1914 Baltimore News Babe Ruth in Heritage

[Lorewalker]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

There was recently a YouTube video made by an ostensibly large vintage dealer, complaining about the inconsistencies in PSA's grading and then doing an experiment in which "old" flip / slabs had the cards cracked out, and then the cards were resubmitted raw, where - predictably - they came back with mostly lower or at least inconsistent grades. But the dealer then ruined it by pointing out the flaws on those and other cards and then in attempting to explain why they should have graded higher or lower - within about 10 seconds proved painfully that he didn't have a clue what he was talking about in terms of how grading works.

This kind of thing always gives me stomach pain, because yes PSA DOES have legit issues with their grading scale and process. But now, a full generation plus into slabs and grading being a thing - there are so many in the hobby who have either forgotten or just no longer care how to grade themselves, that at times it seems we are just helpless to do anything about that which would frustrate us.

PSA has moved the goal posts but so has SGC only to a lessor extent. I think with the advent of grading, a vast majority of collectors defer to the number on the label and never or no longer can assess a card's condition or make any determination as to whether the card in the holder has been altered. It only muddies the water when these two companies do favors for insiders and over grade their cards for whatever reason.

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by Lorewalker

PSA has moved the goal posts but so has SGC only to a lessor extent. I think with the advent of grading, a vast majority of collectors defer to the number on the label and never or no longer can assess a card's condition or make any determination as to whether the card in the holder has been altered. It only muddies the water when these two companies do favors for insiders and over grade their cards for whatever reason.

I know there were problems in the early 1990's which led many to think professional grading was a good thing, but remember in the 80's when price magazines came with "condition guides" and every book sold about cards had at least some section explaining how to grade cards? Yes, there were inconsistencies and people who didn't get it even back then, but the point was there was at least some attempt to get collectors on the same page as to how to assess a card's condition. Yes, it was rudimentary and far less refined than today's 10 point scale complete with half grades - but back in the day I bet you most collectors could differentiate a poor card from a VG card from a NM one. Today the nuances are completely out the window. If I had a dollar for every eBay seller or YouTube egghead I've run across who doesn't understand how to compute centering properly or, much less - doesn't understand centering scales and how they work with professional grades - well, then I'd have a lot more money to spend on my collection.

It's a shame we've thrown out the middle knowledge with the bathwater. People today seem to be either generally very competent with grading - or they know absolutely nothing about it and rely on PSA to do everything for them.