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Posted By: warshawlaw

Let's not sugar-coat history here. The real and only motive behind the slabbing thing was corporate profits. The coin graders realized there was a vast market of cards that could be slabbed if their owners could be convinced to pay for the service, hence the "card doctor" marketing blitzes from PSA designed to convince you not to trust your own eyes and the fraudulent price guide designed to convince you that slabbed cards performed like great stocks at a time the card market had been flat for quite a while. Stampeding collectors like cattle into slabbing their cards was the goal, not some noble effort to standardize grading. That was merely one of the justifications.

That said, the net result of slabbing by reputable services has been a lessening of blown grades. There isn't much a dealer can do to fake his way into a near mint price if the card is slabbed a 3. But don't confuse results for motives.