Question: Now that it is well known that the famous 1911 T-206 Wagner card once owned by McNail/Gretzky was trimmed back in 1987, and PSA graded it an 8 NrMT-MT in 1991, does that mean that PSA knowingly graded a trimmed card? Will it affect their business?
Scott Boa
Ingersoll, Ontario
Canada
If you read haulsofshame.com PSA has a number of large blunders under their belt. I think their vintage grading has been naturally slowing down which is why they are making more of an effort into modern cards, which Beckett has a firmer foothold.
I have a small batch going out to PSA shortly and I have to give them credit. They stood behind a 1960 Topps Venezuelan Whitey Ford I purchased (already graded) which turned out wasn't a Venezuelan at all. They re-slabbed it as a regular 1960 Topps, which I then sold on COMC, and they also provided me with a voucher for free grading. All said and done I'm coming out ahead in the process.
As for grading skills, Andy Broome at Beckett is the best. He really alerted and helped educate me in spotting trimmed and doctored cards, at some of the Beckett open houses and now through his twitter posts.
I just checked out the website that you mentioned. Why are both PSA and JSA still in business? And why do people still use their services? They have no credibility as third-party authenticators. PSA has graded both trimmed and fake cards. PSA and PSA Canada, both claim that PSA has graded more cards than all of the other grading services combined, which is false advertising.Both BGS/BVG and SGC are catching up to PSA quickly. Check their respective online population reports.
The real totals are close.
About a decade ago, I bought a 1973 Topps Lou Gehrig Card, graded by PSA as an 8 NrMt-Mt. The upper left corner of the card had a rather large pinhole. The holder showed no signs of tampering. With a pinhole, I would give the card no better than a 0. That's not even poor. That's crap.
Its possible that someone got a good card graded, opened the slab, placed in a bad card and got the good card graded again.
Voila! 2 PSA 8s to sell.
To me, the biggest complaint I have with PSA is their use of qualifiers. I have seen cards graded 10OC. If a card is off center, it's not a 10.
(02-07-2014, 03:08 PM)bamyanks Wrote: [ -> ]To me, the biggest complaint I have with PSA is their use of qualifiers. I have seen cards graded 10OC. If a card is off center, it's not a 10.
Agree 100%.
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If you read haulsofshame.com PSA has a number of large blunders under their belt. I think their vintage grading has been naturally slowing down which is why they are making more of an effort into modern cards, which Beckett has a firmer foothold.
I went to the haulsofshame.com website and have been reading it. I DIDN'T realize a lot of Barry Halper's stuff was fake. Is Beckett still recommending JSA for autographs not out of a pack??? Will this do anything to Beckett???
I went to the haulsofshame.com website and have been reading it. I DIDN'T realize a lot of Barry Halper's stuff was fake. Is Beckett still recommending JSA for autographs not out of a pack??? Will this do anything to Beckett???
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I'm not sure of the status of JSA and Beckett these days. Regarding Hauls of Shame, it's a very interesting read. It does appear numerous Halper owned pieces were fakes and that Halper had a questionable history about what he claims about his past and how he secured some of his items. The author of HOS doesn't pull any punches but he has an interesting and even questionable background as well. If you read beyond the inflammatory remarks though, the substantiated facts simply can't be overlooked.