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?

[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

[drcy]

Below is an original generation GAI graded card with the original style flip and 'first graded' designation.

[glynparson]

Last I heard he was bar-tending. I believe in Tahoe area somewhere.

[Jay Wolt]

Originally Posted by drcy

Below is an original generation GAI graded card with the original style flip and 'first graded' designation.

and here's one (from eBay) that has the newer label
which many believe has more relaxed grading standards
Perhaps they utilized the newer label when they moved to Iowa

[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.

[Huysmans]

Let's be honest here, there's problems with ALL grading companies....
And card grading in general.

[caramelcard]

I don't think about GAI so I don't get angry again. Bad experiences.

[bbcard1]

My experience with GIA is that it's a little harder to break the cards out of them than it is with SGC.

[GoudeyGum]

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

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by caramelcard

I don't think about GAI so I don't get angry again. Bad experiences.

A BIG +1 It took several emails and phone calls just to get my cards back. I paid the grading charges and got my cards back raw(good thing) several months later on a 5 or 10 day service.

[BlueDevil89]

Paul,

I'm generally in agreement with the comments previously posted. My experience in the past was that for some of the cards in the original GAI holders, you had an opportunity to sometimes get a good card at a good price. However, you can't trust anything in the newly designed holders.

[Jay Wolt]

Originally Posted by bnorth

A BIG +1 It took several emails and phone calls just to get my cards back. I paid the grading charges and got my cards back raw(good thing) several months later on a 5 or 10 day service.

When you called, what was their excuse for not grading them?

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Jay Wolt

When you called, what was their excuse for not grading them?

Short version. I sent in several rare error cards. After a couple months they finaly said my cards were graded and waiting for encapsulation and that would be done in a couple days.

They(Damain) posted the grades of the cards and I thought they were what they should grade at except 1 card. I asked if it could be looked at again and would pay for that service. A few days later I got a email back saying all my cards had been reglossed and the grades would all be changed to reflect that.

I knew better because every card I sent in came from a different source. I did not regloss them and they did not apear reglossed to me.

So in the end I was just very happy to pay to get my cards back in the same condition as when I sent them in.

[paulcarek]

Great information as usual, guys. Thank you for the responses!

[Fred]

My understanding was that they placed the "1st Graded" designation on cards that were the first to recieve that grade. For example, there could be 10 "1st Graded" T206 Cobb (bat on shoulder) cards. There'd be a "1st graded" "1", "2" "3", etc.

I'd pick up GAI cards if the discount was good and the card didn't appear to be trimmed. I think cards were reliably graded by GAI in the early stages of the company life. However like someone already indicated, all TPGs have their own fleas.

[Stonepony]

Agree with all posts...however....last year I broke out an GAI Authentic E93 Mathewson... and SGC gave it a 5

[bbsports]

Most of you people don't remember that Mike Baker was a former grader at PSA before he was one of the few guys that formed GAI. I met Mike on many occasions and was a great help at card shows & was always honest with me when conversing by telephone. Some of you are putting him down, but I'd rather have Mike grading my cards at PSA right down than any other of the current graders at PSA.

[Stonepony]

Originally Posted by bbsports

Most of you people don't remember that Mike Baker was a former grader at PSA before he was one of the few guys that formed GAI. I met Mike on many occasions and was a great help at card shows & was always honest with me when conversing by telephone. Some of you are putting him down, but I'd rather have Mike grading my cards at PSA right down than any other of the current graders at PSA.

I won't argue with that statement

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by bbsports

Most of you people don't remember that Mike Baker was a former grader at PSA before he was one of the few guys that formed GAI. I met Mike on many occasions and was a great help at card shows & was always honest with me when conversing by telephone. Some of you are putting him down, but I'd rather have Mike grading my cards at PSA right down than any other of the current graders at PSA.

I did know that. Do you know why he no longer worked for PSA?

[1880nonsports]

early on in the "Baker" years. Many of my 19th century cards got the "first graded" tag. Some years later I cracked out every one while at the airport on the way to the national. Placed them between two waiting area seats and and tugged. All were submitted to SGC at the national. ALL of them graded........
That said - it's a crapshoot.

[Peter_Spaeth]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1949-Bowman-...p2047675.l2557

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by bbsports

Most of you people don't remember that Mike Baker was a former grader at PSA before he was one of the few guys that formed GAI. I met Mike on many occasions and was a great help at card shows & was always honest with me when conversing by telephone. Some of you are putting him down, but I'd rather have Mike grading my cards at PSA right down than any other of the current graders at PSA.

He was as good a grader as there was on the planet, but something went wrong at GAI.

[rdwyer]

After Steve Rocchie left, GAI went downhill.

[Brian]

IMO, one needs to take this case by case. Early on, I had most of my cards graded by Baker at GAI.
Several years ago, I took a bunch of GAI graded 1915 CJs over to SGC because I though they were harshly graded (by Baker himself). One did not cross over for the minimum requested grade, but three others crossed to the same grade and two received two whole grades above the GAI grade (they went from 4s to 6s). I think Baker was a strict grader, and at some point, I will cross the others over because of the stigma others allude to. But I may not; I know that they were graded fairly to harshly, not overly generously, and I personally think the card matters more than the holder.
Brian.