My 1 Year Membership Grading Results

SoxPatsFan

For anyone interested, I've compiled my grading results during my 1-year membership purchased in October, 2020 and ending on January 11, 2023 - spanning four calendar years.

Mostly baseball, but a few football and hockey cards as well. I broke it down by card decade and grade, with 4 total submissions.

1980's - 13 cards submitted.
1990's - 40 cards submitted
2000's - 8 cards submitted
2010 & later - 14 cards submitted

PSA 7 - 1 card
PSA 8 - 19 cards
PSA 9 - 45 cards
PSA 10 - 10 cards

I did not receive any .5 grades.

The lone 7 was a 1997 card, and the 10's ranged from 1997 to 2021.

17 cards were cracked out of other company's slabs. The worst result was several (3 I think) BGS 9's reduced to PSA 8's. The best was a BGS 8 going to a PSA 10, but with a hitch. It was a 1999 Finest Gold Refractor that was unpeeled and had a 7 subgrade for surface and all 9's & 9.5's otherwise. I peeled it and got the 10. Also had a strong BGS 8.5 go to a PSA 9.

There were 2 cards from no-name grading services that were 10's which successfully crossed to PSA 10's.

Overall, I'm more than satisfied with my overall results. I seem to have avoided the "grader of death" - if such a person exists. 53 raw cards, most over 20 years old, and I guess I judged them pretty well.

Cakes

Thanks for the info and congrats on the grades. That's pretty cool that you hit on that Finest refractor and the no name crosses. It means you do have a good eye. I have had to come to terms with the fact that I do not have a very good eye. Luckily I haven't bought anything raw, only packs, boxes, etc. that I rip and I haven't subbed anything since before the pandemic. 2023 will be my year to get back out to shows, etc. and try to improve my eye.

If possible could you give me a little more details on your subs? Are any of the cards you submitted considered key hobby cards? For example a Henderson, Montana, MJ, Brady, etc.?

I think the explosion in people collecting cards the last 5 or so years and resulting massive price increases has affected how key cards, in excellent condition have been graded. IMHO they tend to get scrutinized more. Uffdah's pack fresh Jimmy Brown rookie pull last year was a good example for me. I took his card and compared it to well over 20 similar Brown's and it outshined almost all of the older labeled examples.

DBesse27

@Cakes I for one appreciate you admitting you don’t have the best eye. I don’t either. Many, many collectors though, here on CU and elsewhere across the internet, are convinced that their grading eye is perfect. I appreciate when a fellow collector is man enough to admit he doesn’t know everything. I know I sure don’t, and never will.

balco758

My eyes suck. I've decided to blame my astigmatism for the reason I never see surface wrinkles.

SoxPatsFan

No hobby benchmark cards other than a 1989 UD Griffey - that's the one that went from BGS 8.5 to PSA 9.
The BGS 8 to PSA 10 is a Nomar Garciaparra Gold Refractor, probably now a $100-$150 card I got for $12.
There are 2 Tom Brady cards - a 2012 Topps Chrome Blue Refractor #/199 that went from BGS 9 to PSA 9 and a 2015 Topps Chrome Anniversary Refractor #/99 that I bought raw for $40 and got a 9. A PSA 8 last sold for over $400.

Most other cards are Red Sox stars and HOF'ers such as Boggs, Clemens, Pedro Martinez & David Ortiz.

My favorite hit was a 1997 Bowman Chrome Nomar Garciaparra International Refractor that I bought raw for $30 and got a PSA 10. It's a rookie year issue with a pop of just 3. 1990's Refractors are so tough to gem as most are off center & have had 25 years to accumulate surface scratches.

dontippet

If these are your first subs, you did incredibly well. You did your homework and it paid off. Congrats. No learning curve for you.

Cakes

@DBesse27 said:
@Cakes I for one appreciate you admitting you don’t have the best eye. I don’t either. Many, many collectors though, here on CU and elsewhere across the internet, are convinced that their grading eye is perfect. I appreciate when a fellow collector is man enough to admit he doesn’t know everything. I know I sure don’t, and never will.

Thanks DBesse. In all honesty I thought I had a better eye but the last couple of years have proven otherwise. For my next sub I will probably reach out to some of the other member in the DMV area to get second opinions beforehand.

Have a great New Year!