Anyone else feeling raw is their only option these days?

[Seven]

Originally Posted by rats60

When I first joined here to move back into vintage, I had some low grade cards that I was trying to move to have money for t205s. 1952 Topps Jackie Robinson, 1953 Topps Mickey Mantle, 1954 Bowman Ted Williams and other Mantles and Rookies. I collected vintage in the 80s and none of my cards were graded. No one here had any interest.

I still have a 1933 Goudey set, all ungraded and a t206 set, with only 5 graded cards, all the graded cards recent purchases. I still prefer raw cards, it is good to see that I am not the only one. The more cards I get graded to sell, the more disenchanted I become with the whole idea of grading cards. There is no consistency by any of the companies, yet thousands of dollars are at stake over their opinion.

That's one of my biggest issues with Grading. I don't understand how a BGS 2 can be a PSA 3 or an SGC 1, and who exactly are these people grading them, what qualifications separate the guys at BGS from the guys at SGC?

I'm still not at the point where I can fully determine if some raw cards are real or fake, so with certain high end purchases, I have to make sure their graded, or if they are raw, are coming from someone that I trust/ is trust worthy. Fortunately there's many trustworthy people here on Net54!

[ASF123]

I still prefer raw cards, it is good to see that I am not the only one. The more cards I get graded to sell, the more disenchanted I become with the whole idea of grading cards. There is no consistency by any of the companies, yet thousands of dollars are at stake over their opinion.

Amen - plus, they live to nitpick and sh*t all over great-looking cards.

I was reading on the main board yesterday about the guy who submitted the Uncle Jimmy collection to PSA being shocked that they only got 4.5s, max, out of beautiful Goudeys and such. The cynic in me thought that PSA knows very well that so much of its business is due to people chasing the lottery-like prices of 7s and above, and to keep those prices lottery-like, they have to keep them "exclusive." So much of the current card market is about status and ego.

[campyfan39]

It is so subjective and a money maker. Dealer friend submits a modest amount and was not happy with the results. His friend (who deals for a living and submits in bulk) let him send some along with his order and they got bumps. The exact same card 80% came back higher based on who submitted them! The whole system is crap IMO

Originally Posted by Seven

That's one of my biggest issues with Grading. I don't understand how a BGS 2 can be a PSA 3 or an SGC 1, and who exactly are these people grading them, what qualifications separate the guys at BGS from the guys at SGC?

I'm still not at the point where I can fully determine if some raw cards are real or fake, so with certain high end purchases, I have to make sure their graded, or if they are raw, are coming from someone that I trust/ is trust worthy. Fortunately there's many trustworthy people here on Net54!

[Volod]

Originally Posted by Seven

...
I'm still not at the point where I can fully determine if some raw cards are real or fake, so with certain high end purchases, I have to make sure their graded, or if they are raw, are coming from someone that I trust/ is trust worthy. Fortunately there's many trustworthy people here on Net54!

I am - and have been for a long while - at the point where, if I can't fully determine if some card is real or fake, using just my own knowledge gained from experience and research, I happily accept it as real without recrimination or regret. This probably means that there may be a high-end card in my collection that actually is fake, but since my cards have sat on shelves for so long neglected and undisturbed, the distinction doesn't concern me very much.