KSA Grading Inquiry - Expectations?

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NJDEVILS30

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Hi everyone,

Hope you're all having a great summer!

A while back, I bought what I hoped would be the cornerstone of my McDavid collection - a 15/16 Showcase Ultra Violet Medallion /25.

When I received the card, I noticed that the surface was scratched, almost as if a key had touched the surface of the card - so I returned it (I think the seller was aware of the damage and didn't mention it). Obviously I really wanted another chance to own a copy of the card.

Last week I anxiously bid on another copy, a "KSA 9" - and I won!

Obviously, I didn't expect an absolutely flawless card - losing a half point here or there wasn't an issue.

Here is what I received:





As soon as I took the card out of the mailer, I noticed a scratch (very fine) that runs almost the entire length of the player's picture.

Holding the KSA case under light revealed another line across the top of the card - it is hard to see in a picture, but the lines do intersect at one point.

I have two questions for the HI community on this one:

1 - how does a card with such an imperfection receive a "9 Mint"? I am not a grader, and it is the FIRST THING that I saw when I looked at the card.

2 - where do I go from here?

Cheers!

:stare:
 
1. Some don't consider KSA to be graders either. :hithere:

Surface is only one criteria in the grading process so perhaps the other attributes were very strong and surface dragged it down to a 9? Possible? You'd know from inspecting the card closely.

2. End of day, its a card /25 with very sensitive foil so I'd probably be happy just to have a copy. But I'd bust it out of that garbage holder asap.
 
If you're buying a KSA graded card, buy it for the card with no condition expectations and ignore the grade because a KSA grade is absolutely 100% worthless.
 
I have seen a number of folks buy a cheap KSA and jail break it. It's worth more out of the slab.
 
MMarch said:
If you're buying a KSA graded card, buy it for the card with no condition expectations and ignore the grade because a KSA grade is absolutely 100% worthless.
Click to expand...
At least it doesn't seem like any value or much value is added to stuff in their slabs. Look at the prices of KSA 10's compared to BGS or PSA 10's. I think it's the same as when you buy an ungraded card. Do the best you can to check the front and back (looking at scans) and go from there. I've owned the odd card in a KSA slab and some can be fine, it just depends. I once owned an Ovechkin YG and it was a KSA 9. It was actually a nice card. I personally though, would not see the point in sending in cards to them for grading. Too much inconsistency and not much added value to stuff in their slabs. I know you see sellers on eBay and such trying to sell KSA's for prices similar to their grading counterparts, but selling and sold are always two different things.
 
I had bad experience with KSA... Sent a perfectly good card for grading and the card came back damaged. They're not delicate handling cards.
 
You can try and send it back it back for a refund if these flaws did not show up in the seller's scan.

I've had good experiences with KSA, but I've only had cards graded at shows and only lower value vintage hockey. I wouldn't have something graded that I wanted to sell, especially a modern issue since it doesn't really increase resale value. If I saw a card from last year and it appeared to have sharp corners and no centering issues and it only got a 9 from KSA, I'd wonder what was wrong with it. I'd wonder why anyone would get a card like that graded by KSA to begin with.

KSA grading standards are on their web site and their stated standards really aren't as stringent as others imho. In Beckett terms I'd say KSA standards equate to BVG for vintage cards and a touch above BCCG for modern cards.
 
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I watched Beckett fawning over the dealers at the Toronto Card Expo...I waited hours for a few cards to be graded...the dealers were given preference. It would not surprise me if cards given to the graders by the dealers received higher grades...and the "benefit of the doubt" on questionable cards. They are the biggest market for grading as it helps them to get higher prices. There's no way a card with that type of surface damage should be graded anything more than 7 or 8...
 

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