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PLEASE HELP ME!! WANTS TO CRACK OPEN GEM ELITE SLAB!

DaCoastDaCoast Posts: 3
in Trading Cards & Memorabilia Forum
Hi anybody!!

I am pretty sure I have seen some of this forum explained how to crack opened the PSA and Beckett Grading Slab but I don't see any mention "GEM" in this issues. Since I had Star Michael Jordan Rookie Card #117 which is valued $950.00 without grading. But I bought someone else for 200 dollars that has grading slab in it. It has Prisitine 10 and their grading company is GEM Elite. I had researched on the internet and found that GEM Elite is not worth it. I just wondering if there's any chance to crack this GEM Elite Grading Slab wide-open? Anyone can help me on this?

Comments

  • gregm13gregm13 Posts: 5,798 ✭✭✭
    if you do crack it - be prepared for the likely chance that it has been trimmed or otherwise altered. The same goes for ANY PRO graded cards.

    Regards,

    Greg M.
    Collecting vintage auto'd fb cards and Dan Marino cards!!

    References:
    Onlychild, Ahmanfan, fabfrank, wufdude, jradke, Reese, Jasp, thenavarro
    E-Bay id: greg_n_meg
  • AknotAknot Posts: 1,196 ✭✭
    Two Words, Dremel Tool.

    Right click and save as:
    PSA vs Dremel

    Any chance I get... image
    image
  • inFluXinFluX Posts: 108
    Gota love the end of the video. image
  • damnyankeesdamnyankees Posts: 118
    Wear gloves and crack it out side unless u want a plastic splinter!!
  • AkbarCloneAkbarClone Posts: 2,476 ✭✭✭
    All your base are belong to us.

    I collect Vintage Cards, Commemorative Sets, and way too many vintage and modern player collections in Baseball (180 players), Football (175 players), and Basketball (87 players). Also have a Dallas Cowboy team collection.
  • PDUBPDUB Posts: 46
    re-sell the card and get your money back GEM is CRAP, I just bought a 1980 gretzky gem elite 10, this thing is sooooooo trimmed!

    counterfeit cards show up in them also.

    there is no phone number for this company...maybe gem is owned by some low life loser that lives in his moms basement and slabs the cards himslef, buys old nrmnt cards and trims em,or counterfeit, then puts them in their new awsome gem elit 10 gem mint case and sells for a boat load more than what they are worth.........this could be true...
  • Stone193Stone193 Posts: 24,407 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>there is no phone number for this company... >>


    I do have a name and a link that I used to get a refund from Gem this year. I accidentally bid on a card that was trimmed and they gave me the full cost of the card 71$.

    Stone
    Mike
  • A761506A761506 Posts: 1,309 ✭✭✭
    I wouldn't crack it, I would return it to whoever you bought it from (and if I had to take a guess, it was shaqfu1, as he keeps GEM in business with all the hacked up crap he sends them) for a full refund. As you can see from the other posts, any card in a GEM holder that has any significant value has either been trimmed, recolored or is a fake. In the case of the 85 Star Jordan rookie, you've got a fake. Very few of the originals were ever issued, then additional after-print copies surfaced in droves a few years later but they look and feel just like the originals, which is why none of the reputable grading companies (PSA, SGC & GAI) will touch them, unless it is sealed in the team bag (at least, that's the only time I've seen one graded, and that was by GAI).

    Good luck recovering your $200.

  • WinPitcherWinPitcher Posts: 27,726 ✭✭✭
    re-sell the card and get your money back GEM is CRAP

    yeah add to the problem............y not just live with the card?

    to re sell it and pass the problem along to some other collector is unethical.
    Good for you.
  • EagleEyeKidEagleEyeKid Posts: 4,496 ✭✭
    He said GEM....heehee....
    oh wait GEM ELITE image
    star card......heehee
    $200 image

    Crack it open....for what? You're going to lose more.
    Demand a refund from whomever you got it from.


    image
  • jrdolanjrdolan Posts: 2,549 ✭✭
    As they all say, no point in cracking it. Sending it to PSA would be a further waste of money. Sorry, guy, but hopefully you are learning the hard lesson of modern grading with just one ripoff card.

    I learned mine with a whole batch of CTA's ... image

    Use it as a decorative piece and move on, lesson learned. Or sell it and perpetuate the sleazy side of our hobby that sucked you in. Whatever you can live with.
  • DaCoastDaCoast Posts: 3
    Stone193
    --->Provide me the information and I will see what I will do from there.
  • kr580kr580 Posts: 4,420 ✭✭


    << <i>Two Words, Dremel Tool.

    Right click and save as:
    PSA vs Dremel

    Any chance I get... image >>



    video doesn't work image
  • EagleEyeKidEagleEyeKid Posts: 4,496 ✭✭
    video doesn't work

    Yea, I can't get it either. Then again, my fisherprice computer sucks.
  • AknotAknot Posts: 1,196 ✭✭


    << <i>video doesn't work

    Yea, I can't get it either. Then again, my fisherprice computer sucks. >>



    oops forgot to tell you, you need a video codec from www.divx.com it can found right here:

    Free Divx Codec

    No spyware or anything else. It is one of the best compression/codec utilities around.
    image
  • A761506A761506 Posts: 1,309 ✭✭✭
    That looks like a lot of work to open a case... vice grip pliers work fine, no flying plastic, and it takes less than 30 seconds and you would have to really try hard to damage the card. Just grip the upper left or right corner with a tight grip of the vice grips, and break off the corner. Grip again along the top right next to the space you broke and break off another piece or two. Then, you can use a flat head screw driver pressing the flat head against the PSA label and pry the pieces apart starting at the top, and then just separate the rest of the case by hand. Much easier I think.
  • PDUBPDUB Posts: 46
    Winpitcher - What I actually ment was resell the card and list it w/ the defect...wont get all money back but better than nothing in some cases.


    if anyone has contact info for gem elite please post i have some CRAP to send back to them!!!
  • EagleEyeKidEagleEyeKid Posts: 4,496 ✭✭
    if anyone has contact info for gem elite please post i have some CRAP to send back to them!!!

    I believe Stone has it. I think everyone/anyone who owns a Gem grading product should send all their stuff back for a refund. Maybe that will put them out of business. Like a class action thing going.
    Sue them for mental distress for how ugly their product is. Misconception; misrepresentation, and for hiring blind people.
  • WinPitcherWinPitcher Posts: 27,726 ✭✭✭
    <<<<<re-sell the card and get your money back GEM is CRAP>>>>>


    <<<<What I actually ment was resell the card and list it w/ the defect...wont get all money back but better than nothing in some cases. >>>>




    k
    Good for you.
  • DaCoastDaCoast Posts: 3
    I just wondering if thats the case the card is fake, is there any place that can tell me if it is fake or authentic?? If you have that kind of information, then please do give me the information that might help me. Thanks!
  • A761506A761506 Posts: 1,309 ✭✭✭
    The only reputable grading company that will authenticate Star basketball cards is GAI, and they just started doing it from what I found on their website. I highly doubt that the Jordan in the GEM case is authentic, but before you send it to them, measure it as well, to be sure that it is at least standard size.

    Quite honestly, I don't know how they are going to authenticate them, because the counterfeits were printed with the same plates as the originals from what I understand, and I believe on the same card stock, which is why every other company won't grade them. GAI found some expert on Star basketball cards, Steve Taft, who can supposedly identify the fakes.

    www.gacard.net

    By the way, have you contacted the seller yet to inquire about the possibility of a refund? I would be hesitant to crack the case prior to submitting to GAI if the seller shows any sign of willingness to give you a refund... as a matter of a fact, I would jump on his offer ans send the card back to him for the refund. However, if the seller is a jerk (and many of the scammers are, especially when they know they've sold you a fake or altered card) and refuses to take it back, you could be stuck for the $200. In that case, crack it out of the GEM case (only after you've measured it to be standard size) and submit it.
  • EagleEyeKidEagleEyeKid Posts: 4,496 ✭✭
    www.gacard.net

    I think prior to cracking it out, you should just submit that card in the case to GAI pending
    that the seller refuses to refund (most likely he won't; all scammers take the $ and run).
    You can mark it as "crossover" with the minimum grade. Worse case scenario is if it's a
    fake, they'll just send it back intact....but at least you will know for sure.
    But that means you'll have to invest another $15 total for the review and shipping to and fro.
    Good luck on whatever you do and on the outcome.
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