Seeing repeated circular conversations on this forum over the years hurt my eyes. But understanding that some people are new to the community and have the joys of experiencing this conversation for the very first time:
For those who are unaware of the PSA 10 grading standards (PSA | Grading Standards) :
The descriptions of the grading standards have been consistent for decades: “A PSA 10 card is a virtually perfect card.”
Claiming PSA became more stringent during an era of specific certs is incorrect. One can claim that quality control or the training of PSA graders to uphold the grading standards improved over the years. Or to make a more alleged claim, one can cry about PSA gatekeeping cards or scrutinizing more on specific cards, but the PSA standards have not changed.
I feel the crux of these iterative conversations over the years have been less about the strictness of grading companies and more around the consistency of upholding to their respective grading standards. My question to the community: Is consistency something the community prioritizes and values when discussing card grading? If yes, should human factor and biases be removed as much as possible when grading?
PSA’s response to this question:
I frankly feel PSA’s response would have been really good if it were not for the feeling that they are shielding themselves from liability of their grader’s decisions. I also have qualms of their PSA 10 centering standards that “the image must be centered on the card within a tolerance not to exceed approximately…” to further protect graders for (whom I’m assuming are) eyeballing the centering for lower tiered cards.
Personally, I am still on the fence about fully removing subjectivity in grading because a defect caught on a high resolution camera, in reality, could make absolutely zero difference when viewing and holding the card in person; however, is the allowance for subjectivity of eye appeal worth the large variance for human error, quality control, and biases that many people in the community have witnessed?
- I value consistency based on predetermined grading parameters and standards
- I value eye appeal subjectivity and accept that there will inevitably be human error
- I don’t care; I am here for the drama
cpbog1