Hi all,

Since my young son will soon be getting into everyting and anything, I decided to slab some of my more precious cards so I can still share them with him without having to worry so much about him wanting to touch the card, not just look at it in a top loader.

I've tried to gain all the knowledge I could from previous posts on the grading process from company to company, and submitted eight cards to SGC through their Canadian submission centre on July 18 for their three day service special. For comparison, I submitted 10 cards direct to PSA for their 15 day service on July 28.

PSA
The PSA submission was relatively smooth. I know some of you have had rough experiences, but the only problem I encountered was their stingy grade for my 69-70 opc Orr #24 and an 68-69 Orr #2 PSA 8 o/c when I specifically asked for no qualifier.

The website information for PSA was excellent, so I knew exacly when they received the cards, when they were graded, and when they were shipped. The turnaround time was 10 business days for the grades and 8 days afterwards I had them in my hands. So, 18 business days for the order once they received it for a 15 day service level. The cards were shipped with meticulous customs forms, so I had no troubles with customs. $34 for USPS express delivery is fine with me.

SGC
I got to know customer service on a first name basis w/ SGC, which is not a good thing. I submitted to the Canadian Submission center through Canada Post with signature. Canada Post attempted to deliver on July 18, but no one at the location for the Canadian submissions was there to pick it up. So my expensive cards sat at Canada Post awaiting pick-up until July 22. No message from SGC, just a Canada Post signature confirmation to confirm SGC had my cards.

The cards didn't surface at SGC in New Jersey until August 8. I was on holiday, and since the SGC form didn't allow me to specify return shipping, they tried to call with no luck and wouldn't process my order until they had contacted me. No e-mails were ever sent to me.

So I call SGC on August 14 and okay return shipping via the Canadian Submission Center and Canada Post. My order finally shows up on the website, over three weeks after it was in their hands. August 21 rolls around and after repeated calls I find out my grades and that it was shipped.

August 28 I get a call from customs demanding to see proof that I didn't buy the cards in the states. SGC had mailed the cards back through FedEx ($100) instead of Canada Post, and customs had a problem with the order. I resolved it without incident, but it was another scare I didn't need.

I finally got the cards back today, 31 business days since SGC received the cards on a 3 day turnaround service level, and returned shipped through pricey FedEx.

Luckily my Gretzky opc rc graded a SGC 92 and my 57-58 Parkhurst Rocket Richard was a SGC 88, but I will stick with PSA in the future due to the ease of submitting from Canada.

The SGC guys were professional and nice to me, but their Canadian submission center is not a reliable and quick part of their service. All of you in the US, I envy your access.

Sounds like SCG gave you the grades you liked or deserved but PSA didn't, then PSA shipping was fine and SGC was not enjoyable....

End result...choose who you like as you will seem to get it one way or the other.

I would like to see the Orr's.....the 1969 OPC is one of my favourite Orr photos...

Dan

Bobby- good observation on the actual point of the matter- I thought SGC's grades were fair and in line with my expectations. I thought PSA's were all over the place.

Dan- I will post pictures tomorrow of a few. The 69-70 Orr photo is second to the 73-74 OPC photo in my books.

Thanks for the comments, guys. I'm no expert, but I sure know a heck of a lot more about grading than I did two months ago.

Being a Canuck and an SGC user. I've always ignored the Canadian shipment center.

I send straight to them and request they send it straight back to me via Fed Ex. I've heard of the customs tax issue but luckily I never had that issue myself. SGC sends the invoice for the grading back so one should be able to get around it by having them refer to the invoice and SGC's website if they were curious as to whether SGC was a dealer or not.

I find SGC far more consistent with their grading then PSA to the point where I can reasonably guess what SGC will grade a card. Plus I like their holders more.

However, it does boil down to what you as a customer prefer. Its a hobby so enjoy it.

The PSA 6 Orr 69-70 OPC. No wax stain, clean surface, original gloss, no roller mark, no printers lines like so many of the Orr's that year. No yellow dot along the hockey stick, clean centered back. Only slight corner wear on the upper right and lower left. I was hoping for a 7 and thought at the most a 7.5 because of the great centering. I own a number of 6's, and this isn't in the same league.




Sorry about the yellowish photos. I'm still in the hunt for a proper ccd equipped scanner. The Orr is perfect except for centering. Surprised it didn't get a 9 oc. I was hoping for a 7 nq, which would have only worked with their "eye appeal" grading because the centering isn't in the 7nq range.



Here's the Gretzky. Rough cut keeps it from a 9, but 8.5 is completely fair in my opinion. Notice in the lower left corner a dark line- it's a sizable scratch on the SGC case, and it arrived like that from SGC!

I've had some small issues with PSA over the past couple of years. If you contact them, they will usually take care of you and even give you some free grading vouchers if you ask. (When they screw up, I ask.)

I had a couple of cards come back with OC qualifiers when I had requested none. You can send them back and they will fix them for free, but they will drop you 2 grades!
As for the 1969 OPC Orr--you might want to send it back. I rarely do this, but some people do it all the time. I once sent a 1969 OPC Worsley #1 in and it came back a PSA 6. I thought it was at least a 7 and couldn't find anything that should cause it to grade that low, so I removed it from the case and sent it back. It came back as a PSA 8!

I don't make a habit out of this because I'm not a dealer, just a collector. But it can make a big difference in the value of some cards if you get the grade you really feel they deserve.

Too bad about your SGC hassles! Luckily it all worked out in the end.

I sent a vintage baseball card to SGC that had been pulled directly from a unopened pack and placed in a CardSaver. It came back designated as "trimmed". Sent it to PSA and it now rests in a 6.5 holder. As a result, I won't send submissions to SGC. I posted about this experience on the baseball forum and it was deleted by the moderator.