Crack- em or Cross- em ???

jaxxr

Due to the new set registry special for 72 and newer cards, I will be sending in some raw cards soon. But what about some other brand of graded cards I have ?

Another recent post mentions how to go about sending cards for crossover. I still can't see how a min. grade specified can allow one to properly evaluate... without opening up the slab. I must assume the grading is done before opening the slab and seeing/inspecting the card while still encased by whomever, or else, if the card is not at the lowest grade, it would have to be re-slabbed in the original holder, right ? If the grade requested is "any" the slab could be cracked open and allow a full inspection without any plastic in the way. I also would guess PSA takes the card out of the CardsaverI and sleeve before inspecting/grading with regular submissions ?

A plus for crossover might be, the task of "cracking" open is borne by PSA, who might very seldom damage a card while opening the slab.

A minus may be the natural bias as to not bump up another company to a higher grade, unless very very obvious.

I have about 20 slabs from the 70s in SGC mostly, a couple GAI, CSA and PGS also. I am leaning to busting them out myself ( my wife actually ) and sending them in rather than submitting via crossover service. I have had fairly good luck in the past with a card or two.

What would the general opinion be, crack-em or cross-em ?

minibeers

Cool thread. I have the same dilemma with a 1986 SGC 96 Pete Rose I need in PSA 9 for my basic set. I only paid $10 for it. In a PSA holder that sucker goes for 3 times as much on ebay.

I look foward to the responses to this thread!

Cheers,
minibeers

koby

SGC is usually very poor with centering. Otherwise, they are ok.

IF the centering meets the criteria for the equivalent grade, I would crack them and send raw.

joker73

minibeers,

I did the exact same thing about a year ago (in person at the February Cow Palace show - about a month before they officially launched the crossover service). I tried 2 SGC-graded Rose cards (still in their cases) with solid centering and here's what happened:

'86 Topps #1 SGC 96 --> PSA 8
'77 Cloth #38 SGC 88 --> PSA 9

Go figure ... I guess there was enough chipping along the top black border to keep the '86 out of a 9 holder. But given I paid $20 total for both cards, the '77 getting a 9 was more than plenty to make me happy (no way it was an 88 to begin with anyway).

I guess the bottom line is that PSA can be brutal on '86 Topps (and rightly so - I later went through a vending case and ended up with less than 10 cards worth sending in). The 9 I have in my set came from the last place I tried - a sealed "Christmas" factory set (the one in the yellow cardboard box). They sell for a premium generally, but the card quality was outstanding across the board ... good luck!

Robert

P.S. All that said - more recent crossover "experiments" solidly indicate that cracking them out first is the way to go ...

interchanges

Everything has happened so many times I don't think there can be a clear cut rule to follow each time.

I do think this: If you have a card that that you want to see promoted (SGC 7 to PSA 8 etc..) crack it out to submit.
If you want a same grade crossover, try the cheaper method and let them switch holders. (hopefully)

Virtualizard

I crack out everything and have had decent luck with it. I just don't trust that an objective opinion can be made if I submit a card in another holder. But that's just me. I can't imagine ever using the crossover service.

JEB.

mariner

Actually, I have had good luck with the crossover service. Last year, I had a SGC 92 1963 Topps Aguirre cross to PSA 9, a SGC 96 1963 Topps Hal Reniff cross to PSA 9 and, best of all, a very hard to find (lowest pop) 1959 Topps Gus Triandos cross from a GAI 8 to a PSA 8. My experience has been that the crossover is fair and unbiased. Just my opinion.

Kosmo

I collect both PSA and SGC and have had good luck with crossovers. For the most part, I think crossover submissions are graded fairly, but every so often a card that should be crossed is denied (to show they are more strict than the competition). I have had more than a few PSA 8s cross to SGC 92. Regarding centering, I find both PSA and SGC to be somewhat inconsistent on the issue.

packCollector

I think if you have a card that looks very strong in the holder after careful inspection, and you want the best chance of an upward revision crack it out. If you have a card that is already a high grade sgc 98 , bgs 9.5 cross it. if you have anything from a smaller company and you want any shot at a good grade, crack it out. I think the graders look at a card like bccg and are will be biased. by the way who is PGS? I jsut bought an 8 and cracked it and it looks like a real shot to cross to a psa 8. just some idea's. I think super high grade cards are too risky to crack since all companies are in consistant at the top and the card will bring a premium in any holder.