Greg Morris Cards - Grading

[deweyinthehall]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

My guess is that his MO is to be super conservative with grading raw cards. This is why you are seeing "VG" cards look better. So many long term dealers who were reputable in the 80's and even earlier - have lost the script anymore when it comes to grading. Kit Young advertises vintage stars on eBay on a regular basis that anymore are up to 2 grades wrong. Yeah, that might have been "EX" in 1985, but...

Good move IMO by Greg Morris. Another who is an extremely accurate grader at least (if not a great pricer...) is Dean's cards. Their grading is very much on-point from all I have seen.

I've noticed the same thing about Kit Young - when I was younger I always saw his adds, but never was into mail order. Now that I'm able to collect more seriously, I went back to him because, well "king of the commons" and all. Saw a lot of cards which looked mis graded (and priced accordingly!)

[toppcat]

Greg Morris VG-EX grading is quite accurate IMO. Usually, if you can't see an obvious flaw, it's a "bend" that doesn't penetrate the other side of the card, or some other reasonably minor thing. They look nice in person and you can, of course, see such things once in hand vs a scan which doesn't always show such detail (through no fault of GMC). Given the slabbing backlog, dealers with conservative or even accurate raw grading will likely continue to do well vs the overgraders, as they should.

[quitcrab]

Always been pleased with cards bought from GM cards. I think his grading is spot on.
Scott

[mortimer brewster]

I have purchased thousands of cards from GM over the past 10 years.

I probably have slightly overpaid due to his great reputation, but it is worth it for peace of mind.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by deweyinthehall

I've noticed the same thing about Kit Young - when I was younger I always saw his adds, but never was into mail order. Now that I'm able to collect more seriously, I went back to him because, well "king of the commons" and all. Saw a lot of cards which looked mis graded (and priced accordingly!)

"King of the Commons" was actually Bill Henderson, but same type of dealer and they came out of the same era. Bill is either retired or dead; I went googling for him a while back out of sheer curiosity, but didn't find anything. Yeah, unfortunately the same type of stuff: Those guys got to where they would call anything EX, so long as there wasn't a noticeable crease. I get it based on how raw grading worked in the 1980's and earlier; this is the era I grew up in the hobby with. Unfortunately whether for right or wrong 25 years later, standards change. Yes, a card can be "below EX" with just corner problems and no creases. Happens all the time. Earlier this year, I was in a bit of a hurry and pulled the trigger on a '63 Koufax on eBay from Kit because it was centered. Advertised as "EX". The great centering aside, when the card arrived in the mail - it's probably a 3.5 at best. There is just too much corner wear on the full bleed borders for me to call it EX without lying to myself. Yes, my fault for being in a hurry - and it's still a nice enough card. But point being, this is how some of those guys grade still.

[deweyinthehall]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

"King of the Commons" was actually Bill Henderson, but same type of dealer and they came out of the same era. Bill is either retired or dead; I went googling for him a while back out of sheer curiosity, but didn't find anything. Yeah, unfortunately the same type of stuff: Those guys got to where they would call anything EX, so long as there wasn't a noticeable crease. I get it based on how raw grading worked in the 1980's and earlier; this is the era I grew up in the hobby with. Unfortunately whether for right or wrong 25 years later, standards change. Yes, a card can be "below EX" with just corner problems and no creases. Happens all the time. Earlier this year, I was in a bit of a hurry and pulled the trigger on a '63 Koufax on eBay from Kit because it was centered. Advertised as "EX". The great centering aside, when the card arrived in the mail - it's probably a 3.5 at best. There is just too much corner wear on the full bleed borders for me to call it EX without lying to myself. Yes, my fault for being in a hurry - and it's still a nice enough card. But point being, this is how some of those guys grade still.

Yes - it was Bill Henderson! Wow - that takes me back to an earlier era...back in the day the only mail ordering I did was with Renata Galasso out of NYC.

[thatkidfromjerrymaguire]

+1 that Greg Morris is a very conservative and accurate grader.

Any time I’ve purchased from him I found the cards to either be as advertised and in some cases under graded. I have never gotten a card from him that didn’t meet or exceed my expectations. The slightly higher prices his auctions get reflect that I think.

[Bigdaddy]

Another +1 here for GMC as I've found his grading always either spot on or a bit conservative, unlike many other dealers on the 'bay. His tendency to grade conservatively is reflected in the prices he gets on his auctions.

Nothing that hasn't been said above, just another voice chiming in.

[nwfsteve]

I've sold several hundred cards through him in the last few months. As a client, he grades tough but fair. His EX is closer to ex-mt in my opinion. I think he is less critical on centering. Its given me a nice baseline by which to judge my own collection.

[homerunderby]

Originally Posted by deweyinthehall

Yes - it was Bill Henderson! Wow - that takes me back to an earlier era...back in the day the only mail ordering I did was with Renata Galasso out of NYC.

Someone needs to set up a "Hall of Fame" for some of these early dealers, Richard Gelman, Larry Fritsch Cards (who had everything but for about 5x what you could get it for anywhere else), Renato Galasso, Bill Henderson, Paul Marchant...

[JoeWillyMammoth]

Greg Morris Cards shipping is up a dollar over the past year, currently at $4.95.

[savedfrommyspokes]

Originally Posted by JoeWillyMammoth

Greg Morris Cards shipping is up a dollar over the past year, currently at $4.95.

That would make sense as shipping for a First Class package is up almost a $1 since Sept. 2021.

In related s/h cost increases, GMC is another "victim" of the ebay authenticity program now advertising separate s/h charges for orders that are split between going to the authenticator and the buyer. Ebay creates yet another win (I mean expense) for the buyer.

[ALR-bishop]

I am a fan of Morris. I have fond memories of Bill Henderson. And apparently being as stupid as I am I have bought from Dean too 😎