quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
I think my biggest concern is if the grading companies are into all of these gimmicks, can I honestly trust their authentication services?

Well yes, if you find that you have a need for authentication for more support or you are just looking to tack on a premium, you kind of have to trust them. Its like going to a doctor for help and then questioning every thing he says. Or for the hobby, its like collectors who doubt certified autograph cards because of the rare instances where some bad signatures got out. I mean you can doubt everything, but it's not reasonable to doubt everything and it will just make you crazy.

I don't like graded cards and I would never buy one just for a condition rating. However if that appeals to certain collectors, which it does, and you go to the 2 or 3 top companies, you have to believe that they are operating in a consistent and professional manner or their reputations will be ruined.

Cards slabbed by grading companies that have gone out of business is another matter altogether. I wouldn't trust those simply because there was a reason why they went out of business and who are you going to hold accountable if there is a problem.

True, and I don't disagree with you. As far as reputation is concerned, this is a low overhead business driven by hype. No matter how long it lasts, they win. Granted, they cant be overly negligent or they would have a class action suit on their hands. But if they go out of business for any reason, what is the impact on the product?

It seems to me that before all of this grading hype came into the picture there were valued methods of getting things authenticated.

Autograph collecting has been going on long before some card company decided to make a thing of it. Currently I have about 10 or 12 through the mail sigs I would like to get authenticated so I am just looking around.

I found this link interesting in all of its detail. I also like the idea of listing the appraiser/authenticator and their qualifications as a point of contact. I have no idea what we are talking about in terms of cost but just browsing other options instead of telling myself I only have two choices that are basically the same. :-P

http://uacc.org/services.php

There are definitely autograph authenticators that you can find beyond what is available through the grading services commonly used. They are experts in the field and there is an organization type licensing for them. You probably have it all there in that link.

The question is, is that what you need? What kind of signatures do you have?

If you want to authenticate a letter signed by Abe Lincoln, you need an expert. If you want to authenticate a card signed by a TV star, maybe not so much.

All authenticators work off of the comparisons to known legitimate examples of the autograph. A lay person can do exactly the same thing, especially with all the internet images available. They can do as good a job, perhaps better, of just comparing examples. But the opinion of the expert, with the credentials will be accepted, while the lay person just has an opinion. That's what you are paying for, the reputation of the expert and his/her opinion.

So if you think that the value of your autographs rises to the level where they are worth the cost, then it is worth it to get a known name with uacc standing to authenticate them.

It's funny, I was looking at the list comparing Pre PSA Book Value to the much higher Realized Prices after a PSA grade.
The most current card is a 1993 Derek Jeter. Almost 25 years old. No other 90's cards listed and only about 25 cards from the 80's.

Everything else is back when the printing press had to malfunction to actually print a gem mint card.

Yes. A population report does seem to have real value only to people collecting "very old" cards, which to me means pre-1960 because I started collecting cards in the early 70's, but might mean pre-1980 to most people. As more collectors submit cards, the hobby gets an idea of how many common and short-printed cards have survived.

quote:

Originally posted by mykdude:
If by the term "population study" you are referring to the grading services tracking of every card graded, I am not convinced of any real benefit to the modern collector. Only very rare (read old) items that would prompt most people to get it graded would this information be good for.