GAI Exemplar

rw2win

Exemplar
Somebody brought this up in another thread and I have a question. Lets say you have what you consider to be a "high end" PSA 8 star card. For reasons that are still not clear to me you submit this card to GAI for this new service and the card grades out an 8.5. If I read the specifics correctly, GAI will then put the new GAI grade and the old PSA grade on the new GAI descriptive flip. My point/question is why or what benefit would it be to have two grades on the same card, especially if one is lower? Am I missing something here?

ROCKDJRW

I would guess the only "Benifit" (If you can call it that) would be that you can keep the card registered on your set registry while showing it is a higer grade example. Unless it is a high dollar card I don't see the point. Oh wait my 1976 Topps Jim Sundberg card looks to be an 8.5 and not the 8 it was given. Maybe I will send it in. j/k

mikeschmidt

<<My point/question is why or what benefit would it be to have two grades on the same card, especially if one is lower? Am I missing something here? >>


Some thoughts:

A) If a certain grading company has an uncertian future (e.g., SGC), perhaps having your SGC cards in a same-grade holder by GAI might be of benefit.

It is just like a second opinion. For all the PSA-bashing that you hear in some forums, if you have a grade concensus by two major grading companies on a high-grade card, perhaps the low cost of getting the Exemplar opinion might be in order.

C) I think GAI made this move to take advantage of any uncertainty out there with PSA re: the WIWAG situation. As the full effects of this are still unclear to many collectors, GAI, I think, is trying to take a proactive move to shift some of the business their way -- recognizing that many of the best cards have already been slabbed by other grading companies.

MS

theBobs

At least GAI is being creative. Alot of things they do might not stick, but some probably will. At least GAI is trying to find value to add to hobbyists.

invader73

<< <i>Steve Rocchi President of Global Authentication explains “This service is great for dealers and collectors. It allows them to have Mike Baker the industry’s most respected grader examine their cards. In effect we are creating a consensus grade and reassuring anyone that may have questions or concerns about their cards original grade”. Furthermore Rocchi adds, “If you choose to have your cards encapsulated by Global, we capture the certification number and grade of the other service and print this information on our Global descriptive flip”. Wayne Varner, President of SHOEBOX Cards, said, “I think cards that have the consensus of two grading services would sell for a premium. These cards would be the cream of the crop and would sell to those who want the best”. >>

[



<< <i>It allows them to have Mike Baker the industry’s most respected grader examine their cards >>




Is he their only grader??. Does he examine every card through GAI alone or do they have a second opinion?

Matt

jimrupprecht

I'm actually kinda surprised we haven't seen a "meta" grading service yet... Imagine, you send your card to this service and they in turn submit it to Global, PSA and Beckett (w/o telling each of them that it was being seen by the others). Once back from all three, they put it in their own holder, note the three grades and serial numbers (and perhaps a concensus grade) and then return it to you.

Probably would not be many commons graded this way, but for individual cards worth more than $500 or so it would be a way to reduce all the "high-end" or "should be a xx" stuff in auction listings. It would also give you a more complete picture (or at least a broader range of opinions) of the card's condition.

----------
jim rupprecht

Looking for 1950-56 Callahan HOF cards, PSA graded or mint and raw.

1420sports

I think that this is a nice service, and I am more curious about it. At the Ft Washington show, some dealers I talked to said that the only thing that keeps them from going to GAI is sales. PSA cards sell better, quicker, and for a lot more money. That was really the only big concern.

As far as grading cards higher, I did receive three 8.5 pregrades on PSA tweeners. I am fairly confident that I would have received three 8's with PSA. I like the half grade. I am confident that soon there will be two grading co's - PSA and GAI/SGC.

zardoz51

Actually I have noticed a substantial price increase on GAI graded cards and a far wider acceptance than even a few months ago.

As for Mike Baker examining every card, when I visited them in December, there were 4 graders working. Baker has the thumbs up or down on every card, and witnessed some already slabbed cards with stickers on them to either raise or lower half a point etc.

Wabittwax

Speaking of having 3 card companies grade the same card and then putting the results on one slab, Wouldn't it be great if it read like this:

Beckett - 8.5
PSA - Evidence of Trimming
SGC - Evidence of Trimming

That would absolutely crush Beckett's reputation. I'd be laughing my a** off !!!

theBobs

Practical application of this service...

Of course this is happening alot more lately. Don't understand why a dealer wouldn't pay the extra few bucks to slab the card. My understanding is the pre-grade isn't guaranteed after the card leaves the table?

mikeschmidt

thebobs:

I think that is more of a GAI pre-grade than an actual use of the GAI Exemplar service. At least as I understand it.


It's funny -- I think that there are still a number of collectors who are uncomfortable with the half-grade paradigm, yet that is one of the strongest things GAI has going for it right now (in addition to their energy and innovations). I will be very intrigued to see long-term how this plays out in the industry -- if the move is towards half-grades or if PSA's paradigm stays the same. As it stands, PSA is the only major grader now that has does not emply the split grades. I think that there are advantages and dis-advantages to both.

With PSA's system, there can be noticeable variance in a card's strength within a grade. However, I think most advanced collectors realize this and price accordingly. With the split-grade system, however, I think it is much more subtle to consistently and accurately tell the difference between an 8 and and 8.5, for example. But for centering, the other factors are somewhat soft and at least a little subjective. I don't have an absolute preference at this point, but will be happy to sit back and see how things go.

MS

zardoz51

I feel that the half point system eliminates the hype of "high end" for the grade. When was the last time you saw a description stating that a card was correct for the grade, or a low end example? A point 5 substantiates the claim

fab4

z,
i bet when you go to vegas you can tell the differnce between a 8.5 and a low end 8 show girl any day of the week. i like the 1/2 point system it cut out the speculation

..............fab4.............

mikeschmidt

Z:

True enough -- but you could add quarter-point grades, and everyone will still talk about how their card "just missed' the next grade up. Unfortunately 95% of sellers, I think, will always extol the virtues of their card, no matter how it is graded or what numerical grade or half-grade it receives.

Heck -- look at BGS/BVG. With their opaque logarithm message, you always hear how many cards were (one half-grade of a subgrade) of being GEM MINT instead of MINT.

1420sports

Paul and Marc - good points.

To have cards come back as an 8.5 is much much better than an 8. To see PSA 9 Rose cards go for 50ish and the PSA 8 go unbid on at 5 bucks seems foolish - and I am guilty of it too.

Now an 8.5 would be different. The 9 price may stay the same, the 8 may go up, and the 8.5 may be in the middle.

The three cards I had someone at PSA look at said one may be a nine, but the others are definitely 8's. I did not want to take the gamble on three PSA 8's, and because I knew these were super nice cards (I thought two had strong 9 chances) I took them to GAI, paid $9 in pregrade fees, and got three 8.5's - still wish that two were 9's, but Danny explained to me why. PSA did the same thing, and I appreciated that, but the half grade did it for me. Well worth the $9 gamble, and I am considering sending one in to see if it would get a 9 - with the GAI sticker on it.

These guys mean business, and I like the agressive approach they have.

cdbb

Actually, I predict PSA will go to a Half point grading system someday soon. They will get more people to send in their cards(especially if they do the subgrades like BGS does) AND all of us idiots will RESEND all of our "old" PSA-graded cards back to them to try to get that extra half-point! It will be the marketing genious ploy of the new millenium!

aconte

cdbb, I would not be surprised as well. A great source of revenue and improves the accuracy
of their grades. I'd bet a $1 on it!

aconte

in2deep

I seem to recall that I've been a proponent of the half-point grading scale for some time. Hmmmm.....funny how things change.

in2deep

One more thing. When Stephen Rocchi and Michael Baker were with PSA they both opposed the idea of a half-point grading scale. I wonder which company made them change their minds. Hmmmm......

aro13

jackstraw

does anybody have a scan of a holder with the sticker on it stating the gai grade with the other grading company's grade?
i am not sure what this service is?it states that they will put a tamper proof sticker on the holder w/their grade and the other company's grade. i guess its line 10 that i am confused about? i guess i am asking the same question as rw2win but would like to see a picture of one.

and so it begins fourth party grading?fourth party set registry?when is someone going to come up with the encapsulation of a psa holder?

goodriddance189

i dont understand how gai can accurately grade a card already encased in a quarter inch slab of plastic. this may not be true for newer cards, but with older stuff i would think you would actually have to hold and inspect the card to accurately grade it

cdbb

Then somebody will want to grade the "tamper-proof stickers"!!

goodriddance189

i wish someone would grade the psa holders. every stupid holder that has a card in the wrong size cutout should be M/C.

wolfbear

Mike Baker detects small surface flaws, stains, and alterations after a card has been slabbed ?
I take it he examines every slabbed card under high magnification and under specialty lights.

He must stay extremely busy,
or maybe he just holds the slab up to the side of his head,
and "discerns" the grade, ala The Great Carsoni ...

AlanAllen

Guys,
The way I understand the service, they take it out of the other company's slab, grade it, and slab it in a GAI slab with reference to the old company's cert number.

Joe

Wabittwax

PSA is still the best and most respected company. This GAI hype reminds me of when Beckett started, and Beckett has turned out to be a joke. I wish everybody would use the same grading company and we wouldn't always have to try and guess which grade equals which grade and who's tougher, blah blah blah. If it's not broken, don't fix it. Stick with what you know so that all the collector's are using the same guidelines.