Thoughts on GAI grading?

[paulcarek]

Don't know much about this grading service. Should I be wary of a card in a GAI holder? Any input would be much appreciated.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by paulcarek

Don't know much about this grading service. Should I be wary of a card in a GAI holder? Any input would be much appreciated.

Yes, you should be worried about a card in a GAI holder. Not all are bad but many are. At auction they generally sell for less for a reason.

[rdwyer]

Whatever happened to Mike Baker? Is he selling cookies now?

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by rdwyer

Whatever happened to Mike Baker? Is he selling cookies now?

Damian Werner told me a couple years ago Mike Baker was still their head grader. Damian could have been full of it though as the company has been run out of his house for the last few years.

From personal experience even the cards with first graded can be garbage. Not sure about the # anymore but from memory I think any # after 10300000 has a huge chance of being garbage and any card in the Global Authority slab is buyer beware.

[Peter_Spaeth]

These flips are questionable too IMO.

[insccollectibles]

I completely stay away from GAI.

[CMIZ5290]

Originally Posted by Leon

Yes, you should be worried about a card in a GAI holder. Not all are bad but many are. At auction they generally sell for less for a reason.

this, plus one. Having said that, GAI in their initial days had cards actually selling for higher prices than PSA. That did not last long. Their initial graded cards (different flip from later graded cards) gives you a better shot IMO of obtaining a card not trimmed and free of issues. I actually have a T206 graded by them when they first came out. It is not trimmed, but if I did sell it, it would bring a fraction of the price compared to being slabbed by PSA if not crossed over....

[Bocabirdman]

Originally Posted by CMIZ5290

this, plus one. Having said that, GAI in their initial days had cards actually selling for higher prices than PSA. That did not last long. Their initial graded cards (different flip from later graded cards) gives you a better shot IMO of obtaining a card not trimmed and free of issues. I actually have a T206 graded by them when they first came out. It is not trimmed, but if I did sell it, it would bring a fraction of the price compared to being slabbed by PSA if not crossed over....

I agree.... The earliest GAI holders are OK but run, not walk, away from the newer slabs. Even the early ones carry the stigma. I THINK I have one or two around here still but generally, except for PSA, SGC and Beckett, I "crack'em all".

[Peter_Spaeth]

In the early days I did well crossing GAI to PSA; I was happy to buy either one. Baker was very solid. I'm not sure what happened, but the product definitely lost its reliability. The problem is that except for some cards that say 1st graded which almost certainly are very early grades, and some very late grades after they changed the flip, you can't really tell from the flip or holder.

[ethicsprof]

With my ole buddy Peter, I do remember the earliest days when GAI did
ok. In fact, I still have quite a few which say 'first graded' and feel comfortable with their grades.
Alas, the problem is there are only very,very few of us who still remember those 'halcyon' days so I suspect we'll be keeping our gai cards for aeons.
Any gai after the first days, run away from quickly...very quickly.
all the best,
barry

[GoudeyGum]

Does the same logic apply to slabbed packs? Maybe it's just me, but it seems most slabbed packs I see are GAI.