Has anyone ever heard of a grading service called EMC? Found a card on ebay that I’ve been looking for but it’s graded by this EMC and I can’t seem to find anything about them so it’s raising my suspicions.
The 3 reputable services in Pokemon will be: PSA, BGS, SGC.
BCCG is another one you might stumble upon, but that is a joke service. It is a service provided by beckett that is widely inaccurate and does not add any real value to a card.
1 Like
OK, yea I’ve heard of all three you mention! And actually up until not all I have are psa since I know it’s pretty much the collectors choice and just being kind of weird I like when things are all the same anyways lol. Would be be rude to message the seller and inquire on it at this point I’m not gonna grab it and wait for a different one to pop up, but now I’m just curious!
Not sure where people stand on “MAP” grading now that is not around anymore, but I have always had good experiences, and I thought the cases had a nice look to them. Id put them in between the two categories.
International Sports Authentication is another good one IMO.
MGA, GMA, and I have heard some interesting things about Final authority grading- all companies I have stayed away from.
MAP was up there with PSA & BGS. I’ve seen GEM MINT GMA on ebay, they can look like they were run over and still get a 10.
If I remember right, George who ran MAP, use to be a PSA grader and then started his own service. However he passed away and its no longer in existence. To the right collector, it almost can add an extra bit of value as MAP is a great service IMO, but with a appealing case as well.
You are correct. I thought the slabs were somewhat cool looking as well.
There is also card grading australia and they have similar strictness on grading as psa.
A rayquaza gold star was sent in and it got a 98, the dude cracked it out and sent to psa and it got a 10.
However, nobody recognizes australia because were 30 years behind 
1 Like
Not that I am going to switch, but what is the service in Australia called?
This information is all correct.
We were friends when he was still at PSA. My wife and I went out with him and his wife several times. When he passed away at only 50 his wife called me and then sent me all his graded cards. I paid her well above their actual value but she never knew it cause she wouldn’t have accepted it lol.
Note that the cases are open (not sealed) on all 4 edges which could be a problem. I did one time boil one in water and though condensation got in no water leaked in.
They are sealed with rivets only on the corners.
Plus, they are only graded, not authenticated or identified.
I still have a few map graded cards, mainly errors from the base set.
1 Like
There awesome… THey are super strict. but have a points based system. I didnt know this till now… but it seems they have a pristine grade 
This is quite interesting. Might send a few pack fresh cards to psa and these guys just to compare for myself. Is it possible to get the pristine grade?
1 Like
That was me! It got a 99! They also give you a certificate and report on the card but I lost it.
1 Like
@elftan Yes it is possible to get the Pristine grade. They are an excellent service. However Pokemon cards will move around a lot in their case.
Unfortunately they are not widely known to the greater market if you care about your cards monetary value.
For a split second I read the website as www.cardlingsaustralia.com
1 Like
Sorry dude that i didnt answer. I went off to the fairylands. 
Yeah ide really like to get some stuff graded there to.
They grade tazos to it says… So it would be super cool to grade these lol - www.ebay.com.au/itm/Dragon-Ball-Z-GOLD-Dizk-Tazo-Number-22-ANDROID-19-Power-2700-1-Star-Rare-/322484820467?hash=item4b1597d9f3:g:LrEAAOSw4DJYfsKo
I use to buy so many chippington packets to score deese. I must have opened hundreds! but i only got 1 gold chaotzuiii and i got a fair few fluros… But man those gold ones were super ultra ultra rare… EMERGERD!
My mum used to work for wonderbead or something and brought home a goku cut out stand that they used as a advertising item at super markets.