Who is your grader of choice?

[G $MONEY$]

Just wondering who FCB's favorite grader is? Putting re-sale value to the side, what slabs do you prefer your personal collection cards in? Although i do own PSA and a few SGC slabs, i prefer all my PC cards in BGS slabs .How about all of you?

 

[scotty21690]

SGC!!

 

[Jays_Cards]

If resale value is thrown aside, the most aesthetically pleasing slabs are SGS slabs in my eyes. Of course all of the graded cards I own are BGS, however, for obvious reasons.

 

[wolfmanalfredo]

SGC!!

They do look great with the black background, and I can't argue with how easy they are on the eyes. That being said, for simplicity and notoriety I give my vote to PSA. I know you say re-sale aside, but somewhere down the line I atleast want the option to get the most for my stuff if I end up selling it. Thats why PSa gets my nom. I'd assume since this is a 85-90% prospector board, that BGS will come out in front.


I feel all three are great for certain eras

 

[ThoseBackPages]

BVG

 

[G $MONEY$]

I'd assume since this is a 85-90% prospector board, that BGS will come out in front.

do you really think that 90% of this board is a prospector? BTW i do "prospect", but i prospect Hockey and Football rookies a lot more than Baseball.

 

[69MetsFan]

For my 1969 Topps stuff, I go with PSA. For my chrome suff with an auto, I go with BGS for the auto grade. The BGS cases are more damage resistant than the PSA but I like the simplicity of the PSA caes for the vintage.

 

[matfanofold]

I'd go with PSA. Because the majority of what would be slabbed would be vintage, and they take up less space in my closet. If I new I would be lugging them around a lot, or my closet shelves were prone to collapsing, or I was predominantly grading the mint shiny stuff, I'd be more likely to go BGS, but that is not the case..

 

[matfanofold]

I'd assume since this is a 85-90% prospector board, that BGS will come out in front.

do you really think that 90% of this board is a prospector? BTW i do "prospect", but i prospect Hockey and Football rookies a lot more than Baseball.

I'm not sure of the actual percentage of all users, but it does seem that at least 90% of active posters/posts are made by prospectors, or thoes who aspire to be.

 

[Philip J. Fry]

Since I only grade for my PC, I've gone with BGS due to the grading deal FCB is able to get. However, I've come across 2 PSA slabs in my collection now and I like how much thinner they are compared to BGS. Unfortunately, the PSA slabs don't look like they have a protective sleeve inside like BGS does to help protect the card.

 

[hofautos]

I'd assume since this is a 85-90% prospector board, that BGS will come out in front.

do you really think that 90% of this board is a prospector? BTW i do "prospect", but i prospect Hockey and Football rookies a lot more than Baseball.

i don't know about 90%, but I do believe these would be majority choice:

large majority collect newer players (bgs would be choice)
player collectors (no grade)
vintage (psa majority sgc secondary)
vintage autos (psa/dna)

Again those would be majorities..there would be a few exceptions (including myself where I am now leaning towards everything psa for rookies, vintage, and vintage autos, and ungraded for everything else)

 

[BunchOBull]

Because the main foci of my collection are pre-1993, I tend to go PSA. On things I really want slabbed that are more modern, BGS. In terms of what I have in my collection, I have each of the big three and actually collect them all to some degree.

As side projects, I'm building high grade Thomas rookie/xrc/minor/ncaa sets in BGS and SGC slabs as well. Compulsion at it's finest.

 

[75zito]

BGS... beckett has been around a long time... I would just trust sending my cards to them.. but I dont grade my cards.. but I do like buying graded!

 

[braden]

My grader of choice is me. At least for modern cards, noticing and/or caring about the difference between a 9, a 9.5, a 10 or whatever is, to me, the most ridiculous thing about this hobby.

 

[George_Calfas]

I am a set builder and PSA is the way to go for me.

 

[ThoseBackPages]

My grader of choice is me. At least for modern cards, noticing and/or caring about the difference between a 9, a 9.5, a 10 or whatever is, to me, the most ridiculous thing about this hobby.

While i can understand your point of view, buying cards online is a whole other animal. When you have to deal
with eBay sellers that are html stupid, raw cards are very frustrating to purchase.

 

[gracecollector]

I voted PSA, but my general rule of thumb is if card is 1989 or older = PSA, card is 1990 or newer = BGS.

For the most part, I despise grading and think it's mostly a joke. I do like the holders for protection though, and for buying online I like slabbed vintage as it's a guarantee of card authenticity.

 

[Jeff D]

At least for modern cards, noticing and/or caring about the difference between a 9, a 9.5, a 10 or whatever is, to me, the most ridiculous thing about this hobby.

I agree that it can get pretty silly to put such a premium on cards that differ so little in condition.

But it isn't just for modern cards. The difference between 7 and 8's in vintage are really hard to tell as well.
The difference in price can be 2x-3x and more, but the difference in reality is often very slight.

And it's not always that consistent, which is why the crack and resubmit game is so popular.

I kind of get caught up in the set registry for my Aaron collection, so I'm always looking for 8's or better to improve my rating. Here's my most recent "upgrade"

When I scanned it last night, I was really disappointed in myself. I can't wait to get rid of this terribly o/c copy (with some mystery black line towards the top right) and get an 8 that looks more like my 7.

BTW if anyone has such as card, I'll give them both my 8 and 7 for it.