The Unofficial Graded Card Gallery

Baseball card therapy is legit.  Two Saturdays ago, I locked myself in my office for several hours, tuned out all of the negativity around me, and focused on one of my favorite things in the world: cards.  The majority of the time was spent digging through boxes and hunting for graded cards scattered throughout my collection.  The goal was simple.  I wanted to find out how many different brands I owned.  Here are the results...

#1:  PSA (Professional Sports Authenticator)

Let's start off with one of the Big 3.  PSA is probably the most recognizable grading company out there.  Founded in 1991, they claim to be the "largest and most trusted third-party trading card authentication and grading company in the world". 

#1a:  PSA (Signed Label)

PSA has gone through numerous label changes and probably deserves to have its own post.  Unfortunately... I don't have the time or the determination to write this post.  However, I did find this particular label to be interesting, because it doesn't resemble any of the other PSA labels in my collection.

The front of the label contains the player's autograph, while the back of the label lists the card brand, year, and grade.

#2:  BGS (Beckett Grading Services)

BGS was created by Beckett Publications in 1999 and according to their founder (Dr. James Beckett) was built on "integrity and honesty in the hobby he loves".  If you're looking for the "Fort Knox" of plastic prisons, then this is your company.  Out of all of the graded cards in my collection, BGS holders are the thickest and the heaviest.

#3:  BCCG (Beckett Collectors Club Grading)

Same company.  Different grading product.  According to The Cardboard Connection, BCCG "handles high volume cards quickly and with a simplified grading scale".  Not exactly sure if Beckett still offers this grading service, since I was unable to find any information on their website.

Beckett also offers a grading service targeted towards vintage cards called BVG (Beckett Vintage Grading).  At the present time, I don't have an example of that slab sitting in my collection.

#4:  SGC (Sportscard Guaranty Corporation)

According to the SGC website, the company was established in 1998 and is "one of the most trusted grading and authentication services for sports memorabilia collectors worldwide."

It's also the last of the Big 3 card grading companies that I will consider when purchasing higher valued vintage cards.

This is probably a good time to point out that I am not an expert when it comes to graded cards, nor am I an expert at authenticating cards.  I know that every card grading company has had their setbacks, but at the same time I'm one of those collectors that trust the Big 3 companies more than I distrust them.

I'm not advocating for or against card grading companies.  Everyone should collect the way they want to collect.  This post is just showing off the different card grading companies in my collection.

Okay.  Now that I've gotten the Big 3 out of the way... let's get to some of the lesser known companies...

#5:  AGS (Advanced Grading Specialists)

Never heard of this company, but based on Wayback Machine... the company's website seemed to be functional from 2001 to 2005 and advertised their exclusive "Top-View" holders.  In other words their labels wrapped around the top, so you could see which card was slabbed without looking at the front.

#6:  CAS (Certified Authentication Service)

When I came across this card, I immediately recognized the company.  If you search for autographs on COMC, then there's a good chance you've stumbled across one that's been certified "authentic" by this company.  In fact, I don't think they grade cards anymore, but the company is still very active.  CAS seems to only certify autographs these days.

#7:  CTA (CTA Grading Experts)

Another out of business card grading company.  Information on this company varies, but at least one collector stated they were one of those companies that had a reputation for inflating grades to get more business.  Another collector mentioned his 1/1 card was damaged when removed from a CTA holder, because the card stuck to the inner sleeve.  I guess I won't be removing the 1/1 Sheffield rookie card from its holder.

#8:  FGS (Finest Grading Service)

Here's another company that doesn't exactly have a positive reputation.  You can read about them inflating a card grade here or here.  I guess it's a good thing I didn't pay too much for this card.  According to my records, I picked this card up for $2.50 from my favorite online card shop... which has since closed its doors like this particular grading company.

#9:  Mint Grading Service

Dang it.  I just spent the last twenty minutes researching the MNT Grading company out of Ontario, Canada... which I'm pretty sure isn't the same as Mint Grading Service.  Anyways... thanks to the Wayback Machine, I discovered that Mint Grading Service opened its doors in 1999 and was based out of Tampa, FL.  Not exactly sure when they closed their doors... but their website is no longer active (unless they moved to Canada).

#10:  PGI (Pristine Grading International)

PGI was established at the 2002 National Sports Collectors Convention and according to their website specializes in underserved niches like magazine cards and foreign printed issues.  As for their reputation, the members at Blowout don't consider them to be a legit grading company.

#11:  Snaggletooth Grading

This is the card that receives the bulk of the credit for starting this gallery of graded card companies.  Hands down the best graded card company name.  As I mentioned last week, the website appeared to be active sometime around 2002 and 2003, but there is very little information outside of that.  At least they weren't one of those companies that only dished out gem mint 10's.

#12:  USA (Ultimate Sportcard Authority)

Another company that I struggled to dig up information on.  As with most of the companies in this post, I utilized the Wayback Machine which showed me that their website was online from 1999 to 2003.  The company even inked a deal with Just Minors at some point.

Bonus:  Be A Player

This slab isn't from a graded card company, but it's encased in a holder that is very similar to the the BGS holders.  These cards were issued as prizes by Be A Player as part of their 2000-01 He Shoots He Scores redemption program.  Each pack of 2000-01 BAP Signature Series contained a point card.  These cards were worth either 1, 2, or 3 points.  Collectors who saved up their point cards could send in 400 points and receive one of these prize cards.

Well that's where the collection stands right now.  There are plenty of other grading cards companies that have come and gone.  If I stumble across more, I'll make sure to add it to this gallery.

Until then... that's it for today.  I realize many of you could care less about graded card companies... but I sure hope you at least scrolled through this post... because I literally invested over three hours scouring the internet for information on these companies.  When you tack on the amount of time I spent digging these slabs out of boxes, this might just be the most time I have ever invested on a single blog post.

What about you?

What's the longest you've ever spent researching and writing a post?

What are your thoughts on collecting graded cards?

Are there any other grading card companies you think I should track down for this collection?

I look forward to reading and responding to your comments.  Happy Thursday and sayonara!