RANKING SPORT CARD CERTIFICATION COMPANIES: A SOCIOLOGICAL STUDY ON THE IMPORTANCE OF HIERARCHIES Bob Regoli, University of Colorado Abstract Baseball card collecting has changed in many ways over the past 100 years. One signifi­ cant development is the emergence of card certification companies. These companies pro­ vide buyers and sellers with an independent opinion of the condition of cards. What is socio­ logically interesting about this development is that collectors have produced an informal ranking of the certification companies. The consequence of them doing so is that today the value of a baseball card depends in large measure on what company authenticated it. What is not known, however, is whether any of the companies provide a more accurate assess­ ment of cards. Nor is it known whether variability exists among the ratings assigned to cards by the companies. This research provides strong evidence that the ratings companies as­ sign to cards are remarkably similar. Our principal conclusion is that the informal ranking of certification companies that presently exists rests on a foundation of sand and is likely to be unstable and volatile. Funding for this research was provided by the Council on Research and Creative Work at the University of Colorado (Boulder). Many people enjoy observing and par­ become. Today, there are numerous card ticipating in sports. Countless others add manufacturers. scores of hobby publica­ to their enjoyment by collecting sports tions. hundreds of card shows annually, and memorabilia. Of all the sports memorabilia more product being produced than any per­ people collect. the most widely collected son only a decade ago could have possibly are sport cards (EBAY Maga::,ine, 2000). imagined. The more than one million people who The first sport cards appeared in the late collect cards contiibute financially to the nineteenth century. The only cards of pro­ multi-billion dollar sport card industry fessional athletes that were available to (Williams. 1995). collectors then were those of baseball play­ The sport card industry is complex. It ers. The great majority of these early cards consists of many different types of com­ were of the comic variety. suggesting that panies. The most significant are companies in the late 1800s people did not take base­ who pay a licensing fee to major league ball seriously. A typical card from this era Players Associations for the right to pro­ showed players with skinny bodies, large duce merchandise bearing the names and heads, and foolish facial expressions resemblances of players, team mascots. (Voight, 1989; Lipset. 1983 ). People who and logos. Billion dollar companies such collected these early cards typically com­ as. Topps. Fleer, and Upper Deck are ex­ piled sets. trying to obtain one card of each amples. player. While this was difficult to do (par­ Many other companies in the industry do ticularly for non-smokers. since cards were not pay fees. They provide support ser­ only available as inserts in cigarette packs), vices by offering collectors assistance and it was possible. inasmuch as only one or merchandise that advances their involve­ two card sets were manufactured each year. ment in the hobby and thus. indirectly en­ In 1886. for instance, the only card set pro­ rich the coffers of player associations duced was offered by Goodwin & Com­ through the purchases of collectors. pany. a New York cigarette maker. The fol­ Sport card collectors of I 00 years ago lowing year. two cigarette manufacturers­ would not recognize what the hobby has Charles Gross & Co. of Philadelphia and 92 Volume 29. No. 2, December 2001 FreeInquiry in Creative Sociology Allen & Ginter of Richmond. Virginia­ James Beckett. who. in his 1984 publica­ each created a set of trading cards that in­ tion Beckett's Baseball Card Monthly. pro­ cluded baseball players (Bloom,.. 1997; vided collectors with a "Condition Guide." Li pset. 1983). Beckett identifiedfive grades or condition Until July 1980, when U.S. District of cards based on their physical properties: Comi Judge Clarence C. Newcomer ruled • Mint: A card with no defects. A card that the then only manufacturer of trading that has sharp corners.even borders, origi­ cards (the ToppsCompany) had "restrained nal gloss or shine on the surface, sharp fo­ trade in the baseball card market in viola­ cus of the picture, smooth edges. no signs tion of the Sherman Antitrust Act," only a of wear, and white borders. single baseball card set was manufactured • Excellent: A card with very minor de­ yearly (Williams, 1995:37). Immediately fects. Any of the following would lower a following the judgment. a plethora of sets card to Excellent: very slight rounding or produced by a variety of companies be­ layering, minor wear on edges, slight un­ came available. evenness of borders. These minor defects Today, four companies (Fleer/Skybox, are so minimal as to be only visible on Pacific Trading Cards, Topps/Bowman, close inspection; an Excellent card looks and Upper Deck) manufacture baseball Mint unless closely examined. cards and each produces more than one set • Very Good: A card that has been of cards annually. In 2000. for example, handled but not abused. Some rounding nearly 350 differentbaseball card sets were at the corners, slight layering or scuffing. produced (Beckett, 2000).Th ese and other slight notching on the edges. A Very Good companies (e.g., Playoff)also produce sets card may have a very light, barely notice­ of cards for other sports, including, bas­ able crease. ketball (NBA and WNBA), football, golf, • Good: A well-handled card, rounding hockey. and racing. Because of the glut of and layering at the comers, scuffingat the card sets available today. coupled with the corners and minor scuffing at the face, fact that many sets can be purchased in notching at the edges. their entirety (no collecting is involved), • Fair: Round and layering corners, relatively few modem collectors put sets brown and dirty borders, frayededges, no­ together. Most modem hobbyists collect a ticeable scuffing on the face. A heavily player's rookie card1 regardless of the creased card can be classified as Fair at athlete ·s sport. Since moderncoilectors are best (Beckett, 1984). more likely to collect single cards. they also In reaction to criticisms. complaints, and are more concerned with the condition of suggestions from collectors, Beckett has their cards than were earlier hobbyists. periodically revised and modifiedthe Con­ Contemporary collectors are not satisfied dition Guide. Today, the number of condi­ simply to own the rookie cards of their fa­ tion categories in the Guide has increased vorite players; they want cards in pristine fromfive to nine.� condition. In spite of the precise criteria Beckett and The preoccupation of collectors with card others recommend to evaluate the condi­ condition is a recent phenomenon, emerg­ tion of sport cards. there is generally little ing only during the past two decades. While agreement between sellers and buyers on early sport card collectors were mindful of the condition of a card. Compared to buy­ card condition, they were not preoccupied ers, sellers usually see fewer and less seri­ with it. and thus the practice of formally ous flawson cards. If the indisputable eco­ placing a grade on a card to denote its con­ nomic conflicts inherent in buyer-seller dition was infrequently done. One of the relationships are put to the side, it is evi­ firstattempts to establish a set of standards dent that grading sport cards is less about for sport card grading can be traced to applying strict, unwavering, objective stan- Free lnquirv in Creative Sociology Volume 29. No. 2. December 2001 93 TABLE 1 GRADED CARDS SOLD ON ER.w CARD GRADING COMPANY GRAD Ea SOLD FOR 1985 Topps Mark McGwire BGS 9 $1,528.00 1985 Topps Mark McGwire PSA 9 $ 425.00 1985 Topps Mark McGwire SGC 96 $ 404.99 1989 UD Randy Johnson BGS 9.5 $ 600.00 1989 UD Randy Johnson PSA 10 $ 480.00 1989 UD Randy Johnson SGC 98 $ 340.05 1995 Bowman Vladimir Guerrero BGS 9 $ 310.00 1995 Bowman Vladimir Guerrero PSA 9 $ 200.00 1995 Bowman Vladimir Guerrero SGC 96 $ 160.00 1989 Bowman Ken Griffey Jr. BGS 9 $ 261.69 1989 Bowman Ken Griffey Jr. PSA 9 $ 54.55 1989 Bowman Ken Griffey Jr. SGC 96 $ 56.01 1992 Fleer Update Mike Pizza BGS 9.5 $1,500.00 1992 Fleer Update Mike Pizza PSA 10 $ 609.00 1992 Fleer Update Mike Pizza SGC 98 $ 332.03 0 There is no standard set of designations used by the certification companies. Comparable designations are reported in this table. Source: Ebay auctions that closed April-May 2000. dards than it is about the meaning each ob­ the questions raised in the preceding para­ server attaches to the physical properties graph. Moreover. there also is no implied of the card. For example. referring to or suggested ranking system for specify­ Beckett's classification scheme: ing which of the defects are the most sig­ 1. When is a border uneven? nificant when determining the grade as­ 2. What constitutes a blurred picture? signed to a card. For example, is it more 3. When do edges change from being or less detrimental for a card to have one smooth to rough? fuzzy comer or to have a light crease? To 4. When does a sharp comer become a have an uneven border or to have a rough fuzzy one? edge? To have a blurred picture or to be 5. What is the difference between a light slightly off center? and a moderate crease? For years. much confusion has sur­ Among card collectors. these are hotly rounded grading sport cards. The chaos that debated issues for both the experienced and besets this facet of the hobby has led to beginning hobbyist.