sight unseen, none of it is anywhere near an exact science, and what is far too often overlooked was the hype and marketing drive which led to a company like PSA being able to grow to the size that it is. I think the well-known parties involved in this latest thing w/ the T206's should all have to pay a hefty price in terms of their reputations.

This is a great point...what "expertise" does PSA even offer to justify the prices their graded cards command? Not much from what I see. Perhaps 60 minutes or halls of shame should investigate this!