2005 Topps All-American Gold Chrome Refractor #51 BCS Graded

      

Today's card is a 2005 Topps All-American Gold Chrome Refractor #51 of Herschel Walker, with the Georgia Bulldogs.

You'll notice you don't see many 3rd party graded cards at the Hoard.  I don't really care for the idea, for multiple reasons.

First, I just don't like a process where a one number(or even less) difference in grading can account for multiples of 10 or more in the value of a card.

With several of these cards coming across a so called expert grader's desk every day, they can't possibly have more than a minute or two to assign a grade and move on.

PSA and Beckett are probably the two biggest third party graders.  I've read plenty of stories where some has received a grade of say, 8 on a card, then resubmitted it, to another grader, or sometimes even the same grader, and it magically becomes a 9.

Secondly, the grading process is not cheap.  I'd rather spend that money on the cards themselves.

Finally, graded cards take up way more storage space. I guess you could make an argument regarding protection, but if you're careful, you can keep your raw cards in good shape.

So why did I add this graded card to the Hoard?  Simple.  I didn't have this particular Walker parallel.  This Gold Chrome Refractor is serial numbered to 55, with this example being #20.  The serial number can be seen on the card back, to the right of the cartoon.

I've been known to pick up graded cards I need, and crack open the case, but here, I left it as is.

I'm not sure exactly why, maybe because it's in a fairly high grade.

Here are a couple vertical views of the card in the holder: