13

December

HGA Greatest Grading Fails

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 A red hot sports card market in 2021 saw many new companies spring up and attempt to woo collector interest. 

Sports card grading company Hybrid Grading Approach (HGA) is one of them, and it's been a bumpy ride so far.

Here are the greatest mistakes so far in HGA history.

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Fake Tom Brady Autograph

HGA authenticated a 2008 Topps Finest printing plate that had a fake Tom Brady sticker autograph applied to it. 

They Use Glue Stick

Instead of using an Ultrasonic Welder to seal your grading case, eBay user GymRatCards identified that HGA uses glue.


Do you really want your precious cards exposed to such a substance?

Fake Wayne Gretzky Rookie

Ryan Nolan, author of the book Spotting Fakes, identified two fake rookie cards graded by HGA. 

Fake Mario Lemieux Rookie

The second of two fakes spotted by Breakout Cards.

HGA Will Slab Anything

Just send HGA a card, real or fake, and they will put it in a "PC" slab they offer. 


Super confusing and dumb to say the least. 

Fake Patrick Mahomes Autograph

HGA graded a card with a fake Patrick Mahomes sticker autograph on it. 

Fake Desert Shield Stamps

At least five 1991 Topps Desert Shield fake stamps were identified by 3124508 on COMC.

Used Copyrighted Artwork

HGA used copyrighted artwork on this Tua Tagovailoa label.

Cringe "AI" Video

HGA released a video to tout their supposed use of Artificial Intelligence to graded cards.


By and large the video is mostly cringe worthy. 

Shady HGA Math

On many labels, the math that HGA uses to calculate the final grade has been less than stellar. 


The Tua Tagovailoa below has all sub-grades of 9.0 but the card oddly received a final grade of 9.5.

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About the author 

SportsCardRadio

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