what's your opinion about GEM grading inc?

BassPro77

i just bought a 1958 topps GEM 9 for $0.99. was that a good decision? i never dealt with them before.
what do you think a cross over to PSA would be?


thanks

TravelingWilbury

honestly, how much did you pay

mandeld

My guess is that it would come back altered.

AkbarClone

They are an awesome company--you should buy as many of them as you can because they are a great bargain!

BassPro77

<< <i>honestly, how much did you pay >>


$3.99 with shipping

Mphilking

My concern is two fold. Overgrading or possible trimming. I have a few of their newer cards and they do not appear trimmed, but a bit overgraded, I don't think I've ever seen a GEM 9 before.
Good luck!

TravelingWilbury

i think you paid about $3 too much

MuckyMutt

Honestly, they are not a reputable company.

If that was a good card, it would be in a better holder (PSA, SGC, etc.). Most likely it is altered.

calaban7

My opinion is much like the rest of the guys-----

SDSportsFan

Most likely, the card has been trimmed. GEM is basically on par with PRO grading.


Steve

perkdog

Im still trying to figure out if the OP was/is serious

MBMiller25

junk, crossed a bunch of GEM 10 Pristine cards over to PSA 8's. No Altered though or EOT.

Ahmanfan

well just $4, so no big deal to take a little chance.
Maybe it's a nice nm/m card?
John

schr1st

You may have overpaid.

divecchia

Like others have said. If it is not altered I would knock it down a grade or 2.

Donato

ripkenintheminors

For the sake of adding info it's worth pointing out that GEM is/was notorious for slabbing counterfeits.

Griffins

who owned GEM? Who's name do the initials stand for? What is his reputation in the hobby?

I'd stick to PSA/SGC, anything else is a crap shoot.

blades3

Gem is a clearing house for counterfeit cards and altered cards. The few legit cards that might be found in their holders are horribly overgraded. I knew the names of the owners a couple years ago (when we were doing stories on the counterfeit Star Co. and minor league baseball cards they were grading in bunches), but can't seem to remember them now. They are also tied to Roger Hooper, who is being prosecuted for quite a few illegal things right now.

jswieton

There is a 100% chance that that card is either trimmed or fake.

Ahmanfan

<< <i>There is a 100% chance that that card is either trimmed or fake. >>



Yea, I know that I've personally been pumping out fake '58 Muellers, and trimming my legit ones to get a Gem 9 so I can ebay them for .99


Edit to add: it might be trimmed, but I don't think anyone can be 100%. Also, I doubt it is counterfeit.

blades3

Ah ha, this is why I save really old emails. Gem is proudly brought to you by:

Timothy Lorber, who also does a website called startcollecting.com
Todd and James Germain

and one of their major clearing houses for the crap is Tom Freeman of RedZone, Shaqfu1 and a bunch of other ebay usernames.

1989FleerBillRipkencollector

GEM....

A laid back company.

Some of my old jokes..

Once I dropped my pencil in with my sub and it came back slabbed as a mini bat.

Gee
Everythings
Mint

Good
Eye
Missing

Gets
Easy
Money


From their site "GEM Grading Services Inc. grades the quality of actual sportscard paper stock.
Providing authentication is challenging and not guaranteed due to improved computerized printing techniques.
Size requirements for sportscards are the standard published size plus or minus 3 mm."

This card..

Not a proof
Mispelled Ripkens name
Not centered for a 10
Missed the over inch long surface indention

ripkenintheminors

Here's a copy/paste job from a page on my site. For the record, it was a counterfeit 1980 WBTV Charlotte O's Cal Ripken, Jr., in a GEM slab that lead to ripkenintheminors.com being born.

Several have tried to take advantage of true fans of Ripken by selling counterfeit copies of his rare issue cards, with the 1980 blue Charlotte team issue being one of them. The following article was sent by Sports Collectors Digest (http://www.sportscollectorsdigest.com) in its July 28, 2005 eSCD E-Newsletter:

SCD INVESTIGATION UNCOVERS COUNTERFEIT CARDS

A counterfeit card problem centering on 1980s Star Co. basketball, Kenner Starting Lineups, Sportscasters and minor league baseball has been the subject of an investigation by card dealer Steve Taft and Sports Collectors Digest.

Most of the counterfeits SCD or Taft have purchased have been graded by Gem or its “premier” Gem Elite service. Taft first noticed the problem on eBay about a year ago. Taft began making sample buys, and they proved the counterfeit status.

Gem Grading is owned and operated by Timothy Lorber, who also runs www.startcollecting.com. Lorber told SCD he was disappointed Gem Grading holders contained counterfeits and that he does not run the company with any intent but to maintain high-quality standards. “When we sell cards, we give a 100-percent, money-back, 30-day guarantee, from any of the sales that we do,” Lorber said, including www.startcollecting.com or his sportscardzz eBay ID.

SCD asked Lorber if the counterfeits seemed to originate from one person or place. He said there were submissions, and his suspicion is that these came from Gibraltar (Mich.). He clarified that he meant the area, not specifically the show. “I do not know for sure,” he added. “We do not want counterfeits in Gem holders,” Lorber said. “I would buy those back. It’s not Gem’s policy to do that; we have turned away people who have offered us money to put cards in the holders that were not real.”

SCD has purchased about 20 cards in Gem grading holders, and only four or five were counterfeits.

There have been sellers of Gem-graded cards on Yahoo!’s auction site as well, and those sellers offer a connection to the October, 2003, investigation by SCD. In that investigation, SCD discovered that counterfeits of 1963 Bazooka cards, 1921 W551 strip cards, 1931 W517 strip cards, 1947 Homogenized Bond Bread and 1952 Wheaties were being sold online by, among others, “Randy Howard” in Halifax, Pa. In this newer case, the Yahoo! Auctions seller IDs of “isellforu52296” and “consignmentsplus1” are both backed by the name “Randy Howard,” this time from Mechanicsburg, Pa. Both of those Yahoo! IDs have been inactive for the past several months, but when they were active earlier this year, those IDs offered not only the counterfeits described in this article, but also the Bond Bread and other similar cards that were targeted in that SCD investigation three years ago. Capitol Grading and FGA (Foremost Grading Authority) holders often contain fakes, too.

Taft said he believes these cards could be part of the largest counterfeit card operation ever. “A year ago, when it was rampant, there were multiple auctions going with counterfeit cards from multiple eBay sellers,” he said. “You could be talking maybe over $1 million in sales. That’s money that probably would have been spent with honest dealers.

“One of the cards that I saw fairly early in this was the 1989 Pittsburgh Greats Dan Marino. That’s about an $8 card. When you look at the fact that these guys have taken a card that will sell for $8-$10 and counterfeited it, that in itself is a huge message.” (Source: http://net.fwpublications.com/newsletters/NewsletterArchive/eSCD/7_28_2005.htm)

Unfortunately, copies of counterfeit 1980 blue Ripken cards were encapsulated by Gem Grading and I was a victim of purchasing a card encapsulated by this grading service. Rather than sell the card, I chose to keep the card for the purpose of helping other Ripken fans differentiate between the authentic copies from the fakes. I later gave the card to Bill Haelig, Authenticity Coordinator at Ironclad Authentics, which specializes in the development of programs and services which guarantees authentic hand-signed collectibles and licensed products. In addition to his work at Ironclad Authentics, Bill is a noted collector of Ripken memorabilia. In fact, Sports Illustrated named Bill as the "Iron Man of Cal Collectors" in its commemorative "2131" edition.

Counterfeit copies are still in circulation. However, knowing what you are looking for will benefit you when you have the opportunity to purchase this key card. On this page you will find photos and additional information to help you separate the real Ripken from the fakes. Regardless of what you learn from this page, take my advice: Only buy the card if it has been authenticated by a reputable grading service (PSA/SGC/BGS). If the Ripken card has not been authenticated, make sure you buy the card as a part of a complete team set.