[mayankd23]

To all my fellow 1986-87 Fleer Basketball card collectors, has anyone noticed the large uptick in the recent population reports of BGS 9.5s? It seems very odd that this set has seen such an increase over a short period of time. I tracked a 17% increase in the 9.5s over 3-months (March to May 2015). That seems like an insane uptick (and almost makes me think that this smells of collusion). In theory we should see a large uptick of submitted and graded cards across the entire grading spectrum, and when you do the math (which I did), most cards were graded very high, which seems implausible for a set that is near 30 years old. How can the population of Gem Mint cards exist in the world at such volume. I understand if folks submit their cards often that we would see this level of increase, but the total volume submitted versus how many were graded Gem Mint does not add up!

Has anyone else been watching this? This would naturally mean that Beckett will start grading more cards BGS 10 to whip up a frenzy and sell a whole set via their auction services. This type of practice is corrosive to the Beckett brand and the trust of collectors that purchase BGS graded cards.

Please reply if you have any color to add to this.

[NateNichols]

Trust me, if there was any funny business going on they would have had a perfect opportunity with the Jordan RC I submitted last week. Thing looked flawless and came back authentic altered. Someone may have just had accumulated a really nice set over time and submitted them for grading. I bought two full sets (minus the Jordans) and made one set much nicer than the other in regards to centering/condition/etc. I wouldn't read too much in to it.

[mayankd23]

Trust me, if there was any funny business going on they would have had a perfect opportunity with the Jordan RC I submitted last week. Thing looked flawless and came back authentic altered. Someone may have just had accumulated a really nice set over time and submitted them for grading. I bought two full sets (minus the Jordans) and made one set much nicer than the other in regards to centering/condition/etc. I wouldn't read too much in to it.

I read your post on the Craigslist find. Nice job dude! Pretty nice haul for that price. I'm trying not to read too much into it, but I def. will monitor it since it seems a bit heavy

[nickm1123]

To all my fellow 1986-87 Fleer Basketball card collectors, has anyone noticed the large uptick in the recent population reports of BGS 9.5s? It seems very odd that this set has seen such an increase over a short period of time. I tracked a 17% increase in the 9.5s over 3-months (March to May 2015). That seems like an insane uptick (and almost makes me think that this smells of collusion). In theory we should see a large uptick of submitted and graded cards across the entire grading spectrum, and when you do the math (which I did), most cards were graded very high, which seems implausible for a set that is near 30 years old. How can the population of Gem Mint cards exist in the world at such volume. I understand if folks submit their cards often that we would see this level of increase, but the total volume submitted versus how many were graded Gem Mint does not add up!

Has anyone else been watching this? This would naturally mean that Beckett will start grading more cards BGS 10 to whip up a frenzy and sell a whole set via their auction services. This type of practice is corrosive to the Beckett brand and the trust of collectors that purchase BGS graded cards.

Please reply if you have any color to add to this.

I do not have enough knowledge to speak to the potential collusion of this topic so I will avoid giving my opinion. I however have noticed a lax in toughness on grading. What I mean by this is that it seems like it is no longer difficult to get a BGS 9.5 anymore. I have sent in cards recently that I personally was not happy with the condition but simply wanted them slabbed. I noticed 2-3 noticeable marks/flaws on the cards and they still come back a BGS 9. Or when I can see that an edge has serious marks on it or damage and it still gets a subgrade of a 9 or 9.5? That seems odd to me. Maybe not collusion but maybe just the expectations on grading have decreased. Very similar maybe to how many PSA 10 cards there are. Am I complaining on this? No not really but maybe that is why we are seeing so many different BGS 9.5s coming up. Just an idea.

There has to be something though. I again am not going to say exactly what it is, but I remember not too long ago when a BGS 9.5 MJ Fleer RC was the holy grail and something that was extremely rare. Now it seems like these pop up more and more. This does seem weird to me that a card that was so rare, especially is such a tough grade now seems like a somewhat common occurrence. Not sure the answer but does seem strange.

[stwainfan]

isn't it hard to get a 9.5 grade on any card in that set?

[NateNichols]

isn't it hard to get a 9.5 grade on any card in that set?

Very much so since pretty much any edge or corner damage shows up extremely well with blue and red being the colors on the card. Any type of corner wear pops out immediately with that red.

About 4.9% of all of the Jordan RC's that have been submitted have been 9.5 or above. 393 total cards out of 7,954. Sounds about right and that should continue to decrease over time as there are still plenty of raw Jordans out there that are not of that caliber.

If you're going to look at collusionary activity, look no further than the guy that hit me up about my Star RC and the other Fleer RC's I had. I now know for a fact he was going to try to buy my BGS 8.5's and have them re-slabbed as BCCG 9's or 10's to try and pass them off as those higher grades. THAT pissed me off. Even though I got on-site grading within 30 minutes for like $18/card though him, I wasn't about to let him do that and/or let him try to buy them for what he was offering me. I'd rather sell them myself, know that I'm acting in a non-deceptive manner, and get my rep up locally and on eBay.

[stwainfan]

The other issue with the set is the centering. I would say there aren't many cards centered from that set.

[ifyoucanthinkofit]

One reason for the increase in 9.5s may be the price increases we've seen since maybe January or February. I have a complete 1986-87 Fleer set with some cards that could possibly grade 9 or 9.5, but I wouldn't bother because they're just for my collection. If, however, a 9.5 Alvin Adams or World B. Free were suddenly $500 cards, then I would probably scour my set for anything that looks good. Heck, I got a 1984 Donruss Steve Carleton as a freebie, and it looks like it could be a PSA 10, but that may only be worth $25. If it was $200, then I'd probably submit it.

Also, now that the holiday season is long gone, a lot of people have probably recovered enough to be willing to spend money on non-essentials like small pieces of cardboard.

I'm just hoping that we're not seeing the peak of the market, because I have stuff I'm holding onto in the hopes that I can pay off my car loan.

[altz11]

If you're going to look at collusionary activity, look no further than the guy that hit me up about my Star RC and the other Fleer RC's I had. I now know for a fact he was going to try to buy my BGS 8.5's and have them re-slabbed as BCCG 9's or 10's to try and pass them off as those higher grades. THAT pissed me off. Even though I got on-site grading within 30 minutes for like $18/card though him, I wasn't about to let him do that and/or let him try to buy them for what he was offering me. I'd rather sell them myself, know that I'm acting in a non-deceptive manner, and get my rep up locally and on eBay.

That's the very reason why BCCG does NOT need to exist! They (BGS) use a very deceptive grading scale and most people don't understand it which causes confusion and people to be taken advantage of. In my opinion, it's just one more thing that hurts the hobby.

[NateNichols]

That's the very reason why BCCG does NOT need to exist! They (BGS) use a very deceptive grading scale and most people don't understand it which causes confusion and people to be taken advantage of. In my opinion, it's just one more thing that hurts the hobby.

I agree 100%.

I didn't know that's what he was attempting to do until I matched up an off-hand comment he made to what was on his eBay store. He had several 1986-87 Fleer Jordan RC's on there that were BCCG 8 or 9 and were priced as if they were BGS 8 or 9 which is ridiculous. After that, I pretty much decided to stay away from him because I just can't and won't operate in that manner. When you buy from me, it's BGS only and you know exactly what you are getting when you buy it. His practices and pricing is extremely deceptive to those who are unaware of the differences. Almost borderline predatory given how popular and in-demand that particular card is.