FrozenInferno
Resident Bluenoser, Verified Trader,
Hey folks!
I recently sent my Connor McDavid Young Guns rookie into MNT Grading and received it back today. I wanted to share some thoughts and photos since there isn't a lot of information out there on MNT being as they're still only a few years on the market.
Before I begin, I know.. I know.. BGS/PSA/SGC are the "big three" of grading and the market kings when it comes to value and overall hobby acceptance. If you are looking at it from an investment level or want to get top dollar for your slabs then you still need to go with one of those three first. The market, especially the "old guard" around the hobby, is pretty set in it's ways and needs to see a pretty huge sample size of quality before accepting a new grader. I totally understand that and as a newer player MNT still needs to earn that reputation.
With that said, in this particular case I chose to send my McDavid YG in for a couple of reasons. First reason being this is my own pack-pulled card and I have absolutely no intention of selling it so resale and "top dollar" are not a big concern for me. Second reason is I knew where the flaws were on this card and wanted to use it as a test run of sorts to see how tough MNT would be on it. More on that later.
On with the review! I'll break it down into a few different sections and touch on one aspect at a time. Here is the card itself in it's new slab:
THE SLAB
The slab itself is actually quite impressive. I will make my comparisons to the BGS counterpart since they are the most similar to each other.
The height and width dimensions are identical and they actually stack on top of each other perfectly. The only difference is the MNT slab is a touch thinner than the BGS slab:
The plastic itself on the MNT slab feels to be much better quality than the BGS slab. The edges on the BGS slab feel sharper and the plastic can feel brittle and chip or scratch easily. MNT's holder has smoother edges and a smoother kind of texture to it. I'm not going to try and scratch it lol but guessing by the feel of it I believe it would be at least a bit more resistant to scratching if you prefer to keep them naked and sleeveless. It's also just as clear if not a bit clearer than BGS:
THE INNER SLEEVE
This is one area that could use a little improvement. From what I gather MNT didn't offer the inner sleeve at first and based on customer feedback later introduced it because some cards could move around within the "bumpers". The slab with the bumpers however wasn't originally designed to integrate well with a sleeve. I'll try my best to put this into words before showing the photo example.
The card is sleeved and placed in the holder, but it obviously can't nest into the recessed area inside the bumpers because the sleeve is too big. So what happens is the outside edges of the sleeve rest on top of the bumpers which creates the sort of seal that holds it in place, and the card sort of floats over the recessed area pressed gently against the front side of the holder rather than being down close to the middle of the slab. A photo to show what I mean:
The card isn't being pinched or anything obviously, and the sleeve is definitely doing it's job securing the card in place. The card won't move around inside the holder or the sleeve if you shake it around. The sleeve can also end up tilted or off-centered inside the holder even though the card itself frames perfectly within the borders of the bumpers. Functionally it serves the purpose just fine but a more integrated design would look and work better. The BGS slabs really nail the inner sleeve perfectly in my opinion, there are no bumpers inside the holder at all, just a large square recessed area that the card and sleeve rest perfectly inside of. Maybe MNT will adjust this at some point and I may send some feedback to them regarding it.
THE GRADE
Here is a closer look at the label front and back:
The card received a 9.5 Gem Mint score with a 9.0 for edges and a 9.5 for everything else. Now I mentioned earlier that I sent this card as a test run to see how hard they wouldn't be on the flaws I knew were there. The only area of concern was this bottom right corner:
As you can see from the corner up to around Connor's stick there is a bit of a rough, flakey edge. I expected that corner to be hit hard with a 9.0 at most if not an 8.5 corner score. The overall edge score was dinged instead to a 9.0. The rest of the corners and edges are razor sharp save for that small 3/4 inch or so section.
Honestly I expected the card to come back with a 9.0 Mint score at best, with no higher than a 9.0 on both edges and corners. Either I was too hard on it or maybe MNT was a little lenient on it. I looked up the pop report for this card and out of the 135 or so McDavid YG's they've graded around 45 have come back a 9.0 Mint so they're certainly not afraid to hand out 9's if they feel it's warranted. Maybe I was too hard on my own assessment since I'm not a pro grader by any stretch. All I wanted to see was a fair and accurate grade and I think MNT was a bit generous with this one. My gut tells me BGS probably would have 9'd it with an 8.5 corners and 9 edges.
THE SERVICE
Zero complaints from a service standpoint. I paid for the 6-Day service which was $26 CDN (for 10 or fewer cards) and they only had the card in hand for a few days before it was turned around and mailed back. They were responsive to emails and quick to get the card out. I obviously don't know how busy they are but I get the impression you don't have to worry about backlogs so I think you could get your card turned around in less than the stated 6-Day service level so at this time I wouldn't bother paying the extra few bucks for the 2-Day service.
THE VERDICT
Overall MNT seems to provide a quality product and quick service. The slab is top notch quality (though the inner sleeve needs a bit of improvement) and the service is lightning quick. I expected a bit of a tougher grade but maybe this was MNT being a touch generous, or maybe I was just too hard on the card myself, or a bit of both.
Would I use them again? Yes, I would. For now though, only for my PC cards. Again, if you're interested in the resale and whatnot MNT still has more work to do to continue building a reputation and gain acceptance on the market so their market premiums can grow.
However they will never get to that level and gain that experience if people don't use their services and give them the chance to earn it. I really want to see a Canadian grader succeed and be a viable and respected player in the market so I will probably send in a couple more PC cards and keep supporting them where I can. If you're also in Canada and want to get some of your PC cards graded and slabbed I would definitely recommend giving MNT a shot and see what you think.
Thanks for reading!
I recently sent my Connor McDavid Young Guns rookie into MNT Grading and received it back today. I wanted to share some thoughts and photos since there isn't a lot of information out there on MNT being as they're still only a few years on the market.
Before I begin, I know.. I know.. BGS/PSA/SGC are the "big three" of grading and the market kings when it comes to value and overall hobby acceptance. If you are looking at it from an investment level or want to get top dollar for your slabs then you still need to go with one of those three first. The market, especially the "old guard" around the hobby, is pretty set in it's ways and needs to see a pretty huge sample size of quality before accepting a new grader. I totally understand that and as a newer player MNT still needs to earn that reputation.
With that said, in this particular case I chose to send my McDavid YG in for a couple of reasons. First reason being this is my own pack-pulled card and I have absolutely no intention of selling it so resale and "top dollar" are not a big concern for me. Second reason is I knew where the flaws were on this card and wanted to use it as a test run of sorts to see how tough MNT would be on it. More on that later.
On with the review! I'll break it down into a few different sections and touch on one aspect at a time. Here is the card itself in it's new slab:
THE SLAB
The slab itself is actually quite impressive. I will make my comparisons to the BGS counterpart since they are the most similar to each other.
The height and width dimensions are identical and they actually stack on top of each other perfectly. The only difference is the MNT slab is a touch thinner than the BGS slab:
The plastic itself on the MNT slab feels to be much better quality than the BGS slab. The edges on the BGS slab feel sharper and the plastic can feel brittle and chip or scratch easily. MNT's holder has smoother edges and a smoother kind of texture to it. I'm not going to try and scratch it lol but guessing by the feel of it I believe it would be at least a bit more resistant to scratching if you prefer to keep them naked and sleeveless. It's also just as clear if not a bit clearer than BGS:
THE INNER SLEEVE
This is one area that could use a little improvement. From what I gather MNT didn't offer the inner sleeve at first and based on customer feedback later introduced it because some cards could move around within the "bumpers". The slab with the bumpers however wasn't originally designed to integrate well with a sleeve. I'll try my best to put this into words before showing the photo example.
The card is sleeved and placed in the holder, but it obviously can't nest into the recessed area inside the bumpers because the sleeve is too big. So what happens is the outside edges of the sleeve rest on top of the bumpers which creates the sort of seal that holds it in place, and the card sort of floats over the recessed area pressed gently against the front side of the holder rather than being down close to the middle of the slab. A photo to show what I mean:
The card isn't being pinched or anything obviously, and the sleeve is definitely doing it's job securing the card in place. The card won't move around inside the holder or the sleeve if you shake it around. The sleeve can also end up tilted or off-centered inside the holder even though the card itself frames perfectly within the borders of the bumpers. Functionally it serves the purpose just fine but a more integrated design would look and work better. The BGS slabs really nail the inner sleeve perfectly in my opinion, there are no bumpers inside the holder at all, just a large square recessed area that the card and sleeve rest perfectly inside of. Maybe MNT will adjust this at some point and I may send some feedback to them regarding it.
THE GRADE
Here is a closer look at the label front and back:
The card received a 9.5 Gem Mint score with a 9.0 for edges and a 9.5 for everything else. Now I mentioned earlier that I sent this card as a test run to see how hard they wouldn't be on the flaws I knew were there. The only area of concern was this bottom right corner:
As you can see from the corner up to around Connor's stick there is a bit of a rough, flakey edge. I expected that corner to be hit hard with a 9.0 at most if not an 8.5 corner score. The overall edge score was dinged instead to a 9.0. The rest of the corners and edges are razor sharp save for that small 3/4 inch or so section.
Honestly I expected the card to come back with a 9.0 Mint score at best, with no higher than a 9.0 on both edges and corners. Either I was too hard on it or maybe MNT was a little lenient on it. I looked up the pop report for this card and out of the 135 or so McDavid YG's they've graded around 45 have come back a 9.0 Mint so they're certainly not afraid to hand out 9's if they feel it's warranted. Maybe I was too hard on my own assessment since I'm not a pro grader by any stretch. All I wanted to see was a fair and accurate grade and I think MNT was a bit generous with this one. My gut tells me BGS probably would have 9'd it with an 8.5 corners and 9 edges.
THE SERVICE
Zero complaints from a service standpoint. I paid for the 6-Day service which was $26 CDN (for 10 or fewer cards) and they only had the card in hand for a few days before it was turned around and mailed back. They were responsive to emails and quick to get the card out. I obviously don't know how busy they are but I get the impression you don't have to worry about backlogs so I think you could get your card turned around in less than the stated 6-Day service level so at this time I wouldn't bother paying the extra few bucks for the 2-Day service.
THE VERDICT
Overall MNT seems to provide a quality product and quick service. The slab is top notch quality (though the inner sleeve needs a bit of improvement) and the service is lightning quick. I expected a bit of a tougher grade but maybe this was MNT being a touch generous, or maybe I was just too hard on the card myself, or a bit of both.
Would I use them again? Yes, I would. For now though, only for my PC cards. Again, if you're interested in the resale and whatnot MNT still has more work to do to continue building a reputation and gain acceptance on the market so their market premiums can grow.
However they will never get to that level and gain that experience if people don't use their services and give them the chance to earn it. I really want to see a Canadian grader succeed and be a viable and respected player in the market so I will probably send in a couple more PC cards and keep supporting them where I can. If you're also in Canada and want to get some of your PC cards graded and slabbed I would definitely recommend giving MNT a shot and see what you think.
Thanks for reading!
