PSA Bashing getting old.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

I did suggest the idea to Dan as a way of settling the PSA case, since Dan could sell off the grades to people who cared and/or have cards he was selling to customers who wanted them graded done for no cost. Seemed like an attractive offer for all since the cost to PSA would effectively be much less than the grade value. Part of a lawyer's job is to see if there is a solution the parties can live with that avoids a trial.

I bash PSA, deservedly IMHO, but I will buy PSA graded cards. If they mean anything to me and I want them for my personal collection, I usually cross them over to SGC because their presentation is so much better.

I like grading for a variety of reasons: (1) the cards sure look nice in some of the professionally made little frames, (2) the frames do protect the cards pretty well against casual errors (I still kick myself for accidentally creasing my 1969-70 Elvin Hayes rookie card while "playing" with it; never would have done that in a slab), (3) I believe that if you have slabbed cards and they are lost, stolen, etc., it will be a lot easier to present an insurance claim on them and spank an insurer in court if the claim is denied, (4) the move to graded cards presented a needed financial boon to a sagging business in the late 1990s, (5) it is easier to buy and sell via mail order if the cards are slabbed, and (6) slabs are a "portable" means to authenticate cards and especially autographed cards that many buyers trust and accept without debate.

I dislike grading for a variety of reasons: (1) stupid prices based on distinctions that I, with 30 years of collecting, simply do not see (e.g., 9-10), (2) blind obedience to grading services without any consideration of one's own judgment and expertise or that of the seller (e.g., if the slabber says it is bad, it is bad), (3) inconsistency and favoritism, (4) escalated prices based on population figures that are utterly unreliable, (5) silly competitions between under-endowed males for the "best" sets spurring on ridiculous price wars, (6) inability to sell a high end, rare card at full market without a slab, (7) the flip side of authentication: blind acceptance of the slab no matter what your eyes tell you about what is in it.

Merely saying "good" or "bad" on the issue of grading is as flawed as saying "good" or "bad" to a question of public policy. Simplistic answers are for simpletons, or politicians trying to appeal to simpletons. Grading has many good aspects and many bad ones. Whether you feel it is overall a benefit for collectors or overall a detriment in large part depends on your idiosyncratic experiences as a collector. Buy a few altered cards or have a large number of frustrating mail order disappointments (as I did) and you probably like grading. Try to sell your raw collection or try to complete a tough or high demand set that now costs an arm and leg because of registry stuff and you probably don't care for it.