Darth Grader strikes again!

Nosoupyou

Well, I sent in three different invoices that included a variety of basketball 48 Bowmans, 57 Topps and 61 Fleer and some 65 football tall boys.

The first invoice contained a batch of the 48 bowmans that I had picked up from one of the National's a while back. Five of the cards came back not holdered because of evidence of trimming. These were all high numbers.

The 57 Topps that were submitted all came directly out of a vending box find and were virtually "pack fresh" with sharp corners. Now, granted, all pack fresh cards are not created equal due to centering and print defects, especially with this set. I have sent other submissions in from the same vending box and received 7's and 8's for the most part. I got some headshaker 6's and 7's on these invoices instead and even a 5 that is unexplainable. I have seen 20 to 30 examples of EACH card, at one time, spread across the table, in all different degrees of centering, yet all with pack fresh crisp corners. It was truly amazing. I have purchased many 57's and 61's, enough to know that the 8's I have bought on many occasion are REALLY stretching it and the centering on some should have been OC. We all have seen such examples!

My point is that I believe that the grader decided to jam me on my grades possibly because he believed that I was the one who trimmed the five cards. I inspected and measured the cards myself and just didn't catch it I guess.

The 65 tallboy grades were really disappointing. I just purchased some 8's from DSL sports off ebay, 1 was excellent, 1 was close, and the other couldn't stand up to the 6's and 7's I got on those cards.

The 6's and 7's I got this time, especially on the 57 Topps, were 7's and 8's before. How can it be so inconsistent. These cards all came from the same Vending box. It would be one thing if there was only 1 head scratcher grade, but this was across the board.

The question I have is what do most of you guys do in a situation like this? Do you submit for "regrades" or do you crack them out and send them back in again. I am considering trying Beckett for the comparison.

Thanks

Wabittwax

Try calling Ivan at PSA and tell him your story. I don't know if it will help but it's worth a try. He let me resubmit a few for free and most came back higher.

murcerfan

It seems those submitting in bulk are getting the benefit of the doubt on vintage material, at least that has been my experience of late.

norty

Do you use a loupe to review your cards before you submit? If not, I'd re-examine this group with one to check the corners at least. Even with vending box cards I have found there to be microscopic wear on corners or some little wear marks/indentations etc in a border that make the card less than NM/MT. Obviously too, centering on vending cards can be less than NM/MT standards. With respect to the 5, look on the back for a paper wrinkle or back crease. Many, many times cards have one or the other straight from the factory.

Nosoupyou

Thanks for the input.

Yes I do use a magnifying glass to inspect the cards before I send them in and I do realize some of the problems associated with vending box material. However, when I purchased these cards I literally had 20 to 30 to choose from in all different centering and focus variations. I only kick myself for not picking up more at the time.

I am still waiting to get back my smallest invoice and I will resubmit for regrading several of the cards. I have a 57 Schayes and 57 Marshall that are absolutely gorgeous, razor sharp, pack fresh, 60/40 left to right and 55/45 top to bottom. If these aren't 8's then an 8 doesn't exist for these cards. The same goes for a 48 Bowman Jim Pollard rookie which was also graded a 7. The 7's are stronger quality wise than the 8 oc grades I got. The better centered 7's should have been 8's.

I have received some 8 grades on 61 fleer submitted that I thought were generous before and for the most part my past submissions have been fair with the occasional head scratcher.

Of the 65 tall boys I bought from DSL sports, all 8's, comparatively speaking I received 3 sevens that I just can't figure from this submission. I have sent in many 69 Topps tallboys (basketball) before and know how tough these cards are in good condition and especially to get razor sharp corners.

Take a look a ebay right now on the 69's being auctioned by the Ninth Inning, a big dealer. Most of them appear to have some soft corners and yet received 8's.

It is very discouraging to purchase weak 8's and at the same time you get back 7's that I would consider middle of the road 8's.

I'm not trying to whine or cry here!! I've just seen, submitted and purchased enough vintage basketball to know the difference between a 7 and an 8.

mrichards

Hello,

A good suggestion. I sometimes do not have the time to loop these cards. I bring them to shows where GAI is and pay them $3 a card to pregrade. If they come back 8's & 7's, I then give them to PSA with the GAI pregrade on it and then PSA usually grades them all the same 90% with an occasional 1 grade down and sometimes I get a bump up. This has been a good technique for me if you can afford the extra $3 a card. All of the cards, which pregrade 6’s and below I keep raw.

Mike

theBobs

Interesting strategy -- have GAI pre-grade the card and tell PSA what it should be. Sure it costs you 3 extra bucks, GAI makes some dough, and PSA actually accurately "grades" some cards... Very interesting. Of course if PSA could get it right the first time, then they wouldn't require you to send money to their competitors...

I guess when GAI gets a registry, you can just skip step 2.