Can anyone call PSA to see if they would Authenticated a Square Cut Card?
If not I guess only way is to get a BGS Slab 
Square cut Pokemon cards were never legally produced or released. If any third party company authenticates them it is incorrect.
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wait, wotc never produced square cuts?
I know people get their hands on sheets and either hand cut the sheets themselves or send them off to a company to be professionally cut but surely this isnāt the only way square cuts came into existence?
While weāre on the topic, whatās the deal with half cuts? Are those ālegitā? I own a few base set Squirtles that have the left side corners squared off but the right side corners rounded. Surely those came from the factory?
No pokemon cards with pointed edges were legitimately released. Certain staff may have received them at private events as gimmicks, but 99% of what you see on ebay are hand cut cards from sheets. Miscuts, with the correct rounded edges were released, but PSA will not grade those either.
Also, there is no way to authenticate one handed to an employee vs cut second hand.
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So BGS just does it for shit and giggles.
Rather odd I guess that is mainly why there is more Vaule in PSA cards over BGS Cards.
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In my opinion, BGS has nowhere near the quality control as PSA. Every time people mention BGS, I always link this video. They are too concerned with the potential value of a card.
Also, PSA are sticklers when it comes to trimmed cards. BGS is much more lenient. PSA wonāt grade cards cut from a sheet. You would have a much better shot with BGS. There are multiple threads with people who tried to cross BGS cards to PSA, but they were all denied with āevidence of trimmingā.
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To me I dont think I would even waste my money to get my square cut Entei even slabbed with a BGS case. To me their cases are just ugly, just looks like something still in the past.
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I tried for years to get BGS and PSA to grade square cuts and they never would, except for a couple oversights by PSA. BGS just started grading them 2 months ago. Only mine got Gem grades though with all 9.5 or higher subgrades because mine were factory cut unlike some others on the market that were all aftermarket cuts.
A grading company should not care about the potential value of a card. Think about it. A very rare and valuable card that should at 9 gets sent in. Knowing it is very rare and valuable could cause someone to soft standard graded it to a 9.5 or someone could hard standard graded it to a 8.5 Do you want to buy cards whose grade is affected by value?
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How do the errors happen where there are two square edges and two rounded edges? @thecharizardauthorty, you must have seen this a few times. I have opened tons of cases, decks, collection boxes etc, (XY era) and sometimes I have found a few random cards here and there where both of the right, or both of the left edges are square. These are bought direct from a distributor, so 100% legit, no question. If nobody knows what I am talking about I can post some scans tomorrow probably once I get the new scanner going. Often times they have not only two square corners, but a bad crease here or there as well.
edit: fixed tag to his miss spelled usernameā¦ haha never noticed that
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I feel the need to defend BGS on some of the backlash. Just because two representatives talk about the value in an interview where value is talked about doesnāt imply there is bias on the grading procedure nor implies that the entire grading company shares those opinions.
Also in terms of grading, BGS seems more consistent and arguably more stringent as we always hear āBGS 9 = PSA 10ā as it seems to indicate they have a higher level of expectations when it comes to grading. I think the value of PSA grading is so popular more so because they handle a lot more cards and itās easier to get a higher grade. Iād like to point out that BGS tends to sell higher than their PSA equivalents.
As for the aesthetics, this is a personal opinion but I think PSA has an incredibly dull design while BGS helps you see the value in your grade with the color of the label being copper, silver, gold, or the oh so lovely black label.
I canāt say so much about square cut grades, but perhaps they view it as still a legitimate card even if it wasnāt legally distributed. But thatās just speculation.
BGS 9 =/= PSA 10
BGS 9.5 =/= PSA 10
PSA 10 =/= BGS 10
Let me clarify by saying that this has been an observation based on what members of this forum have said in the past when comparing BGS and PSA. Obviously this is not necessarily a fact but it seems to be an opinion shared by many here.
I have handled several BGS graded cards. The 4-point grading system is a detriment in my eyes. For example, I had a card that scored an 8.5 on edges but a 9.5 on surface. I estimated that card would score a PSA 8, but BGS graded it as a 9 as the two subgrades evened out.
BGS is not PSA. Iāve had BGS 9.5 cards that have not crossed over to PSA 10 upon review. I would say that in general, BGS grades are easier to achieve than PSA grades, except the Pristine 10.
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To better explain that Strasburg video, it is a 1/1 card. There was only 1 copy released. If you watch the entire video, the guy explains the multiple defects. The back centering alone is not Gem Mint caliber. The video comes off as humble bragging, in the worst way possible. These guys are completely biased to the cards rarity, value and most importantly, potential value if the card grades well with their brand.
As stated before with PSA, they are not as concerned with potential value. For example, I grade hockey cards. The most coveted card is the 1979 opc gretzky rookie. There are 3091 examples of that card graded, guess how many PSA have graded 10 Gem Mintā¦1, literally 1 copy is a 10.
The fact that a 1/1 card with terrible centering, indentations, received a āGem Mintā grade is objectively incorrect. That card would never receive a 10 with PSA, and shouldnāt be considered gem mint. I have countless otherwise flawless cards, but because they are off-centered, receive a 9 at best.
With that said, I would not throw the baby out with the bath water. I by no means think that BGS is absolute garbage. However, they have multiple videos talking about potential value. In this video alone, the unnecessary bragging about which cards come through it pointless. There is no point in mentioning that a mantle rookie came through. Why is that being emphasized? A third party grading company should be concerned with the condition of the card, not the potential aftermarket value of a card.
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This is all new information for me then. This is literally the first time I have ever heard of any negative opinions about BGS.
I watched the video on my phone. Didnāt see it was gem mint. That is pretty distasteful then in that case.
Bleh. This leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
That is the exact reaction I had when I first watched the video. I donāt have a strong negative opinion about BGS. However, videos like that one are difficult to swallow.
Ultimately, I personally want the third party company I use to be as unbiased as possible.
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If itās an opinion of anyone itās a completely biased opinion. If anything itās harder to get a 10 from PSA then a 9.5 from BGS.
I took a sample of all Holo Japanese Base Cards submitted to both companies hereās the percentage results of grades:
BGS: 43 total cards graded
Percent came back 10 - 4.65%
Percent came back 9.5 - 69.77%
Percent came back 9 -20.93%
Percent came back lower then 9 - 4.65%
PSA: 1057 total cards graded
Percent came back 10 - 38.60%
Percent came back 9 - 43.52%
Percent came back lower then 9 - 17.98%
What company seem to be easier to get higher grades to you?
By the way I wanted to use 1st edition base set English for this test, and while both companies could use a lot of improvement in their pop reports, I couldnāt even find all the results for Beckett.
@cullers, I like that you put in time and thought into that. And while I was quick to believe you based on the numbers alone, itās hard to say concretely if itās really due to āeasier gradingā. For all we know, perhaps thatās reflective of the card qualities people send in through PSA and BGS. Lower graded cards for PSA still sell pretty well. Not so sure about BGS, though. Still, itās hard to speak against your numbers and Iām afraid anything we might contest might be speculation, so Iāll retract my earlier statement as it seems unfounded at this point. I feel the need to look into this more but more so on a personal basis.
And I will definitely concede on the note regarding population reports. BGS is hard to navigate and seems like itās missing details.
I was psyching myself out for a bit by thinking Iād send my XY Promos to BGS instead of PSA. I wanted that Black Label Pristine. I hate the way the PSA labels show the card which is why I never got into PSA grades, plus there are varied opinions of them as well. But yeah, Iām not sure how comfortable I feel if this is the case for BGS, though Iām not sure my cards could ever rank in the way that old sports cards do. I might be comfortable with my XY Promos, but if I had an Illustrator card? No way now. 
Wicked disappointed. Appreciate you and cullers taking the time to reply, though. Definitely rethinking my choices.
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BGS and PSA put different weight on subgrade categories. That affects crossover efforts. Understanding those differences can be an invaluable tool.
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