General Forum

I know about the big companies (PSA, Beckett, SCG), has anyone ever used any other other companies out there? Came acrossed GMA and wondered if they were reliable as well. Has anyone used any grading companies besides the big ones and is it worth it? Thanks for your help!

Literally just created a order for HGA, they are advertising AI-grading and nice looking slabs (card/team color matching). I sent in a few of my dad's PC cards he wanted graded (nothing over the top) and one of the cheaper Brady rookies (Skybox Dominion) to see how it goes. They literally just launched a couple months back I believe: https://hybridgrading.com/. Some of their slabs are on ebay already. 

One thing to note, they have a 1200-1400 card limit per week to guarantee turnaround times. It resets at 9 PM EST each week. I had my order saved and was ready to go when it reset, and the card limit was hit within 15-20 minutes, so you have a narrow window to place your order. 

Not sure how HGA will do in the long run, but outside of maybe them and the upcoming CSG, I wouldn't try anyone else unless you just want cards slabbed for your own PC and never intend to sell. You'll just leave loads of money on the table since nobody trusts the grades on those slabs. Only other alternative slabs I may consider purchasing on the secondary market (at a good price) are KSA (Canadian grading company with some past issues) and SCD (Sports Collectors Digest used to grade cards for a bit). I've seen some slabs from the Dallas Card Show pop up recently, for all the hype that show gets I'm not really sure about the validity of those grades/slabs. 

Thanks for the information! I have heard of that company as well and thought maybe I should give them a try. I thought that the pricing was little more with HGA then PSA, but the way they grade seems pretty interesting. I would be curious how they turn out when you get yours back. Thanks again!

I just checked out HGA.... the color coordinating is pretty nice!  They advertise AI grading, what do other companies use? 

i havent used any of the card grading, but use JSA (James Spence) for auto on memborilia authentication 

I used BCCG for my only graded card.

Just checked out HGA, I may give them a try.  Always open to new ideas like this one, thanks for the heads up.

I would recommend BCCG pretty highly.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Looks like the turnaround for grading for a lot of these companies are months out unless you spend a lot. I think Beckett has a premium $250 per card for a 5-10 day turnaround. Card market is booming. 

GMA is actually a good grading company and on good cards, they get high end money.  Their grading is respected, but they aren't as well known.  On mid-level, PSA and BGS will beat them.  I have not checked into them in a while for any cost or turn around times.  SGC got a big push last summer as PSA and BGS got so far behind and raised their prices.  Very interesting to see the HI grading.  I will look at that as well.