Quote:
Originally Posted by tedzan
Personally, I'm not into high Graded cards. Nor would I ever spend the ridiculous big $$$$$ that they are selling for. Anyhow, I welcome your opinions
on this subject.
TED Z
T206 Reference
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I only purchase graded cards. That makes me one of the dimwitted and gullible victims of the doctoring exposed by BO. That doctoring has put a permanent cloud over all existing graded cards. Perhaps, more accurately it has amplified a cloud that already existed. BO has proven that it is possible to improve the grade of most cards by doctoring them in ways that the TPG's cannot discern. As a result, nobody knows for the vast majority of graded cards whether they were doctored or not. Over time, the collection community will decide how this uncertainty should affect value.
The activity exposed by BO also threatens the value of graded cards in another important way: it expands the source population of "newly-graded" cards. One assumption buttressing the value of high-grade graded cards is the notion that self-interest and the grim reaper push all cards capable of obtaining a high grade into the grading process. BO has shown that the source of newly-graded high-grade cards includes mid-grade graded cards.
I suspect that the TPG's will engineer a way to stop the doctoring of previously-graded cards. Perhaps they will implant a marker in each card or retain a digital "fingerprint" of the cards. At that point, the doctors will turn to raw cards.
I'll end by turning your question around: How are you going to prevent your raw collection from eventually becoming grist for the doctor's mill if not by getting it graded?