Not sure if this has been brought up or thought of,
CGC is known to grade comics as most know.
Did CGC hire different graders for the Pokémon cards or are the comic graders grading the cards as well?
Interesting to think about because I’m noticing that they have been super tough with giving higher grades especially giving a 10 Centering.
theyre def super tough. maybe too tough tbh sometimes. look at their own instagram for example. theres like two 10’s haha. but i also think psa is too lenient
I’m not sure if they are completely different graders but I do know for a fact they have all been trained on how to grade cards.
Don’t know the specific answer to that and likely only one person on this board can provide an official answer, but interesting observation and they are highly responsive on social media, might be able to DM them?
But the observation definitely seems to have legs. They for sure decided they would apply their very strict and gold standard they use to grade comics and coins (NGC), paper money (PMG)… Which are 3 grades that rarely if ever draw skepticism on grading practices. I’m sure it’s part of their company mission and core values for sure. Makes sense they would apply a similar framework for the new CCG portion.
Just wish they would have innovated a bit more in terms of design as I mentioned in the other big thread. 
If you look up or remember from an intro to marketing course that whole color wheel / meaning in branding blabla the color blue is used to evoke trust and reliability (Microsoft’s Internet Explorer definitely being an exception to this rule lmao) but most banks, wealth management / estate planning services etc. Usually incorporate blue. Then if you look at red it’s a color that evokes fun, attracts younger audiences, excitement and thrilling (so obvious here is SUPREME, Red Bill, Nintendo, LEGO, etc. ) which is why PSA uses the red theme… and why many of us are also attracted without realizing it to brands that incorporate pre dominantly red colors… why Coca Cola is red and how it was introduced to the market early on and geared towards being this new and fun and hype and must try drink… the red in marlboro during the tobacco advertising era (and subsequently the once most popular brand / still might be in Canada is DuMaurier which USED to be red — they made all packs brand neutral recently lmao it’s horrible but I get it).
On one end the blue so CGCs final and current design is textbook built to cater to and attract the older and more sophisticated collector / collectible investor… which is definitely not a bad thing since that’s where the huge wealth is $, just in the context of Pokémon and the more modern sports cards, the bulk of the grading currently happening and exchanging of graded slabs is happening at the younger more “youthful” levels… thus the red and the PSA…
But long term, seeing as they are much much more objective with their grading, the consensus will ultimately be that they are no doubt extremely trust worthy and reliable.
And in typing this out I just had a click moment and a million dollar idea, brb.
Good read thanks. Had no idea about the whole color wheel scheme thing. Interesting.
Yeah! Google something like “color wheel marketing brands” and you’ll pull up a bunch of infographics and visual charts that break it down lol. And once you start thinking about it and the brands they show as examples, it will all make sense!
When I have consulting contracts for branding/rebranding and especially logo design / web design, I ALWAYS during the early creative stages of the process spend time brainstorming ideas and designs based on colors and the sentiments they evoke in human psychology and behaviour so I refer to those graphs often! And then things start adding up all the time lmao.
** here I just searched it, it pulled up an infographic called “color emotion guide” **
RED —> Excitement / Bold *use an icon of a lightning bolt to represent it* —> Nintendo, Lego, Target, Coca Cola … PSA
BLUE —> Trust / Dependable/ Strength *icon is flexed bicep lol*
—> Dell, FaceBook, JP Morgan … CGC
WHITE / CLEAR / SILVER / MONOCHROME *used ying yang symbol* —> Balance / Neutral / Calm
—> Nike, Apple, New York Times, Mercedes … BGS
——-
Now think about every person when they talk about 1/3 of the above companies and share their opinions, feelings about each one, etc. And their behaviour around their opinions.
PSA —> it’s always a more explosive conversation, they’re prettier (because of what people are used to), something about a PSA 10 is just so “___” Insert adjective here, it’s all more BOLD. We don’t care that our PSA 10 isn’t *actually* a real gem mint and there may actually be a slight too much of an off Center or a touch of whitening… IT’S STILL A 10 AND PSA 10s ARE THE BESTT YAAASS FK SUB GRADES ABD HALF NUMBERSSSS
CGC —> new guys, but no one is questioning their RELIABILITY on their grading and their product as well as the strength in the trust they evoke (apart from some labeling subjective opinions people share) you always hear people being “very satisfied with my CGC sub returns” would use again and recommend aka dependable.
BGS —> BGS, now with a 3rd contender, falls into a more balanced category automatically… 2 extreme opinions on both ends and BGS in the middle. They were first to be objective in realizing a real 10/10 if the scale ends there has to be an extremely rigorously assessed grade to give because of the importance behind the meaning of “perfect”… if you have “shittier” cards that are stronger in other aspects that get you automatic low PSA grades, we can help highlight and offer BALANCE to this problem by recognizing the card’s major flaws but also showcasing the card’s strengths… most people who talk about BGS do so in a very calm and neutral way and the general consensus on them as a company and their grading standards seem to be widely accepted.