This week, I’m featuring a guest article from Jamie Budesky, who runs CardGrade (an AI pre-grading app) and Card Grading News. He does a deep dive into SGC vs. PSA for the vintage collector.

In other news, for those who haven’t already heard, a FedEx truck was broken into outside of PSA’s headquarters in Santa Ana, Calif. on October 13. It was reported that $963,000 worth of cards was taken, but that valuation is based on 200 of the 250 packages that were taken. The FBI has taken over the investigation and PSA published the list of items taken, which was over 6,400 cards, and the list includes the now-deactivated certification numbers.

While impacted customers have been contacted, who knows what’s happened to the cards themselves. Marketplaces and auction houses have been given a list of the items, but that doesn’t account for all the places these cards could be sold, so it’s now on both buyers and sellers to be more vigilant about recently graded PSA cards and checking to confirm the cert numbers on slabs haven’t been deactivated. Meanwhile, what if some of the slabs were cracked open?

It’s an awful situation for the hobby, but we can only hope there will be a resolution soon. If you have relevant information or were an affected customer, PSA has provided info on what they’re doing and how you can help.

In this issue you'll find:

Auction highlights
News in the hobby
SGC vs. PSA (Guest Article)
Dan Dierdorf’s rookie card and player profile
ICYMI
Recent Vintage Card Voyage videos

Let’s get into it.

Auction Highlights

In order of closing date:

Elite Collectibles (ending on October 27)

Love of the Game Topps 75th Anniversary Auction (ending on October 31)

Fanatics Weekly Auction (ending on November 1)

Other active auctions:

Sterling Sports Auctions (ends on November 5)

Rabbit Hole Auctions (ends on November 11)

Goldin 2026 Monthly Sports Elite #10 (ends on November 14)

Clean Sweep Auctions Players Auction (ends on November 18)

News Briefs

⚾ The Best Baseball Cards Under $500 From Every Decade

🏈 Mike Ditka, Da Bears Memorabilia Soar Following Death of NFL Legend

💰 Vintage Soccer, Baseball and Golf Cards Highlight Global Card Auctions Debut

🏀 The Doctor Arrives: 50 Years After Julius Erving Changed the NBA - and Basketball Cards

⚾ Vintage Baseball Card Box Sells for 71,844x More Than Its 1952 Price

🏌️ Ultra-Rare 1927 Bobby Jones Card Sets Pace as Golf Cards Soar

⚾ Ty Cobb Cards a Hit in REA Auction

🖊 TTM This Week: Reaping Writing’s Rewards

Guest Article: SGC vs. PSA for Vintage Cards: Which Grading Company for Which Card?

In short: PSA and SGC publish nearly the same standards at the top of the scale and differ in the middle, where most vintage cards live. Fees depend on your card's value, not its grade, and the two grading companies' wait times are far apart right now. Decide with sold comps first, then use the details below.

If you collect vintage, the "SGC or PSA?" question usually comes down to three things: what each grading company says it wants to see, what it costs and how long it takes, and how the market pays for the slab. Here is a straight comparison using each grading company's own published pages as of October 19, 2026.

Where they agree: the top of the scale

At the high end, the two grading companies read alike. Both publish the same front-centering limits:

Gem Mint 10: PSA says approximately 55/45 on the front and 75/25 on the reverse. SGC's 10 Gem says 55/45 or better. SGC also has a separate 10 Pristine that asks for 50/50.
Mint 9: PSA says approximately 60/40 or better on the front and 90/10 on the reverse. SGC's 9 says 60/40 or better.

Plenty of vintage never gets near these grades, so the more useful comparison is lower down.

Where they differ: the middle of the scale

Vintage often lands between 3 and 8. Here is the centering language each grading company publishes for those grades:

Grade	PSA (front / reverse)	SGC
8	65/35 or better / 90/10 or better	65/35 or better
7	70/30 or better / 90/10 or better	70/30 or better
6	80/20 or better / 90/10 or better	75/25 or better
5	85/15 or better / 90/10 or better	80/20 or better
4	85/15 or better / 90/10 or better	85/15 or better
3	90/10 or better, front and back	90/10 or better

Two things stand out. First, at 6 and 5, SGC's published front number is tighter than PSA's. Second, PSA states a reverse requirement on every line, while SGC's text gives one centering figure. Both grading companies add a caveat: SGC says its descriptions are guidelines, and PSA says graders can make a judgment call.

Eye appeal matters more on vintage than the numbers suggest

PSA's own Grading Standards page makes this point with two Sandy Koufax cards. On the 1955 Topps card, the yellow background blends with the border, so poor centering is less of an eyesore, and a card at the edge of a grade's centering limit with strong corners and color might get a pass. On the 1957 Topps card, the dark background against white borders makes off-centering stand out, so a card that technically measures 70/30 could be held back from an unqualified grade. PSA's page also describes qualifiers such as OC (off-center).

The takeaway: do not treat the table as pass or fail. Look at your card's design. High-contrast borders will punish a shift more than a design where the border blends in.

What it costs: fees follow value

Both grading companies price by the value of the card, not by the grade it receives. Here are the published tiers on October 19, 2026, by the value you would declare:

Card value	PSA	SGC
Up to $1,000	Standard $59.99, 90 to 100 business days	Standard $50, 40+ business days
Up to $1,500	Priority $79.99, 70 to 80	Standard $50, 40+
Up to $2,500	Express $199, 20 to 30	Standard $85 (40+), or Expedited $150 (2 to 3)
Up to $3,500	Super Express $349, 10 to 15	Standard $85 (40+), or Expedited $150 (2 to 3)
Up to $5,000	Super Express $349, 10 to 15	Expedited $250, 2 to 3
Up to $10,000	Premier $599, 7 to 10	Expedited $250, 2 to 3 (up to $7,500 max declared value), $500, 2 to 3 (up to $20,000 max declared value)

PSA lists "max insured value" and SGC lists "maximum declared value." They are close but not identical, so read each grading company's terms. PSA's Value tiers are listed as temporarily paused. All turnaround figures are estimates, not guarantees. SGC changed its service levels effective September 2, 2026, and its cheapest published Standard tier is now $50.

Two practical points. On a cheap vintage card, a $50 to $60 fee can eat the whole margin. On a high-end card, the fee is small next to the price gap between slabs, so the sold comps matter far more than the tier.

Time: the gap is wide

SGC's Standard tiers are listed at 40+ business days. PSA's Standard is 90 to 100 business days, which is roughly four to four-and-a-half months on the calendar. If you plan to sell, that wait is time your card is not on the market.

Altered cards, odd issues and crossovers

Vintage gets tampered with, and some of it is oddly shaped. PSA publishes clear policies here:

It will not grade cards showing trimming, recoloring, restoration or “any other forms of tampering.” Its no-grade codes for trimming, restoration, recoloration, questionable authenticity, altered stock and evidence of cleaning still carry the grading fee.
Hand-cut cards from a panel or box, such as Post cereal, Hostess, or Bazooka issues, can be graded, with conditions. If the cut exceeds the visible border, PSA will encapsulate it as "Authentic" only.
A card that is significantly undersized, or an abnormal factory miscut, comes back without a grading fee, unless you asked on the form for it to be encapsulated as Authentic.

I did not see comparable policy text on SGC's public pricing and scale pages, so if you hold an unusual issue, ask SGC before you ship it.

Both grading companies list crossover and review services. SGC notes that crossovers submitted without a minimum grade may take longer, and PSA offers a minimum grade option on select service levels. Read the terms before you cross a card.

How to pick

Pull sold comps first. Compare completed sales of your exact card at the same grade in each grading company's holder. The slab that nets you more after fees wins, and the answer differs card to card.
Match the fee tier to the value. Use the table above.
Check the middle-grade centering. If you suspect your card is a 5 or 6, SGC's published front numbers are tighter than PSA's.
Think about the design. High-contrast borders make off-centering obvious on either grading company’s scale.
If it might be altered or oddly cut, read PSA's policies and ask SGC.
Think about time. If you need a sale soon, the wait differences are real.
Check the live pages the day you submit. Prices and availability are moving.

One tool note

Full disclosure: I run CardGrade, an AI pre-grading app. For vintage, the part of a card you can measure from a photo is centering, so a quick app read can tell you whether the borders are even before you decide which grading company to try. It is a sorting step, not a grade, and a photo cannot show everything you can see in hand.

FAQ

Is SGC cheaper than PSA? At the entry level on October 19, 2026, SGC's published Standard tier was $50 versus PSA's $59.99, and SGC lists a shorter wait. PSA's Value tiers were paused.

Do SGC and PSA use the same centering standards? At the top, yes. In the middle of the scale, the published numbers differ, as the table shows.

Jamie Budesky runs CardGrade and Card Grading News.

Sources (accessed October 19, 2026)

PSA, Trading Card Grading services and pricing: https://www.psacard.com/services/tradingcardgrading
PSA, Grading Standards: https://www.psacard.com/gradingstandards
SGC, Services and Pricing: https://gosgc.com/card-grading/services-pricing
SGC, Grading Scale: https://gosgc.com/card-grading/scale
Bleacher Nation, SGC announcement of September 2, 2026 service-level changes: https://www.bleachernation.com/collectibles/2026/09/02/sgc-announces-significant-price-increases-on-grading/

Vintage HOF Rookie Card: Dan Dierdorf

Following his Hall of Fame career, Dierdorf was a longtime broadcaster, from 1987 through 2021. Meanwhile, like fellow Hall of Famer Alan Page, he happens to have also been born in Canton, Ohio, home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Dan Dierdorf - T/G/C

HOF Induction in 1996

Standout Stats: