Posted By:
Marc S.I equally fail to understand the old school collectors who just vilify grading across the board. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw a huge influx of card alteration techniques, not just limited to trimming.
For those of us in our early 30s and younger -- collecting vintage cards in nice condition is a challenge. There are monetary constraints, supply constraints, etc. I know too many people that have been burned by re-colored cards, cards with built up corners, trimmed cards, etc. to want to drop hundreds, if not thousands, in this hobby without some sort of assurance. I do agree that competing with one another simply on a numerical grade assigned to a piece of cardboard can be quite silly. But for many of us young whipper-snappers, grading offers us a comfort level that especially aids in purchasing and selling cards in today's card show -- Ebay and the online auction houses.
~marc