Quote:
Originally Posted by ALR-bishop
I agree with you because I am strictly a collector and baseball cards are just a hobby for me. If I was primarily a seller or even a collector/seller, or used baseball cards as an investment, grading would a fact of life
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I totally agree with the OP and this quote. Baseball cards have always been a hobby for me and never an investment. I see over and over on the forum the term "buy the card, not the holder" (my paraphrase), but when you buy a graded card, you DO buy the holder. If you have two identical pre-war cards, and one is in a holder, you are going to pay more for the graded card. I've never seen (at least on this forum) an exception to that.
I do understand the argument of having grading to cut down on the proliferation of counterfeits, peace of mind for the purchaser, etc. But it seems to me (in my opinion) that the only ones getting rich from graded and encapsulated cards are the companies that perform the service. Plus, there is still a lot of counterfeit cards, trimmed cards, etc. according to many more knowledgeable than me on this forum, and they still get graded....
I have been collecting for 42 years and own zero graded cards. I have purchased 2 graded cards in the past, two 1967 Japanese Kabaya-Leaf cards, only because 99% of the K-L cards are graded, and I quickly broke them out of the plastic and threw the plastic and PSA info in the trash. All my cards are in Ultra Pro platinum sheets, and I enjoy looking through my collection that way. Is my collection valuable? No, but then, I've never had the disposable income to afford the valuable cards, but hey, that's okay. Baseball cards are for kids, whether 7 or 70....