Someone Please "School" this American on KSA

  • Thread starter Thread starter ThoseBackPages
  • Start date Start date
T

ThoseBackPages

Guest
i will be the first to admit that i have a slab collecting addiction. i have no shame in that, as there are worse hobbies out there, and im not hurting anyone, other then myself! lol

i am well schooled in BGS/BVG/PSA/SGC and i know how pathetic BCCG is.

i do not know anything about KSA

Can someone please tell me more about KSA, blunter the better.

Thank You for the read and Your Time,
Eric
 
Ksa is not as bad as the two above me posted. Granted they aren't great but there sure is a lot worse out there. Count on a grade of about 1 to 1.5 points higher than a comparable bgs card would grade.
 
Dont kow much about them...have a Heatly rc graded by them but that's it...I would put them at #4 maybe(keeping both BGS and BVG as one entity)...Though after SGC I figure the others are crap..one might smell worse but are still crap.
I think I'd rather have the Heatley raw to tell the truth.....(Though I love having a few of the 02-03 rookies that were short printed graded by BGS(including a Nash 9.5 Chistov 9.5 and a wild player whose name is escaping me
 
All grading companies are garbage if you ask me, but I'd probably rate KSA on par with SGC. Some people love 'em, some people hate them, but the same could be said for any one of the grading companies. Id probably rate them like this:

1. PSA
2. BGS
3. SGC
3A. KSA
4 and below, not worth your time...
 
sprague11 said:
In american terms? KSA is like spending a week in Cleveland when you could have went to Florida or Vegas.
Click to expand...

That was the old KSA with the older slabs.

Nowadays, KSA is like spending a week in Reno when you could've gone to Vegas.

They're pretty meticulous now about what they will grade in person. If the grader isn't familiar with the card you bring him, he won't grade it because he won't be able to prove authenticity, etc etc. Had this very problem with a Black Lotus Magic Card. He wouldn't give it the time of day because he didn't know Magic Cards well enough to make a rational decision. That's good and bad. He lost out on 20 bucks, but I can see it being a smart move for people trying to grade counterfeit non-sports cards.

They also take their time with grading, and I've never seen them over-grade a card as of late.

Again, this is the new KSA with the new slab types. They took a lot of flack under the old ownership and tarnished their reputation a lot because on the old system with the old employees, I heard they would happily grade anything you threw in front of them. I'm sure if I took them a half empty juice box, they'd have finished it, flattened it and sent it home inside a slab with a 9.5 rating.
 
I think PSA and BGS are the only ways to go. I don't even consider buying graded cards that aren't graded by either of those companies. SGC and KSA are garbage much rather have the card in a one touch.
 
ive been a dedicated slab collector for six years now.
until recently, ive sadly neglected hockey for the most part.

i will say that BGS is garbage for OPC cards, since they blindly
are willing to grade uncut sheets. im sorry, there are no BGS 10
OPC cards out there that were cut when released.
i used to be a HUGE bgs supporter, but not anymore for hockey,
major turnoff.

So KSA seems to be like GAI was here in the states. Started great,
lost credibility and now are not worth looking at. Or is KSA now the
other way around? Also, what do the "new" KSA slabs look like vs
the old?
 
ThoseBackPages said:
iSo KSA seems to be like GAI was here in the states. Started great,
lost credibility and now are not worth looking at. Or is KSA now the
other way around? Also, what do the "new" KSA slabs look like vs
the old?
Click to expand...

Old KSA slabs look almost identical to PSA slabs even down to the label. The new KSA slabs have the KSA logo emblazoned in the corner.

BTW, PSA has been known to grade sheet cut cards as well.
 
Wow people are really out to lunch on SGC.

Probably the most accessible and knowledgeable graders in the business.

Outside of the set registry nuts they're king in vintage baseball.

If someone prefers not to use them that's fine but comparing them to KSA is ignorant and misleading to say the least.
 
Kehfee said:
Wow people are really out to lunch on SGC.

Probably the most accessible and knowledgeable graders in the business.

Outside of the set registry nuts they're king in vintage baseball.

If someone prefers not to use them that's fine but comparing them to KSA is ignorant and misleading to say the least.
Click to expand...

i am a HUGE fan of SGC, seriously. Their customer service is second to none.
they are my self-sub grader of choice, especially for modern cards.
the ONLY thing that i dont like is black border cards in their slabs (ie 1971 topps)
 
Kehfee said:
Wow people are really out to lunch on SGC.

Probably the most accessible and knowledgeable graders in the business.

Outside of the set registry nuts they're king in vintage baseball.

If someone prefers not to use them that's fine but comparing them to KSA is ignorant and misleading to say the least.
Click to expand...

Well as you say, they're king in vintage baseball. And these opinions are coming from forum member primarily focused on modern hockey. Most of the people on here would say that their sole dealings with SGC would be from 00-01 Pros and Prospects. Not to mention that a very large chunk of the membership is from Canada and would deal with KSA more often than SGC certainly. I like SGC's grading system the best, but there's no doubt that they're second tier when it comes to the hockey card side of things. The person who posted the link above only proved what most had said anyway. The ratings from BGS came back exactly as he had expected and were exactly on par with what KSA had graded them, with the exception of the Lowe, which was apparently sheet cut and/or trimmed. The fact remains that grading is entirely subjective, can be affected by the mood of the person who's examining the card, and can be affected by the amount of money being spent on the service. The upside to grading is that it protects the card better than traditional methods and can act as an authentication service where needed.
 
terry1hockeyfan said:
KSA is not as bad as most tend to believe, especially since the turnover.
Click to expand...

Agreed. All companies can grade horrible, just depends on the person grading the card for you and the mood they are in. Bottom line, if you have really good scans of the card, and you are comfortable with the price and condition, what difference does it make who graded it? I have seen PSA and BGS totally butcher grades, way over grade, and grade cut sheet cards. Know what you are buying, be comfortable with the item and the price, and the company who graded it shouldn't matter.

Personally, I have a KSA 6.5 Glenn Hall RC that is a much nicer card and in better condition then my PSA 7 Hall.
 
I have bought many KSA graded cards (because they are cheaper) and sent them to PSA for grading (becuase they have the most respect in the hobby)

Every time (except once where it was a sheet cut card) the grade came back EXACTLY the same.

The quality of the graders and the grading at KSA is the same as PSA in my opinion, they just don't have the respect in the hobby to command the same values.

matt
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
390,210
Messages
2,239,367
Members
4,172
Latest member
Singin
Back
Top