Hello,
Does anyone have any experience with PSA graded wax packs?
Are they graded more strictly than GAI?
Is a PSA 9 mint pack the same quality as a GAI 9 mint pack?
Is an 8 the same ETC...ETC?
I would love some first hand input if anyone has something to add
Thanks
Jon
My 1969 OPC 1st series ended up as a PSA 8....but I dont' regret swapping it over....it's the only pack graded by PSA for a 1969 OPC Hockey Series 1. Does anyone know the GAI pop reports?
Grading a pack is very subjective, 9 or 8 is basically the same, not much difference between packs as there is with cards and I would imagine it's just a matter of the mood of the grader that day.
The half grades are not needed.
GAI holders are smaller and the PSA ones are a little too larger unless you want to make a pack a centerpiece. I can fit 60 GAI packs in my safe but can only fit 20 PSA in there.
Although the PSA holders are stackable, the manual dexterity involved in doing it, well... ain't so easy.
GAI packs tend to float around inside the holder which isn't the best when it comes to shipping, PSA packs are more stable within the slab.
PSA has designed the packs to be held in place with about an inch of plastic around each pack side as you can see in the picture above. This can damage a pack that has a little bit of flaring on the side of a wrapper, creating a tear, GAI is less likely to do this because it covers more space around the sides, however gum tears are more likley with GAI.
In my opinion, packs shouldn't be touching the sides what-so-ever, for it is that, which can compromise the seal. Holding a unslabed pack should be done with thumb on front and a finger or two on the back, you never want to hold it on the sides, this puts pressure on the seal.
When shipping your ungraded packs, it is best to put it into a team bag, then put a hard sleeve into another team bag back at the reverse and slide the pack in, so it never touching the sides. This way you can hold the sides as you hands will only touch the hard sleeve because it wider than the pack.
Just my opinion.
Bobby
This message has been edited by BobbyBHockey on Jan 13, 2008 10:51 AM
