Grading Companies

October 20, 2026

1984-85 Star #202 Charles Barkley in a PSA 8 slab with an MBA Gold sticker

Star cards have a grading history unlike any other set. Some companies graded them early and stopped, some never touched them, and the ones that grade them now each draw the line in a different place. Here is where each company stands, and what to watch for in its holders.

At a glance

Company	Graded Star	Today
PSA	Early 1990s, then again from 2022	Grades most sets, not the 1985-86 base set, Best of the New or the 1986 Jordan set
BGS (Beckett)	Since December 2008	Grades Star singles; no longer grades bags. Schonco Sports cards carry their own label
CGC	Since May 2025	Grades Star; set coverage not published
DGA	Cards and sealed bags	Active: grades Star cards and factory-sealed Star bags
SGC	No	Does not grade Star
GAI	2000s, bags and cards	Closed
SCD	2001-2003	Closed
MBA	Recent	Active, including Star
AGC	—	Not Recommended
CSA	Yes (date unclear)	Closed
USA	Yes (date unclear)	Closed

PSA

PSA graded Star cards in its early years, then stopped after it found it had encapsulated some Type IIs as originals. It later bought some of those cards back, re-holdered originals and dropped Star from its population report. Sources disagree on the full reason PSA walked away, but the Type IIs come up in every account. Early PSA Star slabs predate PSA's half grades, which helps date one.

PSA came back in mid-2022, starting with 1984-85 Star and using cards from sealed team bags as its reference. It did not grade sealed bags. In March 2023 it opened up most of the other Star sets. As of August 2024 it still did not grade the 1985-86 base set (including the #117 Jordan), Best of the New or the 1986 Michael Jordan set, which are the runs that Type IIs come from. A PSA slab of one of those cards dates from the early era, which is exactly where a Type II could be hiding.

BGS (Beckett)

Beckett stayed away from Star over counterfeit fears until December 1, 2008, when it began grading at the request of Schonco Sports, which held a large collection of Star inventory. Steve Taft trained its graders on Star. Beckett grades unbagged singles from the main sets, inserts, promo sets and 5x7s.

The Schonco Sports label. Cards Beckett graded from the Schonco Sports collection carry a Schonco Sports label in the slab, so they are easy to spot. The Best of the Best and Magic Johnson sets came to Beckett only through Schonco, so graded copies of those sets are Schonco-label slabs.

For a while Beckett also graded Schonco's sealed bags, with an overall grade built from four subgrades. It no longer grades bags. Like PSA, it slabbed some Type IIs as authentic early on, and it does not flag sheet-cut cards on the label.

CGC

CGC began grading 1980s Star basketball cards on May 23, 2025, saying better information and certification tools now make it possible. It has not published which Star sets it accepts or whether it grades sealed bags.

DGA (Dynamic Grading Authority)

DGA grades Star cards, and it also grades sealed Star bags, labelling them "Factory Sealed" with an overall grade. The bag grading fills a gap Beckett and PSA leave. Blaine Holtke of DGA walked through how he inspects a bag on StarFans #3: Adventures in Sealed Bags with Blaine. See Sealed Bags for DGA-graded examples.

SGC

SGC does not grade Star cards. When Beckett started in 2008, SGC and PSA both chose not to. One SGC co-founder's earlier company, SBC, did grade Star.

GAI (Global Authentication)

GAI was founded in 2001-02 by former PSA president Steve Rocchi and Mike Baker. Steve Taft trained its Star graders. GAI is best known for grading sealed Star bags: the grade covers the polybag and seals, not the cards inside.

Two cautions. For several months an untrained grader handled Star cards, and some resealed bags got through, most often the 1983-84 Mavericks and 1986 Best of the New. The small holders could also damage the corners of thicker bags. Fake GAI holders exist. GAI closed after a December 2008 bankruptcy filing. Mike Baker took over its card grading in 2009 as Global Authority, which graded bags much the same way but also took the top card into account to some extent; Basketball Gold advises against it. See Sealed Bags.

SCD (Sports Collectors Digest)

Sports Collectors Digest ran a grading service from 2001 to 2003 and graded Star cards during that short run. Steve Taft and Todd Crossner trained it, Chris Nerat did the Star grading, and that work is well regarded. It gave half-point overall grades with whole-number subgrades, and marked cards pulled straight from an original bag "UT" (untouched), as on the #117 Jordan in the examples below. It closed when grading stopped being profitable. Don't confuse it with Sports Card Direct.

MBA (Mike Baker Authenticated)

Mike Baker was PSA's first grading director (1991-2001) and co-founded GAI. Mike Baker Authenticated started in August 2020 as a sticker service certifying cards already in PSA, BGS and SGC slabs, and has since added its own grading, Star cards included (see the example below).

AGC

Not Recommended.

CSA and USA

CSA (Certified Sports Authentication) and USA Sports Grading were early grading companies that have since closed. CSA did grade Star cards: its holders came in more than one style: the red-bordered label and the blue-flip holder with a yellow grade, both shown in the examples below. USA graded Star too: its label has a blue border with "USA" repeated across it, as on the #101 Jordan and the #32 Dennis Johnson in the examples below. If you have one of these slabs, treat the grade as a starting point and judge the card yourself.