I’m considering submitting cards to CGC but haven’t used them since they changed their scale and haven’t seen many of the newer slabs in person. I’m looking for opinions on how the grades ‘translate’ from people who consistently grade with both companies and/or own slabs from both companies. I’m only looking for information related to the condition of the card
For example, is the condition of a CGC Pristine 10s equivalent to a PSA10 ? Better than a PSA10? Information related to how the scales treat imperfections differently would be helpful too. ex PSA will auto 6 for any indent, does CGC have any similar rules?
Also, does CGC use half grades sparingly or are they just as common as full grades? Thanks
Grades don’t translate 1to1, it’s more of an range in my experience.
CGC Pristine 10: 10-9(mostly centering or light scratches)
CGC 10: 9-10
CGC 9: 8-9
etc…
That being said I always sent cards to CGC that were better suited to their grading standards. Meaning cards with a some small white dots and very light scratches are quite often CGC 10s but would be quite a gamble for a PSA 10.
If I remember correctly CGC takes an average of the 4 subgrades as your grade. Though it can only be 1 grade higher then the lowest subgrade. The highest grade I ever saw with a dent was 8.5, so I assume that dents equal to a 7.5 max for surface.
In case your planing on submitting WOTC, be careful with silvering as they are way harsher on it than PSA.
That makes sense. In your experience is CGC more lenient than PSA on light scratches/whitening across the scale or just for 10s? That’s good to know about the silvering as most the cards I plan to submit are WOTC
The standards on light scratches are pretty lenient and should carry over to the lower grades. I’m not too certain for whitening but this is the card with the worst whitening I ever submitted with them and it got a 8.5
That’s a reasonable way of putting it. Imo, when you go below an 8 or so in CGC the ranges start to get fatter (that dent example @stryker2407 gave is a good example). Because CGC is a sub-score “average” I think flaws that really reduce eye appeal can only drag down the card so much because of the formula. Whereas PSA will ding it by 2+ grades or something if it really reduces eye appeal. That’s my personal theory. This can work to your (ego’s) favor for more “loved” cards you want to get graded lol… so do I enjoy having a CGC 7.5 vs a PSA 5? Admittedly, yes
Agree w/ comments about minor surface flaws. There are videos talking about how CGC might be more lenient on printlines for vintage (Pokemon Classics has a good video that I feel like someone posted recently somewhere). For modern, CGC seems to give a bit more lenience on centering than PSA seems to these days based on slabs I’ve seen. I’ve gotten a few CGC 10s (non-pristine) on modern submissions that I feel like would likely be PSA 9s if submitted today. (Fwiw, I think it’s fair, if the card is clean and just slightly OC it should still be a “10” imo, even if it’s modern).
CGC, PSA , BGS . It is all a preference and goal decision. It starts with, why are you grading? Sometimes it’s to archive and preserve, others it for value, to achieve the highest value over time of gof now., It about speed so you can resell Some grading company may hold a higher premium than others. Personally, I grade cards to preserve their state. I then choose to grade with the company that offers me the best value( highest premium) for encapsulating the card.. I’m also a bit OCD so Zi grade to match my display.
I haven’t had this experience yet. I submitted a Vaporeon unlimited that had silvering on the bottom and it came back a 10. I’ve read on this forum that it’s considered a factory cutting artifact and it really doesn’t come into consideration when determining a grade. Specifically with WOTC I mean
I haven’t really proven this yet, but in my head I always thought that a pristine 10 would always transfer to PSA as a 10 (speaking for modern), but it wouldn’t always translate the other way around. Also with having eyes to see, I think I’ve maybe seen 1 or 2 pristine 10s that I didn’t think deserved the grade but I’ve seen a ton of PSA 10s that were pretty weak.
I also think that CGC has been making more of an appearance in vintage. With how overly harsh PSA is, I feel like CGC is pretty fair when it comes to how they grade vintage.
Edit: Also, I didn’t think I would like the new label that they have, but having them in person they look waaayyy better than online. Like it’s not even close. Idky it doesn’t have an appeal to me online, but they look really good in person to me
cgc is basically pristine or bust similar to beckett