Thanks to MoeDown I am, for my first time, trying VGA out. I am grading two sealed Madden Championship Editions - one for me and one that I just sold. After holding and seeing the games in VGA cases I must say I was pretty impressed. I really don't have much of an opinion on this, but I tend to agree with what T-Bird stated that grading should be started with perfection (a 10) in mind and worked down accordingly with the smallest of flaws.
Personally I have had thousands and thousands of games (CIB, cart, Sealed, whatever) pass through my hands. I don't pretend to be an expert grader or work on a scale with what I've seen, ever. There are flaws on any conditioned game and if you are selling it as Mint or Near Mint, these flaws should be listed - nothing, in my opinion, should grade a 10. Maybe uncirculated stuff, but even then, someones grimy hands have touched the plastic or the machine gouged a crunch in the side before being placed in the case.
To me, VGA should only be grading CIBs or certified news by removing the contents for display inside a special large case for CIBs that have spots for Carts/Manuals/Inserts/Etc. It would take up a lot of space, but what doesn't in this hobby
