A note of thanks and some random thoughts...

To begin my bout of randomness I would like to thank Michael Mah from Michael's Hockey TTMs. Michael was kind enough to contact me out of the blue with a request for my address. He claimed to have a few cards I needed and sure enough they arrived a short time later and he did this entirely as an act of kindess. Thank you again Michael and keep up the great TTM posts!

Here is one of the cards that has made its way into my 10-11 Score binder.

Speaking of mail, Canada Post is on the verge of going on strike. That means that mail delivery to my home and millions of others will halt in Canada. On a selfish note this is a little disappointing as I have grown quite fond of finding autographs and ebay purchases in my mailbox. I do hope that both sides can find a middle ground that makes them both happy and the mail can continue!

A few sites out there have been talking about graded cards. I don't have many in my collection, in fact at the moment I think I only have two. The first I got was a Sidney Crosby one that I pulled from a repack box. I only bought the box to see what a "graded" card looked like. Turns out this Crosby was graded a 10 from BCCG. I see nothing wrong with the card and I think I have many that are in a shape equal to this one. Does that mean I have lots of '10''s in my collection? According to BCCG I do!

This card is pretty much worthless, I don't know why someone would have sent to get it graded in the first place.

This card I got from an auction about 2 years ago. I love the Sweet Short rc's and I think it is the most underrated set from 07-08. This is my second favourite Bergfors rc I own, the first is an OPC Premier version which is a quad memorabilia card his autograph on it.

I paid about 7 bucks for the card including shipping which I think was a good deal for the card (let alone being graded 9.5)

Here is the back of the card which has me questioning the legitimacy of grading

If you can't see the problem here is a closer look.

Yep, a dinged corner. I don't know if it was a 9.5 before, but it certainly isn't now. I don't care too much because I will always keep this card and even though Nicky is stuck in hockey hell (Florida) I am still a fan. But whoever, paid to get this card graded could have been pretty pissed if the card was in great shape prior to slabbing or is tickled pink that clearly a damaged card could warrant a 9.5 grading.

I have a few cards that I know are in great shape. My best case is a Steve Yzerman OPC RC that is well centered, sharp edges and corners and clean surface. I am confident it would be over a 9 no matter where I got it graded. But why would I grade it? It could get damaged or lost in shipping there. It could get damaged during the slabbing. Or some one having a bad day could decide it is an 8.5 or less and then it is pointless to have paid 50 Canadian to get it graded.

To me, grading is much like Olympic Figure Skating. The judges can be biased and flawed. I am sure this is less likely in companies like BVG/BGS and PSA but I am sure people have been screwed at one time or another and with my luck, I would likely get the short end of the stick. What is boils down to for me, I am not one that pays to get screwed! So I will stick to buying graded cards if they are the same price as non-graded. But I will not be sending mine away anytime soon.