[ls7plus]

Thanks guys, for some very interesting posts. We've toasted certain dealers on this very site and lauded them for their friendliness, customer service, etc., but over the 20+ years I've been collcting, I've found that natural human instinct is that if you're selling the card raw, it tends to be graded higher than it will semi-objectively, by the grading companies, even by guys we've given the highest commendations to. I've purchased '57 Frank Robinsons with an indentation across the center of the card graded near mint, '63 Musial's graded NMt-Mt by mail whose centering was dubious, and with a stain on the back, and a '58 Jim Brown rookie supposedly in NMt-Mt with the back portion scratched off by these same guys. Human nature is human nature, with regard to grading--the seller wants it to be a higher grade simply to make more $$$!

You still have to buy the card, not the slab, as either Jeff or Barry have stated here, but the authentication process becomes more difficult if buying raw, since presumably (hope, hope!) the professional graders have been able to better keep up with restoration techniques than we have as collectors (although my position is that there have been too many 9's and 10's in the pre-'60's area in recent years, which are restored cards that are simply slipping past the graders, and I personally would not be buying such condition rarities without additional insurance). I have read that Jim Crandell will not touch such a high $$ specimen unless Kevin Saucier gives it his personal stamp of approval, and I wouldn't be surprised that some day Kevin starts his own business and starts doing that on a large (and profitable) scale. Maybe Jim isn't so far off on his last remark, especially with the latter qualification. We've come a long way, and so have the card doctors since the '90, when basically all you had to do was bring a high-powered loupe along to shows and take a careful look at the edges to determine originality.

I also agree with Jeff that I enjoy my considerably rare but lower condition cards in slabs as much as those which are more common in higher grades.

Would love to hear your feedback.

Larry