Inconsistent and illogical PSA grading standards on early 2000s, 90s & 80s

[larry25]

Originally Posted by anusinha

wonder if its better to just send 90s stuff to BGS. PSA seems intent on pop controlling stuff hard.

My thought exactly. Huge opportunity for BGS, in my opinion. And you know you'll get some Pristine 10s if you really do the work, even from that 80s and 90s stuff. It is beyond aggravating to KNOW you will get BGS 9.5 Gems and even 10 Pristines from Beckett but from PSA you will get 6s to mostly 8s and 9s with maybe a PSA 10 or two scattered here and there. It's like the PSA 10 grade is PSA 11 now for this stuff. It's inconsistent with 30 years of PSA's work and is a really bad look for them. The junk slab era finds a way to carry on. I mean, who really wants Griffey Jr. RCs in 6s and 7s and 8s, especially of the cheaper brands. So ridiculous.

[larry25]

Originally Posted by anusinha

see what happens when they actually pop. PSA has been notorious for dropping grades during the QA steps. I know it makes no sense to try and grade through the slab and break it out and reslab it....... but PSA gunna PSA.

Yes again, this 100%. Please keep us posted when they actually pop. There is too much fishy stuff going on with PSA right now.

[mantlefan7]

Originally Posted by anusinha

wonder if its better to just send 90s stuff to BGS. PSA seems intent on pop controlling stuff hard.

I swore I’d never grade with BGS again, but after this, I might. Maybe even try CSG.

[f2tornado]

PSA has someone on the staff damaging cards and not notifying anyone. This is why QA can take longer on select orders. They need to change those 10s to 8s.

[CheapThief]

Originally Posted by Woodsy074

Just had a 50 card order move to Assembly. I was able to backdoor 37 of the grades (guess its sorta working again). All 90s basketball (junk wax MJs, Shaq rookie cards, 92 Beam Teams, etc). Of the 37, I have 18 tens and 19 9s so far (roughly 50%).

Will post the final results when they pop but like I said, if you know what to look for, your gem rate will be fine. When factoring in the cards I knew wouldn't gem, I'm running at 90%. Buy a Loupe guys and be true to yourself. If you see more than one issue with the card, it won't gem so don't kid yourself.

This is fine, but it's also at least largely irrelevant. If PSA is going to require anything pre-00 to be perfect under 10x magnification then the effort to find those cards isn't worth the premium you're going to get for them, so trying to find them and grade them is a losing proposition.

There is much, much easier money to be made in TPG than scouring Internet scans and dealer showcases for cards that might have a chance of showing absolutely no wear under a loupe. I mean, if I 'had' to screw around with this stuff I guess I might, but I can't see any compelling reason to do so, given the current market conditions.

[crossada]

I always thought 4SC got the 10's for that era. Anyone else was pop control

[junkwaxgems]

Originally Posted by crossada

I always thought 4SC got the 10's for that era. Anyone else was pop control

They certainly did but at least back then we stood a chance at 9s.

[anusinha]

Originally Posted by crossada

I always thought 4SC got the 10's for that era. Anyone else was pop control

Lol, does 4sc do group subs?

[3124508 on COMC]

Originally Posted by crossada

I always thought 4SC got the 10's for that era. Anyone else was pop control

Them and the trimmers. Seriously—that’s where all the 10s came from.

[49erRCCollector]

In 2023 you should be using a loupe. I still can get 10s on 20+ year old cards but they have to be perfect under magnification.

I think a lot of people just “think it looks like a 10” and submit, that’s not cutting it anymore, in my opinion.

[larry25]

Originally Posted by 49erRCCollector

In 2023 you should be using a loupe. I still can get 10s on 20+ year old cards but they have to be perfect under magnification.

I think a lot of people just “think it looks like a 10” and submit, that’s not cutting it anymore, in my opinion.

I agree, you still need to use a loupe, always. But I think my main gripe is still being missed here. A little bit of chipping or edge or even corner wear on a 2020s Prizm or Chrome card, then it's obvious not a 10, probably not even a 9. But a little bit of chipping on older Topps and OPC cards and inserts, that's a welcome site, IMO, and it is perfectly okay on a PSA 10 card, at least it was for the many 100s of them in my graded sets. Same is true for a lot of 90s inserts. SO MANY of those have been trimmed to look perfect, but the reality is that perfect should look uniformly chipped on the edges for very many of those, and those should still be 10s. If a dark or colored reverse looks perfectly clean and chip-less like it was cut with a razor or something, then it probably was. Again, the standard for Prizm and Chrome CANNOT be the standard for 80s and 90s. It never was, and now it suddenly is, and it makes no sense, AND it's a sign of incompetence.

[discodanman45]

Originally Posted by larry25

I agree, you still need to use a loupe, always. But I think my main gripe is still being missed here. A little bit of chipping or edge or even corner wear on a 2020s Prizm or Chrome card, then it's obvious not a 10, probably not even a 9. But a little bit of chipping on older Topps and OPC cards and inserts, that's a welcome site, IMO, and it is perfectly okay on a PSA 10 card, at least it was for the many 100s of them in my graded sets. Same is true for a lot of 90s inserts. SO MANY of those have been trimmed to look perfect, but the reality is that perfect should look uniformly chipped on the edges for very many of those, and those should still be 10s. If a dark or colored reverse looks perfectly clean and chip-less like it was cut with a razor or something, then it probably was. Again, the standard for Prizm and Chrome CANNOT be the standard for 80s and 90s. It never was, and now it suddenly is, and it makes no sense, AND it's a sign of incompetence.

I think anyone who deals with these cards knows PSA is not the same anymore. I personally feel that their expansion with many new graders, probably having greater turnover at the company with more people and trying to grade 1 million cards every month has led us to this point. With some of the current grading of OPC cards, I can tell that PSA consistency has gone down the toilet.

I also think that researchers and graders don't know the cards they are grading. With inexperience will lead to certain cards being undegraded. A new grader taking off for the 1983 Donruss Gwynn rookie because of the printing flaw by his nose that is on every card. The squiggly line with the Mattingly, the 1992 Topps Gold Shaq "scratch" print defect, etc... Not having experience with these cards and hiring more people just compounds the issue.

[49erRCCollector]

Originally Posted by larry25

I agree, you still need to use a loupe, always. But I think my main gripe is still being missed here. A little bit of chipping or edge or even corner wear on a 2020s Prizm or Chrome card, then it's obvious not a 10, probably not even a 9. But a little bit of chipping on older Topps and OPC cards and inserts, that's a welcome site, IMO, and it is perfectly okay on a PSA 10 card, at least it was for the many 100s of them in my graded sets. Same is true for a lot of 90s inserts. SO MANY of those have been trimmed to look perfect, but the reality is that perfect should look uniformly chipped on the edges for very many of those, and those should still be 10s. If a dark or colored reverse looks perfectly clean and chip-less like it was cut with a razor or something, then it probably was. Again, the standard for Prizm and Chrome CANNOT be the standard for 80s and 90s. It never was, and now it suddenly is, and it makes no sense, AND it's a sign of incompetence.

I hear you. I think it’s less inconsistency and more tightening of grading standards. Do I think that the rapid expansion of PSA’s business/volume and the massive influx of modern cards has affected grading. No doubt. And pre-90s cards are the biggest victims. But I do have some recently graded vintage with good grades. And I have some 20+ year old paper cards where I’ve gotten 10s.

[grade]

PSA SUCKS.. but i am sending PSA a bulk order this week.

[larry25]

Originally Posted by grade

PSA SUCKS.. but i am sending PSA a bulk order this week.

Ain't that the effin' truth.

[grade]

Originally Posted by larry25

Ain't that the effin' truth.

10000% Truth. Cant stand PSA business practices.
But they King. Sending them more.

[Gary]

People confuse popularity with quality,PSA is a horrible grader,everyone knows the history,trimmed cards,certain submitter's treated differently.inconsistent grading so on and so on.the only thing PSA does better than other graders is marketing.

happens in a lot of industries,ill use the personal watercraft industry for an example,Seadoo is the PSA of the watercraft industry,Their machines are in know way up to the quality of Yamaha or Kawasaki,yet Seadoo has the lion share of the market.and for the same reason,its all in the marketing.

point being i don't understand why guys come here and complain about PSA over and over again when they already know PSA sucks,yet still use them expecting something to change.PSA is rotten from the top down,always has been probably always will be.use them or don't makes no difference to me,but if you do use them stop being surprised when they fall short yet again.

[larry25]

Originally Posted by Gary

People confuse popularity with quality,PSA is a horrible grader,everyone knows the history,trimmed cards,certain submitter's treated differently.inconsistent grading so on and so on.the only thing PSA does better than other graders is marketing.

happens in a lot of industries,ill use the personal watercraft industry for an example,Seadoo is the PSA of the watercraft industry,Their machines are in know way up to the quality of Yamaha or Kawasaki,yet Seadoo has the lion share of the market.and for the same reason,its all in the marketing.

point being i don't understand why guys come here and complain about PSA over and over again when they already know PSA sucks,yet still use them expecting something to change.PSA is rotten from the top down,always has been probably always will be.use them or don't makes no difference to me,but if you do use them stop being surprised when they fall short yet again.

I think we come here looking maybe for consolation, LOL, or maybe to confirm our own experiences... or biases, or... maybe hoping someone from PSA might be reading. That said, I say again, a prism or chrome corner or edge or surface is NOT the standard for 80s and 90s. It's just not!

[overboosted]

I recently got a 10 on a 84 Topps Marino that I thought looked good but no way I was expecting a 10, maybe a 8 or 9 if I'm lucky these days. Also got some 7s on early Upper Deck Jordans that I thought were surefire 10s. They had bent corners that I know for a fact were not there went I sent them. And some 8s that I still cannot find a flaw with. I'd like to give up on PSA but I can barely give away BGS stuff let alone SGC or CSG on ebay, so back to PSA I go.