Getting into vintage a little...any tips?

[sigma_chi]

Hey guys, I bought a BVG slabbed 1970-71 Topps Pistol Pete Maravich RC a few weeks ago and immediately was struck with how beautiful and affordable the card was. I then sold quite a few of my mid range prospects stashes and was able to pick up a couple more nice cards. I picked up low grade HOF RC's this past week of 68 Nolan Ryan, 54 Hank Aaron, and 54 Ernie Banks. I don't plan on ever moving these and I'm not looking to pay out the butt so I don't mind a nice looking low grade card, graded 2-4. I've never been big on slabs for my modern cards but I think i'm only going to go after slabs on vintage to prevent any unexpected surprises regarding validity and condition. Any of you vintage collectors out there have any tips? I know PSA is top dog as far as grading services go but are they (PSA and BVG) both reliable as far as determining authenticity? What about SGC? I've made a "bucket list" of sorts with some cards I'd like to pick up eventually and was wondering if there was another reliable site besides eBay that had nice, affordable vintage cards. Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[nyc3]

One thing to watch out about SGC when they say "authentic" That usually means the card is altered. Why they choose to leave out this information is beyond me.

 

[sigma_chi]

OK thanks, what about BVG and PSA in regards to altered cards, don't they usually say "altered" under the authentic label if the card is altered?

 

[Jeff D]

OK thanks, what about BVG and PSA in regards to altered cards, don't they usually say "altered" under the authentic label if the card is altered?

Pretty much any "authentic" grade, unless it's an autographed card, means that it's been altered in some way. The only legitimate exception is "hand cut" cards (cards cut from a strip of other cards, for instance) that could only be a single card if cut out from its original form.

SGC is a very reputable company, and is actually the preferred pre-war grading company. My opinion is they are generally a lot better at catching altered cards. They are however, more lenient on centering, imo.

FYI, BGS grades what they will call "sheet cut" cards. Without getting into it too much, that means they'll grade trimmed cards. They only time they won't is if it does't meet the minimum size requirements, or it's a very poorly done trim job. For this reason, I always take BGS grades with a grain of salt, especially if they are super sharp.

Edited to add...
BGS does have a "authentic" grade that DOESN'T mean that it's altered. If a BGS card is authentic and in some way altered as well, it will indicate that on the slab. Like this...

NOT altered:

 

[ThoseBackPages]

Pre-war = SGC
Post-war = PSA