What's the low-down on MNT Grading?

[cburt]

New grading company I presume (from website). Saw the first card in their slab the other day here on HI. Anybody on here used their service? They seem pretty cheap. Slabs look similar to BGS, I believe cards are encased in a sleeve within the slab like BGS. Being new to the business, anyone with any thoughts or experiences with them would be helpful. I doubt they'll be any kind of major threat to BGS or PSA, but KSA might have to watch their back.

 

[gomaz]

I doubt they'll be any kind of major threat to BGS or PSA, but KSA might have to watch their back.

Agree with this completely.

Actually the more I think about it, the more I hope they do great work and supplant KSA as the leading Canadian grading company.

(hard to believe I put "KSA" and "leading" in the same sentence)

 

[japhi]

Will be almost impossible for a new entrant to make a dent into the graded space. The only reason to get a card slabbed is resale, or the registry. PSA has the registry dominated, and look at how poorly KSA cards sell. So poor you could make a (crappy) living cracking KSA cars with good eye appeal and selling them raw.

 

[cburt]

Agree with this completely.

Actually the more I think about it, the more I hope they do great work and supplant KSA as the leading Canadian grading company.

(hard to believe I put "KSA" and "leading" in the same sentence)

At least you put Canadian in that same sentence. Haha.

Will be almost impossible for a new entrant to make a dent into the graded space. The only reason to get a card slabbed is resale, or the registry. PSA has the registry dominated, and look at how poorly KSA cards sell. So poor you could make a (crappy) living cracking KSA cars with good eye appeal and selling them raw.

The problem also with KSA is there is too much inconsistency with their grading. In most cases they don't add any value to cards in their slabs, but I have seen or owned the odd good card that has been slabbed by them. But it is a crapshoot and generally not a worth while endeavour to buy them most of the time. GMA even seems better than KSA. I have bought several GMA's for my main PC recently and I plan on breaking ALL of them out. The cards are of zero use to me in GMA slabs.

 

[gomaz]

The only reason to get a card slabbed is resale, or the registry. PSA has the registry dominated, and look at how poorly KSA cards sell. So poor you could make a (crappy) living cracking KSA cars with good eye appeal and selling them raw.

Other reasons include protecting them and authenticating them. It is also nice to know how a copy of a card stacks up against the rest of the population of that card.

And then there is

PSA is the registry. They don't dominate it. They are it.

 

[GoalieFan89]

I hate to say it but it doesn't seem like anyone south of the border takes any Canadian Grading Card Company seriously. I am not quite sure how long they will last. PSA and BGS has a stronghold on the grading card community. Considering how much money they are making, I wish they would invest in more trained graders for on-time turn around's. Both companies seem to be behind on the promised times with BGS being worse. I sent in a 30 day submission to PSA in mid June and I am still waiting for it to come back. Seems like they are behind as my last order arrived well before the 30 day mark.

Nice looking slabs though!

 

[junyab]

I've used them 3 times.

MNT is a legit grading company, not unlike the other CDN companies like KSA. Their slabs are very good quality. The clarity on the plastic theyre using is amazing. They're inexpensive and their turnaround time has been on time or early.

My issue with them has been how tough they grade cards. I think maybe they're trying too hard for respectability and ending up grading harder than they should be. If you look at their population reports you can see how vastly different their 9:9.5 ratios are compared to BGS.

They do the subgrades like BGS, but also include a 5th subgrade (inner edges) where they grade the inside of shadow boxes and patch windows.

The 3 cards I had graded I sold on ebay and each of them sold for much less than their BGS graded counterparts. So I wouldn't be using them for quick resales at this point, but for PC stuff (I'll be keeping) I would use them again.

They have the backing from CNC and have lots of promotional deals going on all the time, so I don't think they'll be a flash in the pan. I hope I'm right and they can be the "Canadian BGS" they're trying to be.

 

[japhi]

Other reasons include protecting them and authenticating them. It is also nice to know how a copy of a card stacks up against the rest of the population of that card.

And then there is

PSA is the registry. They don't dominate it. They are it.

For protection nothing beats a CS1 and sleeve. Cards move in the PSA holders and I have had cards that have incurred slight damage while in a holder.

Def agree on authentication and I love the registry. Sold my HOF RC partial set a few years ago but will likely jump back in at some point. Super addictive trying to knock down a set.

 

[HighEndPlease]

My issue with MNT is the cards are not encased in a sleeve like BGS. It's the same as PSA. The card can "move" just like PSA inside the graded case.

 

[karnrai21]

I personally think that was the biggest mistake they could have made.

I too was excited for MNT, especially since their office is near me. The case looks great, the grades are very respectable, and critiqued really well, absolutely nothing is given. Clear plastic, great logo and name, but they couldn't get the sleeve thing right!

That one issue got me from submitting 60 cards, to probably 5.

My first card graded from MNT was a high valued card. I wanted protection first and foremost, not having to worry about it ever again like a card in a BGS case. Except, it moves around. The ridges are hard plastic, so damage is possible.

I emailed them about this, and they replied back saying they've graded 1000 cards with no issues. However, the issue is in the future, not in the present.

I was also told putting the card in a sleeve would damage the card? Cause their standard holders aren't made for cards in sleeves, unless their pokemon cards.

So, I think they tried going with the one size fits all approach instead of focusing on sports cards... and that will probably be their downfall. No sleeves in their cases. Something that seems very solvable.

Nonetheless, Ill still be using their service here and there for cards that aren't too valuable, because trust me they do look better than BGS cases in person.

My issue with MNT is the cards are not encased in a sleeve like BGS. It's the same as PSA. The card can "move" just like PSA inside the graded case.

 

[Zorro]

I am most likely not their target audience given that I deal mostly with vintage and I applaud them for giving people more options, however, if you are going to go through all this effort, be original...this is a complete rip of BGS lol...from MNT's site:

•A Flawless 10, with all sub- categories graded 10 will be marked on a special black label
•A graded Mint 9 to Pristine 10 (which will have one or more sub-categories graded less than 10) will be marked with a gold label
•Any graded cards receiving near-mint+ 8.5 or lower will be marked on a silver label

Anyhow, good luck to them!

 

[cburt]

I am most likely not their target audience given that I deal mostly with vintage and I applaud them for giving people more options, however, if you are going to go through all this effort, be original...this is a complete rip of BGS lol...from MNT's site:

•A Flawless 10, with all sub- categories graded 10 will be marked on a special black label
•A graded Mint 9 to Pristine 10 (which will have one or more sub-categories graded less than 10) will be marked with a gold label
•Any graded cards receiving near-mint+ 8.5 or lower will be marked on a silver label

Anyhow, good luck to them!

I agree. But if they were going to go so far to copy BGS and their model, why not go a little further and make their cases so sleeves can be placed inside? And as someone else mentioned - MNT feels the inner sleeve would cause damage? Not possible. That is one of the single best features along with the durable cases that set BGS holders apart from everyone else. Cards moving around in holders is never a good thing. And though in some ways I do respect PSA, that is an issue with stuff in their holders too. PSA standards are high, but their holders are more flimsy. Anyway, to each their own. Some good insight regarding MNT grading from all. Thanks, keep the good feedback coming.

 

[karnrai21]

Before they officially opened, months back actually, I sent them a facebook message (before they made their labels, mind you). I suggested they scrap the gold label, and black label thing, and go with a green label for "perfect" cards. The green color of a masters jacket, with gold font. I think that would have been neat. They disregarded it and went with black labels. Which I'm not entirely sure they have in stock yet. Haven't awarded one black label, or 10 yet. Either that's cause they're super strict with their grades, or they actually don't have the labels yet lol

 

[plubers]

I'll go on Ebay and pick up a cheap card just to see how the case looks. I bought 2 KSA graded cards and all i can say is wooooooow they suck. The jersey card I bought has 3 white corners and very bad edges. They graded it a 9 mint lol. I also tried a gma card and to be honest it's not to bad. The case is decent enough and the card looks to be able to cross grade to the same gem mint it was given.

 

[junyab]

A rep from MNT was in a chat room earlier this week and was kind enough to answer some questions. Here's what I can remember:

- they are looking into replacing the MNT logo sticker with an engraved plate
- they currently don't have options for larger booklet type cards and won't be considering them until further down the road
- they said the bumpers hold the card snug enough that the card will not be damaged (like PSA), and currently don't have any plans to include a penny sleeve
- most of the employees are collectors as well
- they will continue the free card grading day each year
- currently only CNC has an agreement to send cards to get graded, but there were dozens more "on the fence"...they feel that once they get a bit more exposure and their respectability increases other Canadian LCS will jump aboard

I'll edit and add more if I think of anything else.

One thing that was asked, but they didn't reply to, was the question of them grading a lot harder than BGS/PSA. Hopefully it at least made them aware that collectors noticed the tough grading and will adjust accordingly, to keep them inline with the big boys.

 

[cburt]

A rep from MNT was in a chat room earlier this week and was kind enough to answer some questions. Here's what I can remember:

- they are looking into replacing the MNT logo sticker with an engraved plate
- they currently don't have options for larger booklet type cards and won't be considering them until further down the road
- they said the bumpers hold the card snug enough that the card will not be damaged (like PSA), and currently don't have any plans to include a penny sleeve
- most of the employees are collectors as well
- they will continue the free card grading day each year
- currently only CNC has an agreement to send cards to get graded, but there were dozens more "on the fence"...they feel that once they get a bit more exposure and their respectability increases other Canadian LCS will jump aboard

I'll edit and add more if I think of anything else.

One thing that was asked, but they didn't reply to, was the question of them grading a lot harder than BGS/PSA. Hopefully it at least made them aware that collectors noticed the tough grading and will adjust accordingly, to keep them inline with the big boys.

Thanks for the great info. It will be interesting to see how things unfold with MNT Grading and IF they can make a dent in the card grading scene or not. It's good that they will try to keep their standards as close to BGS/PSA as possible (we'll see how that unfolds). If collector's feel they are too tough, that might lose them business as well. I believe KSA started off better than they have become (I think the original owner or founder was more consistent and strict in terms of grading standards) - not to say they were ever anywhere near the big boys.

 

[winniescards]

One thing that was asked, but they didn't reply to, was the question of them grading a lot harder than BGS/PSA. Hopefully it at least made them aware that collectors noticed the tough grading and will adjust accordingly, to keep them inline with the big boys.[/QUOTE]


So please let me make sure I understand this point correctly.People are asking this new grading company to loosen up their guidelines on grading so they will be more in line with PSA and BGS.These so called leaders in this thing that everyone seems to be flocking to that we call grading.I thought that the idea of grading was to try and find that perfect card.

 

[Triple B]

Does anyone have a pic of the holder/slab that they use?

 

[creasecollector]

Does anyone have a pic of the holder/slab that they use?

Here ya go ! (Note: These are NOT my cards) just using this pic as an example.

 

[karnrai21]

I think the snugness of the bumpers is an issue. PSA slabs are a lot more snug. My buddies card moves around quite a bit in his MNT slab (every and any movement). I have 2 from MNT, 1 is absolutely perfect, no movement, the other slides side to side minimally. There is a lot of room between the bumper and the card imo.