@grote15 said:
Assembly can take a while...QA1 to QA2 to Shipping are usually pretty quick as can be Grading To Assembly.
Not my June special sub. It unbelievably just went to QA1 in 1 day, passing my Feb special sub, which still sits at Assembly.
They were each 30-35 card subs.
Most of my submissions are packs so for me that rule of thumb is pretty accurate but it may very well vary more significantly for cards.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
@grote15 said:
Assembly can take a while...QA1 to QA2 to Shipping are usually pretty quick as can be Grading To Assembly.
it's a complete crapshoot. my last 2 vintage orders both 40 card standard Topps, Fleer, Philly 60s/70s issues
This comment reminded me that my Feb sub had 4 different sized cards.
I'm wondering if PSA is on backorder for a certain size holder, and that may be a reason why it's stuck in Assembly.
(A pet peeve of mine is when PSA uses a slab where the card doesn't fit snugly within the rails and slides around and can sit crooked in the holder. With the money PSA gets, there should be proper fitting holders for the various card sizes out there. Yes I know there's a lot, but still)
My June sub had all standard size cards, and it did jump yet another step in 1 day to QA2.
YAY! It looks like it won't be long. Damn holiday weekend.
My Feb sub that was entered 2/24 and shipped 5/24 (63 business days) had 2 basketball tallboys, 1 '64 Topps Giants and one '47-66 exhibit card within the sub.
My June Special just popped!!
Pretty unusual journey, spending the most time in 'Order prep' and 'QA2', and spending 1 business day in the other steps that usually take the longest. Even a Saturday entry.
Meanwhile my Feb Special just reached QA1 after 4 months, 82 business days.
Not a 65-day submission for cards, but rather pack grading at the value submission level. Stuck in ASSEMBLY for over 3 weeks now. So, they came back from Steve, and now they are waiting to be put into holders? What gives? Does PSA just hold them in limbo up until the 90-days posted timeframe is up?
@RonSportscards said:
My June Special just popped!!
Pretty unusual journey, spending the most time in 'Order prep' and 'QA2', and spending 1 business day in the other steps that usually take the longest. Even a Saturday entry.
Meanwhile my Feb Special just reached QA1 after 4 months, 82 business days.
@1954 said:
I just checked the six orders that I have had down there since late Feb/early March and low and behold three are in assembly and two are in Q2. Perhaps I might see shipment within the next week on these.
five of the six invoices all finished in three days after posting this. Still waiting on the last one to hit.
Looking for high grade rookie cards and unopened boxes/cases
@BBBrkrr said:
My Vintage Special that arrived/entered on 03/01:03/07 finally went to Assembly today. Finally. The Beginning of the End finally starts.
That is brutal! Mine was in assembly 6 weeks. Finally made it to QA2.
Seems that some orders are being re-routed through the new east coast PSA office. Not sure if that is causing the disruption in some orders at some times.
I just got grades for a sub sent in 3 months after one that it still in QA1 at the same service level.
Is anyone getting poppage for the FEB Vintage special?? Just to be specific...the FEB 2023 special. I'm thinking the year has to be included now when referring to specials. I'm actually trying to understand this....If I send in Julio Rodriguez cards I get them back in 1 month; but if I send in Tony Oliva or Jim Palmer cards it is 6 months??
@Mickey71 said:
Is anyone getting poppage for the FEB Vintage special?? Just to be specific...the FEB 2023 special. I'm thinking the year has to be included now when referring to specials. I'm actually trying to understand this....If I send in Julio Rodriguez cards I get them back in 1 month; but if I send in Tony Oliva or Jim Palmer cards it is 6 months??
I sent 2 orders in for that special that were received about 10 days apart, and one was back in mid-May. The second one just went to Assembly last week. This makes me think they were graded in different locations, but that's just my speculation.
I'd hoped it would have been done by 07/04, but now I'm hoping for 08/04.
@Frozencaribou said:
Seems that some orders are being re-routed through the new east coast PSA office. Not sure if that is causing the disruption in some orders at some times.
I just got grades for a sub sent in 3 months after one that it still in QA1 at the same service level.
Sigh
Are you saying that cards that have been in CA for awhile are being sent to NJ ??
Had it and the entire set graded for $22 a card including shipping both ways. Door to door in 2 weeks. No upcharge for the cards being tallboys nor for the 2 cobbs being $10K + cards.
@BBBrkrr said:
My Feb Special went from Assembly to Q2 yesterday. Looks like it'll be back in my grubby hands very soon.
Mine just went to QA2 today also, after a week+ in QA1.
I was supposed to leave town for a couple months on 7/4, but couldn't leave since the June special sub flew through, and then the Feb special reached QA1, so had to wait. Hope it doesn't take long in QA2.
Just shipped this month's 80s special. Now hoping that one takes a couple months until I get back in Sept/Oct. LOL
Had it and the entire set graded for $22 a card including shipping both ways. Door to door in 2 weeks. No upcharge for the cards being tallboys nor for the 2 cobbs being $10K + cards.
consider yourself lucky because that is supposed to a $500 grading fee and they usually don't let that slip without the "proper" charge
Yeah I’m pretty happy about the Granny Goose I had 44 of them and a lot of them were badly cut. The tops were at an angle. It was strange. The ones I sent were the only nice ones.
I have quite a bit of Henderson stuff. I have an 800 count box of stunning 1981s that I’m considering sending in 20 or so but PSA is so tough right now. If they don’t get 9 or 10 it’s a losing proposition.
@Mickey71 said:
Is anyone getting poppage for the FEB Vintage special?? Just to be specific...the FEB 2023 special. I'm thinking the year has to be included now when referring to specials. I'm actually trying to understand this....If I send in Julio Rodriguez cards I get them back in 1 month; but if I send in Tony Oliva or Jim Palmer cards it is 6 months??
My 139 card February vintage sub popped a week ago. It sat in assembly for a few weeks. I got hammered... My worst sub in 25 years of submitting thousands of cards. My pre-pandemic deadline vintage subs were treated fairly despite all the complaints from other submitters. This one was not. Perhaps it was graded by a refractor guru who's used to looking at mirrors all day.
I still have a 7 card crossover submission, also from February, that is still pending. I'm not holding out much hope. My other crossover was also poor. Reports from other long time crossover submitters is that it's a waste of time. They are being ultra conservative to avoid cracking out valuable cards.
Edited to add - I just checked and my 7 card crossover sub is now in QA2. I quit checking and lost interest in it. I'll be happy if two cross over, including an SGC 92 with PSA 8 min grade. I had an 86 not cross to PSA 7 on my other crossover sub. Again, think really hard before attempting vintage crossovers these days. And I certainly would think very hard before cracking and resubbing. You might have to send it in multiple times to get it back in the right grade.
@Mickey71 said:
Is anyone getting poppage for the FEB Vintage special?? Just to be specific...the FEB 2023 special. I'm thinking the year has to be included now when referring to specials. I'm actually trying to understand this....If I send in Julio Rodriguez cards I get them back in 1 month; but if I send in Tony Oliva or Jim Palmer cards it is 6 months??
My 139 card February vintage sub popped a week ago. It sat in assembly for a few weeks. I got hammered... My worst sub in 25 years of submitting thousands of cards. My pre-pandemic deadline vintage subs were treated fairly despite all the complaints from other submitters. This one was not. Perhaps it was graded by a refractor guru who's used to looking at mirrors all day.
I still have a 7 card crossover submission, also from February, that is still pending. I'm not holding out much hope. My other crossover was also poor. Reports from other long time crossover submitters is that it's a waste of time. They are being ultra conservative to avoid cracking out valuable cards.
Edited to add - I just checked and my 7 card crossover sub is now in QA2. I quit checking and lost interest in it. I'll be happy if two cross over, including an SGC 92 with PSA 8 min grade. I had an 86 not cross to PSA 7 on my other crossover sub. Again, think really hard before attempting vintage crossovers these days. And I certainly would think very hard before cracking and resubbing. You might have to send it in multiple times to get it back in the right grade.
After getting my 30-card June 90s+ special back, I was feeling good about PSA's grading as compared to my pre-grading. 2 over, 5 under, and 1 complete miss.
Then I read your post about getting hammered on vintage, then I'm back to feeling nervous about my Feb sub. It had a bunch of '69 Deckle Edge. I sure hope the right people graded those.
As for crossovers, I assume your cards are valuable enough that you're hesitant to crack them out yourself? I think I would prefer to crack out and evaluate the grade myself, then send it in raw, over crossovers.
I have a couple crackout candidates that I feel are undergraded. I'll know better once they're out of the holder.
@Mickey71 said:
Is anyone getting poppage for the FEB Vintage special?? Just to be specific...the FEB 2023 special. I'm thinking the year has to be included now when referring to specials. I'm actually trying to understand this....If I send in Julio Rodriguez cards I get them back in 1 month; but if I send in Tony Oliva or Jim Palmer cards it is 6 months??
My 139 card February vintage sub popped a week ago. It sat in assembly for a few weeks. I got hammered... My worst sub in 25 years of submitting thousands of cards. My pre-pandemic deadline vintage subs were treated fairly despite all the complaints from other submitters. This one was not. Perhaps it was graded by a refractor guru who's used to looking at mirrors all day.
I still have a 7 card crossover submission, also from February, that is still pending. I'm not holding out much hope. My other crossover was also poor. Reports from other long time crossover submitters is that it's a waste of time. They are being ultra conservative to avoid cracking out valuable cards.
Edited to add - I just checked and my 7 card crossover sub is now in QA2. I quit checking and lost interest in it. I'll be happy if two cross over, including an SGC 92 with PSA 8 min grade. I had an 86 not cross to PSA 7 on my other crossover sub. Again, think really hard before attempting vintage crossovers these days. And I certainly would think very hard before cracking and resubbing. You might have to send it in multiple times to get it back in the right grade.
PSA is hammering everything across the board except for ultra modern (2018 and later).
Based on what I am seeing in my submissions and from what I'm hearing from other very experienced PSA submitters -expect a grade or two lower than pre-pandemic times. Even if a card is razor-sharp, correctly centered, and just about flawless even under magnification, expect a PSA 8 or maybe even a 7.
The current pool of graders is very inconsistent in how they're applying grades based on the published grading standards.
I agree wholeheartedly. We all can’t be bad submitters . When experienced collectors and sellers who know how to grade cards all say the same thing then look at where the problem really lies. I’m scared to death to send anything.
All important cards submitted seem to be 1/2 to 2 grades lower than they should be. I cracked out 10 cards and resubmitted as an experiment and 8 cards came back with different grades. Some higher a couple lower. Go figure. 80% difference rate.
My grades popped last night. Almost all 70s FB and BB.
Grades were about what I'd expect (7-9) with a few lower that I seemed to have missed ... something. Lots of 9 OCs too which I don't think I've ever gotten before.
Weirdly, I threw in all the previous subs (about 12) that came back as Miscut, Undersize, etc... All but 2 were graded this time.
I had about 8-9 cards listed as miscut or mini. Measured them all were good , resubmitted all graded
Also cracked out a 6 and a 7, resubmitted got an 8.5 and a 9
WTF?
@Harnessracing said:
I had about 8-9 cards listed as miscut or mini. Measured them all were good , resubmitted all graded
Also cracked out a 6 and a 7, resubmitted got an 8.5 and a 9
WTF?
Which is why I keep saying .5 grades are meaningless when graders are missing by 1 point, or even 2+ points, in your case.
the cards I sent to my monthly bulk subber in May that were due by the end of the month and shipped to PSA in the first week of June just popped yesterday. those are quoted at the 65 day or less turn around time.
@Mickey71 said:
Anybody with any good vintage poppage from the FEB special??
Mine just popped today, and I got absolutely murdered.
Cards I pre-graded at least a 7, got 4's.
I got (6) 4's, (10) 5's.
Are you kidding me?
Creased cards get 4's, and they're saying MINE is a 4?
Even my cherry picked 89 Hoops Jordan got a 5.
@Mickey71 said:
Anybody with any good vintage poppage from the FEB special??
Got mine last week and it was very ... decent.
Lots of 6-8s with some 9s, some 9 OCs and then random 5s and 6s thrown in just to let me know how little I understand about how they're grading these days.
These were primarily 78 FB which are notoriously horribly centered, but I thought I'd weeded those out.
@Mickey71 said:
Anybody with any good vintage poppage from the FEB special??
Mine just popped today, and I got absolutely murdered.
Cards I pre-graded at least a 7, got 4's.
I got (6) 4's, (10) 5's.
Are you kidding me?
Creased cards get 4's, and they're saying MINE is a 4?
Even my cherry picked 89 Hoops Jordan got a 5.
Sorry to hear this and yes I saw your cards. They are undergraded.
@Mickey71 said:
Anybody with any good vintage poppage from the FEB special??
Got mine last week and it was very ... decent.
Lots of 6-8s with some 9s, some 9 OCs and then random 5s and 6s thrown in just to let me know how little I understand about how they're grading these days.
These were primarily 78 FB which are notoriously horribly centered, but I thought I'd weeded those out.
Glad to hear you did okay. My hope is fading fast on my vintage sub.
I’ve had 14 pop in the last 3 months and I must be a blind man because obviously after 40+ years in the hobby and submitting since day one I have no idea how to grade unless I crack them out and try again and then on occasion I get 1 to 3 grade upgrades. Like others I’m getting 4’s and 5’s like they are the only grades they are handing out.
Cracked out 2 high dollar cards that were graded 7. Resubmitted and BOTH came back 9. I think the Ganga they are smokin in CA is affecting the graders eye sight
@Harnessracing said:
I’ve had 14 pop in the last 3 months and I must be a blind man because obviously after 40+ years in the hobby and submitting since day one I have no idea how to grade unless I crack them out and try again and then on occasion I get 1 to 3 grade upgrades. Like others I’m getting 4’s and 5’s like they are the only grades they are handing out.
Cracked out 2 high dollar cards that were graded 7. Resubmitted and BOTH came back 9. I think the Ganga they are smokin in CA is affecting the graders eye sight
Were the ones you cracked graded by PSA or another company? Curious, because I crack and resub a lot from different companies.
@Mickey71 said:
Anybody with any good vintage poppage from the FEB special??
Mine just popped today, and I got absolutely murdered.
Cards I pre-graded at least a 7, got 4's.
I got (6) 4's, (10) 5's.
Are you kidding me?
Creased cards get 4's, and they're saying MINE is a 4?
Even my cherry picked 89 Hoops Jordan got a 5.
Geez that sucks. Sounds about typical results right now. Hearing from a lot of different submitters getting similar results - all a grade or two lower than expected for no apparent reason, I know many are backing off from submitting right now. Just isn't worth it to get very inconsistent grading standards applied to each order.
@Mickey71 said:
Anybody with any good vintage poppage from the FEB special??
Mine just popped today, and I got absolutely murdered.
Cards I pre-graded at least a 7, got 4's.
I got (6) 4's, (10) 5's.
Are you kidding me?
Creased cards get 4's, and they're saying MINE is a 4?
Even my cherry picked 89 Hoops Jordan got a 5.
Geez that sucks. Sounds about typical results right now. Hearing from a lot of different submitters getting similar results - all a grade or two lower than expected for no apparent reason, I know many are backing off from submitting right now. Just isn't worth it to get very inconsistent grading standards applied to each order.
Their grading of 1980+ has been good so far. That's not my issue.
Of the (14) 1980+ cards I subbed (not including the Jordan 5), 10 were exactly what I expected, 2 were under 1 point, and 1 was over 1 point, and 1 got the 1/2 grade over. And as I've said, the (30) 1990+ June special cards I subbed, maybe 5 were off by 1 point, and 1 off by 2, so my pre-grading was pretty good and mostly inline with PSA.
It's the pre-1970 stuff that got hammered. Can I suddenly be that off with pre-1970 pre-grading?
I guess when graders look at modern refractors all day, a black and white deckle edge looks like garbage.
Either PSA doesn't have real vintage guys, or they've dramatically changed their practice for pre-1970, despite the written standards. You can easily see it when comparing with similar cards graded years ago.
And it seems like they're not grading on each cards own merit, but instead grading the first in a bundle then grading the rest by comparing to the card previously graded. If the first one is not graded properly as a baseline, the rest will all be off too.
@Mickey71 said:
Anybody with any good vintage poppage from the FEB special??
Mine just popped today, and I got absolutely murdered.
Cards I pre-graded at least a 7, got 4's.
I got (6) 4's, (10) 5's.
Are you kidding me?
Creased cards get 4's, and they're saying MINE is a 4?
Even my cherry picked 89 Hoops Jordan got a 5.
Geez that sucks. Sounds about typical results right now. Hearing from a lot of different submitters getting similar results - all a grade or two lower than expected for no apparent reason, I know many are backing off from submitting right now. Just isn't worth it to get very inconsistent grading standards applied to each order.
Their grading of 1980+ has been good so far. That's not my issue.
Of the (14) 1980+ cards I subbed (not including the Jordan 5), 10 were exactly what I expected, 2 were under 1 point, and 1 was over 1 point, and 1 got the 1/2 grade over. And as I've said, the (30) 1990+ June special cards I subbed, maybe 5 were off by 1 point, and 1 off by 2, so my pre-grading was pretty good and mostly inline with PSA.
It's the pre-1970 stuff that got hammered. Can I suddenly be that off with pre-1970 pre-grading?
I guess when graders look at modern refractors all day, a black and white deckle edge looks like garbage.
Either PSA doesn't have real vintage guys, or they've dramatically changed their practice for pre-1970, despite the written standards. You can easily see it when comparing with similar cards graded years ago.
And it seems like they're not grading on each cards own merit, but instead grading the first in a bundle then grading the rest by comparing to the card previously graded. If the first one is not graded properly as a baseline, the rest will all be off too.
Matches my experience exactly. Sent in 60 cards on this special. 29 from pre 1980. 17 of them came back worse than I expected, 9 came back as I expected, and 3 better. The other 31 were from 1980 and later. 11 of those came back better than I expected, 9 came back what I expected, and 11 worse. And my expectations were "conservative".
I still suck at grading either way, but 41% accuracy pre 1980 and 65% accuracy post 1980 is telling, especially when you consider that the post 1980 cards were in PSA 7 - PSA 9 condition and the pre 1980 were mostly PSA 3 - PSA 5. Should be much easier to tell a PSA 3 from a PSA 4 than a PSA 8 from a PSA 9.
I did want to thank you for this comment: " Their grading of 1980+ has been good so far. That's not my issue."
I was going to save myself the agony of sending in a bunch of 1980s basketball on the current special based on this thread, but that comment is going to make me submit AGAAAAIN :-).
@Mickey71 said:
Anybody with any good vintage poppage from the FEB special??
Mine just popped today, and I got absolutely murdered.
Cards I pre-graded at least a 7, got 4's.
I got (6) 4's, (10) 5's.
Are you kidding me?
Creased cards get 4's, and they're saying MINE is a 4?
Even my cherry picked 89 Hoops Jordan got a 5.
I had the exact same thing happen to me. Clearly PSA grading standards have changed and they didn't notify us about it. I cracked a 5 and it came back a 2???? I cracked a 7 that looks so under graded. Came back a 5.
Comments
it's a complete crapshoot. my last 2 vintage orders both 40 card standard Topps, Fleer, Philly 60s/70s issues
Order 1
assembly for a week
QA1 for a week
QA2 for a month
Order 2
Assembly for a day
QA1 for a day
QA2 for a day
Most of my submissions are packs so for me that rule of thumb is pretty accurate but it may very well vary more significantly for cards.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
This comment reminded me that my Feb sub had 4 different sized cards.
I'm wondering if PSA is on backorder for a certain size holder, and that may be a reason why it's stuck in Assembly.
(A pet peeve of mine is when PSA uses a slab where the card doesn't fit snugly within the rails and slides around and can sit crooked in the holder. With the money PSA gets, there should be proper fitting holders for the various card sizes out there. Yes I know there's a lot, but still)
My June sub had all standard size cards, and it did jump yet another step in 1 day to QA2.
YAY! It looks like it won't be long. Damn holiday weekend.
My Feb sub that was entered 2/24 and shipped 5/24 (63 business days) had 2 basketball tallboys, 1 '64 Topps Giants and one '47-66 exhibit card within the sub.
My June Special just popped!!
Pretty unusual journey, spending the most time in 'Order prep' and 'QA2', and spending 1 business day in the other steps that usually take the longest. Even a Saturday entry.
Meanwhile my Feb Special just reached QA1 after 4 months, 82 business days.
My Feb special that arrived 03/01 is still in Grading.
Not a 65-day submission for cards, but rather pack grading at the value submission level. Stuck in ASSEMBLY for over 3 weeks now. So, they came back from Steve, and now they are waiting to be put into holders? What gives? Does PSA just hold them in limbo up until the 90-days posted timeframe is up?
Classic first in first out
five of the six invoices all finished in three days after posting this. Still waiting on the last one to hit.
My Vintage Special that arrived/entered on 03/01:03/07 finally went to Assembly today. Finally. The Beginning of the End finally starts.
My 3/1 has been in assembly for 3 weeks now
You are not helping!
That is brutal! Mine was in assembly 6 weeks. Finally made it to QA2.
Late 60's and early to mid 70's non-sports
Seems that some orders are being re-routed through the new east coast PSA office. Not sure if that is causing the disruption in some orders at some times.
I just got grades for a sub sent in 3 months after one that it still in QA1 at the same service level.
Sigh
Is anyone getting poppage for the FEB Vintage special?? Just to be specific...the FEB 2023 special. I'm thinking the year has to be included now when referring to specials. I'm actually trying to understand this....If I send in Julio Rodriguez cards I get them back in 1 month; but if I send in Tony Oliva or Jim Palmer cards it is 6 months??
I sent 2 orders in for that special that were received about 10 days apart, and one was back in mid-May. The second one just went to Assembly last week. This makes me think they were graded in different locations, but that's just my speculation.
I'd hoped it would have been done by 07/04, but now I'm hoping for 08/04.
I have a 3/1 still in grading and 3 in level 7 for 2+ weeks
My Feb Special went from Assembly to Q2 yesterday. Looks like it'll be back in my grubby hands very soon.
Not sure I agree with your use of the word "VERY" in your statement.
Are you saying that cards that have been in CA for awhile are being sent to NJ ??
At this point, I personally cannot think of a reason why I would send any of my pre 1970 cards anywhere but SGC.
I just sold this card for my dad: https://ebay.com/itm/266338188556
Had it and the entire set graded for $22 a card including shipping both ways. Door to door in 2 weeks. No upcharge for the cards being tallboys nor for the 2 cobbs being $10K + cards.
Mine just went to QA2 today also, after a week+ in QA1.
I was supposed to leave town for a couple months on 7/4, but couldn't leave since the June special sub flew through, and then the Feb special reached QA1, so had to wait. Hope it doesn't take long in QA2.
Just shipped this month's 80s special. Now hoping that one takes a couple months until I get back in Sept/Oct. LOL
1 popped today
6-1980 Topps Henderson Rookies
2-9s, 2-8s, 2-7s
5-1982 Granny Goose Henderson’s
1-10
2-9s
2-8s
I’ll take it
consider yourself lucky because that is supposed to a $500 grading fee and they usually don't let that slip without the "proper" charge
Times better, grades ???> @Harnessracing said:
nice. the granny goose 10 is off the charts.
Yeah I’m pretty happy about the Granny Goose I had 44 of them and a lot of them were badly cut. The tops were at an angle. It was strange. The ones I sent were the only nice ones.
I have quite a bit of Henderson stuff. I have an 800 count box of stunning 1981s that I’m considering sending in 20 or so but PSA is so tough right now. If they don’t get 9 or 10 it’s a losing proposition.
My 139 card February vintage sub popped a week ago. It sat in assembly for a few weeks. I got hammered... My worst sub in 25 years of submitting thousands of cards. My pre-pandemic deadline vintage subs were treated fairly despite all the complaints from other submitters. This one was not. Perhaps it was graded by a refractor guru who's used to looking at mirrors all day.
I still have a 7 card crossover submission, also from February, that is still pending. I'm not holding out much hope. My other crossover was also poor. Reports from other long time crossover submitters is that it's a waste of time. They are being ultra conservative to avoid cracking out valuable cards.
Edited to add - I just checked and my 7 card crossover sub is now in QA2. I quit checking and lost interest in it. I'll be happy if two cross over, including an SGC 92 with PSA 8 min grade. I had an 86 not cross to PSA 7 on my other crossover sub. Again, think really hard before attempting vintage crossovers these days. And I certainly would think very hard before cracking and resubbing. You might have to send it in multiple times to get it back in the right grade.
Up charges???
Congrats on the sub.
After getting my 30-card June 90s+ special back, I was feeling good about PSA's grading as compared to my pre-grading. 2 over, 5 under, and 1 complete miss.
Then I read your post about getting hammered on vintage, then I'm back to feeling nervous about my Feb sub. It had a bunch of '69 Deckle Edge. I sure hope the right people graded those.
As for crossovers, I assume your cards are valuable enough that you're hesitant to crack them out yourself? I think I would prefer to crack out and evaluate the grade myself, then send it in raw, over crossovers.
I have a couple crackout candidates that I feel are undergraded. I'll know better once they're out of the holder.
PSA is hammering everything across the board except for ultra modern (2018 and later).
Based on what I am seeing in my submissions and from what I'm hearing from other very experienced PSA submitters -expect a grade or two lower than pre-pandemic times. Even if a card is razor-sharp, correctly centered, and just about flawless even under magnification, expect a PSA 8 or maybe even a 7.
The current pool of graders is very inconsistent in how they're applying grades based on the published grading standards.
I agree wholeheartedly. We all can’t be bad submitters . When experienced collectors and sellers who know how to grade cards all say the same thing then look at where the problem really lies. I’m scared to death to send anything.
All important cards submitted seem to be 1/2 to 2 grades lower than they should be. I cracked out 10 cards and resubmitted as an experiment and 8 cards came back with different grades. Some higher a couple lower. Go figure. 80% difference rate.
Say hey
Yes they called me and uncharged me on 3 cards to $75 each
My grades popped last night. Almost all 70s FB and BB.
Grades were about what I'd expect (7-9) with a few lower that I seemed to have missed ... something. Lots of 9 OCs too which I don't think I've ever gotten before.
Weirdly, I threw in all the previous subs (about 12) that came back as Miscut, Undersize, etc... All but 2 were graded this time.
I had about 8-9 cards listed as miscut or mini. Measured them all were good , resubmitted all graded
Also cracked out a 6 and a 7, resubmitted got an 8.5 and a 9
WTF?
Which is why I keep saying .5 grades are meaningless when graders are missing by 1 point, or even 2+ points, in your case.
I'm already going through my submittals from the past 12 months to do that very thing. So many 6s & 7s...
These were expensive cards too. Not $100 cards
the cards I sent to my monthly bulk subber in May that were due by the end of the month and shipped to PSA in the first week of June just popped yesterday. those are quoted at the 65 day or less turn around time.
myslabs.to/smzcards
Anybody with any good vintage poppage from the FEB special??
Mine just popped today, and I got absolutely murdered.
Cards I pre-graded at least a 7, got 4's.
I got (6) 4's, (10) 5's.
Are you kidding me?
Creased cards get 4's, and they're saying MINE is a 4?
Even my cherry picked 89 Hoops Jordan got a 5.
Got mine last week and it was very ... decent.
Lots of 6-8s with some 9s, some 9 OCs and then random 5s and 6s thrown in just to let me know how little I understand about how they're grading these days.
These were primarily 78 FB which are notoriously horribly centered, but I thought I'd weeded those out.
Sorry to hear this and yes I saw your cards. They are undergraded.
Glad to hear you did okay. My hope is fading fast on my vintage sub.
I’ve had 14 pop in the last 3 months and I must be a blind man because obviously after 40+ years in the hobby and submitting since day one I have no idea how to grade unless I crack them out and try again and then on occasion I get 1 to 3 grade upgrades. Like others I’m getting 4’s and 5’s like they are the only grades they are handing out.
Cracked out 2 high dollar cards that were graded 7. Resubmitted and BOTH came back 9. I think the Ganga they are smokin in CA is affecting the graders eye sight
Were the ones you cracked graded by PSA or another company? Curious, because I crack and resub a lot from different companies.
Geez that sucks. Sounds about typical results right now. Hearing from a lot of different submitters getting similar results - all a grade or two lower than expected for no apparent reason, I know many are backing off from submitting right now. Just isn't worth it to get very inconsistent grading standards applied to each order.
Their grading of 1980+ has been good so far. That's not my issue.
Of the (14) 1980+ cards I subbed (not including the Jordan 5), 10 were exactly what I expected, 2 were under 1 point, and 1 was over 1 point, and 1 got the 1/2 grade over. And as I've said, the (30) 1990+ June special cards I subbed, maybe 5 were off by 1 point, and 1 off by 2, so my pre-grading was pretty good and mostly inline with PSA.
It's the pre-1970 stuff that got hammered. Can I suddenly be that off with pre-1970 pre-grading?
I guess when graders look at modern refractors all day, a black and white deckle edge looks like garbage.
Either PSA doesn't have real vintage guys, or they've dramatically changed their practice for pre-1970, despite the written standards. You can easily see it when comparing with similar cards graded years ago.
And it seems like they're not grading on each cards own merit, but instead grading the first in a bundle then grading the rest by comparing to the card previously graded. If the first one is not graded properly as a baseline, the rest will all be off too.
You may be 1000% correct. Pre 1980s I just don’t see any consistency.
Matches my experience exactly. Sent in 60 cards on this special. 29 from pre 1980. 17 of them came back worse than I expected, 9 came back as I expected, and 3 better. The other 31 were from 1980 and later. 11 of those came back better than I expected, 9 came back what I expected, and 11 worse. And my expectations were "conservative".
I still suck at grading either way, but 41% accuracy pre 1980 and 65% accuracy post 1980 is telling, especially when you consider that the post 1980 cards were in PSA 7 - PSA 9 condition and the pre 1980 were mostly PSA 3 - PSA 5. Should be much easier to tell a PSA 3 from a PSA 4 than a PSA 8 from a PSA 9.
I did want to thank you for this comment: " Their grading of 1980+ has been good so far. That's not my issue."
I was going to save myself the agony of sending in a bunch of 1980s basketball on the current special based on this thread, but that comment is going to make me submit AGAAAAIN :-).
I had the exact same thing happen to me. Clearly PSA grading standards have changed and they didn't notify us about it. I cracked a 5 and it came back a 2???? I cracked a 7 that looks so under graded. Came back a 5.
Late 60's and early to mid 70's non-sports