Part 4 shifts from merger talk into the part of grading nobody likes to say out loud.

It starts with the “I’ve heard stories” framing, then draws a hard line between pre Nat Turner ownership and post Nat Turner, including the point that Collectors inherited liabilities and has paid out on mistakes from earlier eras. From there, the panel gets into why the hobby quietly benefits from inconsistency, even while asking for standardization.

And then the episode drops the best real world illustration of the entire debate: a card that graded 5.5 on a Beckett raw card review, then later came back as a BGS 9.5. Same card, same grader ecosystem, wildly different outcome.

Highlights in Part 4 include:

• The “I’ve heard stories” disclaimer and why some things get talked around, not stated

• Pre Turner vs post Turner: inherited liability, payouts, and where blame actually belongs

• The uncomfortable truth: if grading was consistent, resubmissions would collapse

• Is there a tipping point where collectors stop paying for the slab number and start paying for the card

• The “record sale” culture and why nobody flexes a record low

• Big money entering the hobby and the moment investors realize how the sausage is made

• The raw card review story: 5.5 to 9.5, and what that says about grading as a product

• The ethics question: if you sell a card that jumped grades, what do you owe the buyer

• Reholder without regrade: should a card be reassessed every time it passes through the facility

• Old standards vs new standards: should an older PSA 7 stay a 7 even if it would grade lower today

• The health inspector analogy that nails the point: same item, changed condition, unchanged label

• Buyer beware vs “protect the hobby”: how those two ideas collide in the content era

• The practical takeaway: advanced collectors hunt lower grades with stronger eye appeal, not the other way around

Part 4 is basically the grading debate in its purest form: what people say they want, what they actually reward, and what happens when reality shows up.

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