MBA Opinions - Mike Baker Authentic

[rand1com]

I crossed a 1954 Red Heart Mickey Mantle in a GAI 8.5 to a PSA 7. I thought the card might be trimmed but placed a minimum grade of 7 for the crossover and they crossed it. It was worth about $2K in the GAI 8.5 slab and I sold it for $4500 in the PSA 7 so it was worth the $250 fee.

GAI was legit in the early days and Baker was the head grading guy but was also a partner in the company and I'm sure he became overwhelmed and they took shortcuts due to being flooded with volume. I can't remember the exact details but they did a promotion of some sort that completely overwhelmed their grading capacity.

[parkplace33]

Originally Posted by rand1com

I crossed a 1954 Red Heart Mickey Mantle in a GAI 8.5 to a PSA 7. I thought the card might be trimmed but placed a minimum grade of 7 for the crossover and they crossed it. It was worth about $2K in the GAI 8.5 slab and I sold it for $4500 in the PSA 7 so it was worth the $250 fee.

GAI was legit in the early days and Baker was the head grading guy but was also a partner in the company and I'm sure he became overwhelmed and they took shortcuts due to being flooded with volume. I can't remember the exact details but they did a promotion of some sort that completely overwhelmed their grading capacity.

So I guess some are good and some are not so good?

Whenever a GAI card come for sale on Facebook, the comments usually light it up with negativity.

I personally would not own a GAI card.

[rand1com]

Originally Posted by parkplace33

So I guess some are good and some are not so good?

Whenever a GAI card come for sale on Facebook, the comments usually light it up with negativity.

I personally would not own a GAI card.

It is all in perspective.

I bought the 1954 Red Heart Mantle GAI 8.5 for roughly what a PSA 4 would have sold for at that time 4 months ago, $2000. I spent $250 to crossover and sold it for $4500. So, a $2250 profit was pretty good. Wish I could buy already graded PSA cards and more than double my money. The key is in the serial numbers. The early ones before they blew up are good as far as being gradable cards. Granted, their 8.5 from 20 years ago was only a PSA 7 today but PSA 8's from 20 years ago would be lucky to get a 7 today.

So, for the time period when they first started and for about a year or two, they were pretty consistent and legit.

They were actually the Host Sponsor at the National one of their early years so at that time they were pretty well respected.

Obviously, as time passed they became really bad and there are a lot of trimmed cards in GAI holders.

But, like this Mantle, there are cards in their holders that are still pretty valuable if crossed over or simply broken out and resubmitted.

But again, the serial numbers are the key to finding cards that will grade and they will still be 1-3 grades lower than the GAI grade on the old holder.

[Brent G.]

Originally Posted by rand1com

It is all in perspective.

I bought the 1954 Red Heart Mantle GAI 8.5 for roughly what a PSA 4 would have sold for at that time 4 months ago, $2000. I spent $250 to crossover and sold it for $4500. So, a $2250 profit was pretty good. Wish I could buy already graded PSA cards and more than double my money. The key is in the serial numbers. The early ones before they blew up are good as far as being gradable cards. Granted, their 8.5 from 20 years ago was only a PSA 7 today but PSA 8's from 20 years ago would be lucky to get a 7 today.

So, for the time period when they first started and for about a year or two, they were pretty consistent and legit.

They were actually the Host Sponsor at the National one of their early years so at that time they were pretty well respected.

Obviously, as time passed they became really bad and there are a lot of trimmed cards in GAI holders.

But, like this Mantle, there are cards in their holders that are still pretty valuable if crossed over or simply broken out and resubmitted.

But again, the serial numbers are the key to finding cards that will grade and they will still be 1-3 grades lower than the GAI grade on the old holder.

Hey Randy, what would be the serial number range that'd indicate a likely good GAI grade or authentication?