[QUOTE=MattyC;1270887]
Quote:
Originally Posted by Harliduck
I could not agree more, Hardi.
I personally think viewing card values exclusively through the prism of numerical grades and VCP grids is myopic. In my opinion, all cards in the same grade are not equal, and so it makes sense that they should not sell for equal values.
If one expects to pay "VCP average" for a card in GRADE X that makes all others in its grade (and some even above) look like dog meat, one is doomed to never have the pleasure of owning that card. The previous sale may have been of an overgraded card with heinous eye appeal.
As you said, a card is "worth" whatever one is willing to pay. There is no set value, ever. Each card has its own attributes, even if the sticker is identical to another sticker. Grades can be identical but cards are not. There are collectors who buy the card, and thus with no two specimens of the same card being identical, the prices-- to collectors with this view-- won't be identical either.
That said, if another collector believes all cards in GRADE X should sell for exactly the same number, to each his own and let every collector be happy.
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Not to beat the VCP thing to death but all auctions that make it to VCP have images so it is possible to make an apples to apples comparison. I wasn't saying that all 5's are equal, rather VCP gives a buyer most of the info they need to make an informed decision. And with 5-7 years history on each card it's pretty easy to get a good understanding on what a card with good eye appeal in a certain grade should sell for. The fact that buyers go way over historical sales of similar condition cards (as opposed to grades) is not rational buying behavior. Which is okay.