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PSA To Grade Comics In 2025
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Started by Kevin76,

237 posts in this topic

LordRahl

LordRahl

Posted
Posted
On 9/16/2024 at 9:01 AM, aardvark88 said:

Beckett Comics Grading sues West Stephan, PSA comics head grader and Mark Wilson (PSA comics head) over NDA of slabbing sub-grades for comics:

https://youtu.be/lTygcOlKKrg?si=DGx4HQ-krUK_e-Nt&t=159

 

I really couldn't care less about the legal match between CBCS and PSA but the interesting thing to take from that video is that sub-grades are coming... from someone, at some point. I'm surprised it took this long to be honest.

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wiparker824

wiparker824

Posted
Posted
On 9/17/2024 at 3:55 AM, Larryw7 said:

West is working for the PSA? Who’s the top grader at Voldemort now?

This was one of the more interesting parts of the lawsuit. We knew they pulled Wilson, but didn’t know they also were trying to poach West. Even in the suit in the beginning it continued to refer to West as being “courted” while not actually ever confirming he did leave then said this: 

IMG_3526.thumb.jpeg.5ed15f2e10b20142fddd913e62614ec8.jpeg

So, whether he did or do not actually end up being hired he was terminated with the suit. And then later on it goes on to say this:IMG_3527.thumb.jpeg.14ed43ddf6718ae6b4043c8f21e06dbc.jpeg

So this guy was fired, sued, and blocked from being hired at the place he was trying to leave for (if this suit is successful). Talk about a bad day lol . 

But yes, it does beg the question of who is running the grading dept over there now.

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Stefan_W

Stefan_W

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 9/17/2024 at 8:57 AM, wiparker824 said:

 

But yes, it does beg the question of who is running the grading dept over there now.

It also begs the question of how PSA is going to respond to all of this. They need the boots on the ground to set up shop in 2025, but they likely also want to avoid any entanglement with these legal issues. If they were set up it would be easier to just cut bait and find a new head grader, but at this stage a move like that would set them back months. 

Edited by Stefan_W
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wiparker824

wiparker824

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Posted
On 9/17/2024 at 6:08 AM, Stefan_W said:

It also begs the question of how PSA is going to respond to all of this. They need the boots on the ground to set up shop in 2025, but they likely also want to avoid any entanglement with these legal issues. If they were set up it would be easier to just cut bait and find a new head grader, but at this stage a move like that would set them back months. 

I’m not a lawyer but I have to imagine they will try to settle out of court as quickly as possible for the reasons you mentioned. But even if they settle in a way that allows Wilson/West to work for PSA if I were PSA I’d not want the headache of having an employee dumb enough to send confidential work emails containing that company’s future plans to their personal account days before resigning to go to a competitor but that’s just me.

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Stefan_W

Stefan_W

Posted
Posted
On 9/17/2024 at 9:25 AM, wiparker824 said:

I’m not a lawyer but I have to imagine they will try to settle out of court as quickly as possible for the reasons you mentioned. But even if they settle in a way that allows Wilson/West to work for PSA if I were PSA I’d not want the headache of having an employee dumb enough to send confidential work emails containing that company’s future plans to their personal account days before resigning to go to a competitor but that’s just me.

Yeah, that part is baffling. I don't know if I would want someone who did that heading up my division of anything. The fact that it was done in the least intelligent way possible (suggesting he may not have even known it was wrong) would be the final straw for me. But I am not a big time CEO who gets to make decisions like that. 

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Microchip

Microchip

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On 9/17/2024 at 2:54 AM, LordRahl said:

I really couldn't care less about the legal match between CBCS and PSA but the interesting thing to take from that video is that sub-grades are coming... from someone, at some point. I'm surprised it took this long to be honest.

Ditto.

It makes good business sense.   The companies are leaving money on the table if they don't go down this road.

 

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Microchip

Microchip

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 9/18/2024 at 2:45 PM, OJ Pimpson said:

Mark Wilson’s son has made a couple of YT videos raging over this lawsuit. These videos have absolutely convinced me that Wilson is guilty of something 

Lol.   Though the lawyer did point out you can't put the cat in the bag, once the trade secrets have been shared.   And restricting Mark Wilson from a life-long career in the grading field wasn't a feasible option either, you can't deprive a person of their chosen livelihood.   But yeah, he's still guilty as heck at the same time (thumbsu :violin:

Edited by Microchip
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koollectablz

koollectablz

Posted
Posted

Subgrades should always form the whole of the overall grade. 

You start with every comic being 100. If its complete, score stays at 100.  Incomplete, score decreases to 99-90 depending on severity of loss.

Both staples original, tight and not rusty score stays at 100.

PQ is white, score stays 90, if not score goes down to 85 for OW, 80 for brown/brittle.

Restored lose more points etc.

And so on and so forth.  That way everything stays in the same colour label, no qualified grades.  Just an overall score based on a subset.  Then list all the subset scores on the back.  No more graders notes, no more wondering where the points are lost.

Only real question then becomes how many subsets and how each one is weighted.  Thats where the various grading companies can use their expertise.  Then if you want to differentiate between marketplace desirability, like high profile original owner collection etc, add a letter after the final number.  Church copy of Action 1 becomes 96-CHU, etc.

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namisgr

namisgr

Posted
Posted (edited)

Subgrade minutiae.  The companies employing it will need the extra revenue, because it will slow down the grading time per comic.  It's also a slippery slope.  For CGC, at least, the numerical grade was reserved as a judgement of structural preservation.  Production issues that relate to the cover, like cover wrap, staple placement and the like do not affect the assessment of structure and are already visible to any prospective buyer and seller with access to scans or the book in person.  More grades and subgrades, more quibbles.

Not a fan, personally, but I understand how others especially with experience collecting and/or selling cards might feel otherwise.

As for Steve B., I read a comment of his elsewhere that he's no longer interested in sitting on his keester all day long grading books, has a geographical preference based on his kids and grandkids, and is happy to continue his association with ComicLink.

Edited by namisgr
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