What is the point of cracking a card out of a holder?
 

This is kind of an irritating thing to me, at least. I just don't understand why one would buy a slabbed card and then crack it out of the case.

Obviously I understand if the card is a card that has eluded the collectors collection for some time. But I doubt very much that that is even a small percentage of crackers.

I've also seen people show the flip when trying to sell the card. "Freshly cracked out of a PSA 5 slab" or something like that. Wouldn't you have gotten more money for it being in the slab?

It screws up the pop reports which are probably nowhere near correct anyway. You're taking greater risk at the card getting harmed. And whomever submitted it spent quite a decent chunk of change getting it slabbed.

Am I the only one that doesn't like this practice? I think I'm probably in the minority here but I might even go as far as saying I can't stand it. If you want to crack a card just by a raw example instead. Who knows how many times a card has been slabbed and cracked when it finds your collection.

Hilarious in my opinion

What is the point of cracking a card out of a holder?
 

I don't understand it either, but here are the reasons:

1) Save space
2) Hatred of grading
3) Love of binders

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/2016...0eaf0e82be.jpg

There's also the crook who cracks out a low-grade card with eye appeal (especially an AUTH) and sells it without full disclosure.

I prefer raw cards but haven't freed any cards from holders. However, I can see doing it if I found a card I liked that was slabbed but still at a price I liked.

It's easy, the point is to get the card out.
Some folks don't like stacks of cheap plastic everywhere.
They take up room, you buy what you can find.

Why does it make any difference how many times a card has been cracked and slabbed?

As a set collector, I just don't have room to store all these slabs. I don't really know much about pop reports, but my guess is that they are "flawed".
Larry
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...n/IMG_3316.jpg

I have had sellers crack them out before sending to save on shipping. A raw card in a PWE is way cheaper than a slab between cardboard in a bubble mailer to ship.:D:eek:

Because it didn't get the grade they expected. Less grade = less money for the greedy people.

Words cannot describe a T206 set in a binder.

After viewing Dan McKee's T206 set in a binder, I've struggled everyday since with cracking my slabbed cards and putting what I have of the set into pages.

I know the only reason I crack one out is if I'm planning on getting it signed. Of course I buy raw if I can, but sometimes I find the best ones for the money in slabs, so that's what I gotta do!

I like to crack them out so that when I send them through the mail, the person opening the package will cut through the card.


Too soon?

I am a set collector who likes my sets in easy to access binders.

But now I feel so guilty for messing up pop reports

All of these, plus:
4) I collect as an extension of my childhood, which did not include slabs
5) I find the flips visually distracting
6) I'm not scared

....and I could give a rats ass about pop reports. Those are for you slabbies to worry about.

LOL, Al. Hope that guilt don't keep you awake all night.

I, too, crack out many cards for sets. That, and I just don't really care for slabbed cards.

I lol'd

lol

700 koufax 7s?

don't ever rely heavily on what a pop reports states.

that picture is hilarious but just a tiny glimpse of reality.


i only crack when the raw card submittal fee coincides w/ the value of not getting the 10.

example: 1994 topps ryan card in a 9 is a $6 card.

10's sell for some reason for $120 - $150.

it doesn't make sense to review that card at $17, so crack out a 9 and go for the 10 on a raw sub of only a $6-$7 fee.

of course, i doubt seriously anyone is too concerned about the pop report on that card either.

although, after all it is only an tpg opinion. and some simply don't agree w/ the tpgs opinion and don't want to send it back in under review w/ the notion the card is "only a 5". they want a fresh set of eyes and an unbiased opinion on it. this also get its in a new holder, hopefully. could come back minsiz, altered or etc. there is definitely an inherent risk in doing so. plus some just like the accomplishment factor, the cheaper alternative for moving up the registry or even the possible profit that coincides.

whatever the reason, it's their card and i try not to knock what another collector does. to each their own, i guess.

Well, it wouldn't make much sense for me to collect an entire run and have some of the cards be in slabs and others not. It's considerably cheaper for me to crack the cards out than submit the hundreds of other cards I have for grading.

Plus, as others have said, baseball cards look so dang good in binders. :D

Implements of emancipation.

of crabs from their shell? :D

Multipurpose tools.

table saw* straight thru the middle of the flip, pliers, short-handled flat head screwdriver and gloves.

never came close to damaging a card or a hand.

easy peasy, japanesee.


* appropriate blade is key

Never too soon for intelligent humor. I spewed my slurpee on that one... :D

Well done.

:D:D

Oops I meant this one :D:D:D

Prime example: I purchased THE Allegeheny Mathewson after it had been regraded from a '6' to a '5' and paid about half what the previous buyer had paid...what a moron!

...and that's the reason there are two listings for that card in the pop report.

IMO - If nothing else, cracking slabs to be regraded skews what would otherwise be a dependable information source (SMR) .

I crack slabs for cards I store in binders. I generally prefer to put a few hundred low-mid grade raw cards into a binder than to stack larger graded holders in boxes. I'll buy a card raw or graded, but many (maybe even the majority of) sellers sell graded cards. Its only the card I'm after, regardless of what it is stored in.


I would guess that the pop reports are skewed more up by the crack-and-resubmit game players than by the raw card collectors.


Probably. However, we've seen examples of cards getting damaged in holders (I believe most were SGC with the black insert). And the holder won't stop UV damage to those who enjoy displaying cards in sunlit rooms.


Agreed. They could've spent that slab money on more cards!

cracking
 

I have purchased cards, from all 3 grading companies, that were incorrectly slabbed. Why keep a Holsum Bread card in a Beckett slab when it is really a Weil Baking card? Also, I am converting all of my personal collection of early 1900's cards to SGC because I like the way they look and I want my display to look uniform. So, I have cracked my Beckett and PSA cards to submit them to SGC.

Now, if I had a Jordan rookie or a nice Mantle, I would keep them in their PSA slabs.

Unslabbing
 

Maybe it is because I also collect old books (or just because I'm strange), but I hate that you can't touch or smell a slabbed card.

That is funny Sean. I do remember a thread recently on that and might not be so funny for the guy with that expensive card though.

I liberate cards a fair amount of the time. I do it to make it fit in with the rest of my collection and they are in a grade that it doesn't hurt value. To me a better question is why do people grade cards? I understand maximizing value to high end or high grade cards, but what's the sense in slabbing a low-end t205 with a common back and back damage? An a-2 can actually depress the sales price. I actually have a 1978 Topps Dave Parker PSA 1 ... I paid a dollar for it because I just couldn't resist. Why in the hell do you send in a creased 1978 card with bad corners to get graded?

I often find that I can buy a slabbed card in the 1-4 range CHEAPER than a raw card. Sellers sometimes see 'potential' "I'm sure this will grade an '8'" and the seller will list as if it were actually an 8.

My Brooks Robinson RC is a great example....bought a PSA 3, which looks beautiful, for less than raw copies were going for.

As soon as it was delivered I cracked the inane plastic away from it and in the binder it went with my '57 set!

+1. I see this all of the time for lower grade cards. Great deals to be had.


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The phrase "buy the card, not the slab" never seemed more appropriate than this conversation.

Everyone in the world thinks:

1) Their house is worth more than it really is.

2) Their kids are prettier than they really are

3) Their cards will grade higher than they really will.

Josh: It would appear these pop reports are useless.

I agree with what a couple others have said "words cannot describe a T206 set in a binder" and others have spoken to the "uniformity of a collection".

I notice in your signature you are making good progress on your T206 set at 64% complete. 339 cards with 169 PSA, 88 SGC, and 82 raw.

When I put together my T206 set, one of the first things I did was purchase "The Monster" T206 reprint set on eBay (I think they sell for about $50) and insert the reprint set into some brand new 15 pocket Ultra-Pro Sheets.

Then as you obtain an original T206 card, the reprint card is replaced. It was a REALLY fun way to collect the set, and I've never regretted cracking out all those cards.

Larry
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w...FBD80E0611.jpg

Frank, I sang your latest single to myself in my best British Invasion impersonation. If only John were still here to sing it for us!

Frank... By far my favorite of your poems/songs!

Id like the 45 if available.

I have never cracked a slab before but it's really up to the owner of the card. As long as they are the owner, let them do whatever they want with it. Reslab it, show it raw or whatever.

As a seller, I will never crack it out of a slab. Let the buyer deal with that. I don't want to be the one who accidentally tears the card.

I agree that Pop Reports are totally useless.

Release The Kraken
 

Re: table saw - How do you hold a "freed" card with stubbies for fingers, when your four fingers and thumb are lying on the floor next to the busted slab?

Let's pretend Josh wants to have a uniform looking collection. What are his options?
1. Submit 88 SGC and 82 raw cards to PSA. 170 cards grading at $7 each his total is $1,190.
2. Submit 169 PSA and 82 raw cards to SGC. 251 cards grading at $7 each his total is $1,757.
3. "Release The Kraken" Cost is $20 for plastic sheets and a binder.
Larry

obviously, youre not a golfer.

Never used a sand iron to open a slab either. :D

No worries with SawStop, guys. :)

Frank, It Will.......
 

.....be in my head all week. What a great post. I'm pulling out the vinyl now. I'm not sure that the "Young Sprouts", on the board got the source of your inspiration "Off The Bat" but...the "Geezers" sure did. Thank you!!!

I must be the only one that really doesn't like binders.

I started working at putting all my cards in binders in the 80's. By about 88 I figured I'd need 30 ft of shelves to fit just the Topps regular issues. So I started removing them all gradually. (Not to mention some of my pages were the old PVC ones )

Along the way I've seen a lot of otherwise nice cards with a nice neat crease right down the center from having gotten a bit stuck in a sheet. And the ones with the three ring dent either at the side from the pages not going back quite right, or in the middle from people not using D ring binders and not being careful turning the pages. Or curled from being in the #9 spot and the pages slumped.

Yeah, stuff looks nice in a binder, but I'll take toploaders over binders pretty much every time. I'm down to maybe 3 binders.

Steve B

For a lot of the low-grade t206s I buy, the holder adds little to no value, and I find them generally clunky. I also keep my t206s in a binder, but I use one of the least efficient means possible. I use 4-pocket pages, with each raw card in its own penny sleeve and toploader in a slot on the page. As it happens, 4-pocket page pockets are big enough to accommodate a slabbed card as well.

Here's a fairly random page with 4 slabbed cards tucked away. (Sorry for the blur - my scanner hates scanning cards in slabs...)

http://i.imgur.com/75hVlS3.jpg?2

Short form: I crack the card out when the holder doesn't add value and/or gets in the way of my ability to appreciate the card.

Makes sense.....done the same thing on a few occasions.

Speaking of all this cracking does anyone have a few sgc t206 inserts around? I have about 10 displaying my Detroit set in my bookcase, i need about 5 more

Edited: Thanks Frank!

The answer's already been said, but I prefer my cards in binders with the exception of a few more expensive cards. I've stored older cards in boxes, then toploaders, and now binders and the binder 'experience' just beats everything else IMO. Cards in a binder with slipcase are protected pretty well.

It's worth noting that I'm dealing with mostly lower grade cards primarily in Poor - G/VG condition. I think the highest-graded card I've ever cracked from a slab was like a 4. Graded cards will certainly fetch more if I ever choose to sell any sets off, but the difference is pretty negligible in my opinion based on the lower grades. Plus, even then I've kept the flips for whoever may want them to prove authenticity should I choose to sell...I've got about 100 or so. The joy of being able to see/feel the cards any time I want far outweighs any small amount of return I might miss out on if I ever decide to sell them.

If I were building a set in mid-grade or high-grade condition, I would undoubtedly keep them slabbed. And as I said, I keep the more expensive cards slabbed. But overall, I don't see much difference between a raw T206 common and one that is like an SGC 20. I'll always look for a graded card when dealing with something a little more expensive but outside of that, I prefer to have them raw.

to oversell on ebay as "MINT"

Battlefield, is that you?
:D

Pretty cool idea Larry!

Thanks for the kind words as well!

Sometimes you get a graded card where the card is beautiful (or at least what you were going for...) but whoever had it before you didn't know how to take care of their slabs or what graded card bags are. If the card arrives in the mail and has a smashed end of the slab, or the front looks like it was clawed multiple times by someone's kitty cat, then I will liberate the card. A brand new crystal clear top loader or Card Saver remains pretty cheap for a card that's going into a collection with zero investment ambitions. :)

Also interesting note - did you know if the HOF gets a slabbed card as a donation, they immediately bust it out? Turns out that PSA does not meet archival preservation standards for the 21st century. Not because the slabs damage cards, but just because we don't know yet...100 year from now, will the cards that are slabbed PSA 10's remain perfect? Or will the plastic somehow decompose over a very long period of time and damage the card inside? So yes, the Hall apparently contributes to the inaccuracy of Pop reports:

http://www.sportscollectorsdigest.co...-slabbed-cards

Yep, we had a lengthy thread about that story:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=223468

Sorry - must've missed that one.


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Maybe I missed it somewhere, but some of us just hate slabs, TPGs and what follows with them. I grew up holding cards, smelling cards and checking them out to learn more about them. The TPGs have definitely substantially lowered the barrier of entry into the hobby as you need to know very little now in comparison and that can be a good thing. But I have also watched slabs make intelligent man act like morons with their shinny plastic. In the end, I feel if you are only looking for slabbed cards in certain grades you are giving away a ton of personal power as you are only buying what someone else's opinion is. I love breaking out cards, I break them out simply if I want to. The investment angle has become very old to listen to as well...its a hobby. I hate slabs...

Dessau SGC 10
 

Just cracked out my first card,kind of gave me goose bumps

+100 :)

Agreed. I hate "the people who get paid for their opinions" and I crack every card that I buy.

What is the point? The point is "I can, so I do".

Doug

Opinions
 

Glad I am retired and no longer giving opinions for money, as I would hate to be on Doug's bad side :)

http://i1267.photobucket.com/albums/...psnrkdudw4.jpg

Everyone has good points :) ............. just comes down to what you like ;)


............ as for me :rolleyes: ............

Attachment 236414Attachment 236415

:D

I guess cracking slabs from goofball companies doesn't count? I also crack BCCG slabs a lot because I hate the product and think disreputable people use the different system to fool naive buyers. When I do sell a BCCG 10 I point out in the listing that the system is not the same as all other grading services. I also always open Beckett Raw Card Review sleeves. I am sure they see themselves as innovative, I just see them as a company willing to do anything to make a buck.

Personally, I hate slabs, grading, "the game" and a few other parts of our collecting hobby. I just like cards. I have been known to sell out my principles though, when trying to buy a card like a Rose RC, what with all the reprints/forgeries around.......simply because it increases the odds that the graders got it right, and I'm not getting ripped off. And I'm in a remote location, so usually have to depend on a scan, rather than inspect in person. I do bust it out of the slab as soon as I get it though.

BCCG aren't bad cards it's just a program with a different grading scale and made for the Home Shopping Network. The cards I have seen and have are fine. What company doesn't do what they can to make a buck? PSA is a marketing genius (apparently as millions of lemmings follow mindlessly) and their grading is no better thank Beckett or SGC. They invented the registry, half grades, resubmissions and more, all to make a buck. That is what businesses do. As far as disreputable people using the different system, I would say most read the lablel BUT non-collectors could certainly be fooled. I don't like the program of BCCG as it's confusing but the cards in the holders that I have seen look ok....Happy collecting

ps...I generally don't crack cards but have on many occasions.

It's a hobby to me - always has been, always will be. I understand the need for grading, but I collect cards, not hard plastic slabs graded by monkeys.

Plus, I don't know - somehow they just seem happier when they're free...

http://i811.photobucket.com/albums/z...psuk8ulxec.jpg, http://i811.photobucket.com/albums/z...ps63a1x65g.jpg

wasn't a knock on the cards themselves. just the system. I can pretty much get behind everything you say above.

However I have seen some BCCG 10's where I wonder how the card inside is supposed to be Mint or better, but that's no different than wondering about a grade in any company's slab.

These pics definitely made me laugh. Good stuff.


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Yeap, We can all find cards from ALL tpg's that we scratch our collective heads on. BCCG is no different in that respect. Heck, I would like to find some nice cards in BCCG holders as I am very confident they are good and they will sell for less than with a different companies flip.

I just freed 12 Goudeys from their tombs yesterday. Liberating.

I also trust that cards in BCCG holders are good (regardless of the grade). I find that cards in BCCG holders sell for about the same as raw cards in similar conditions. As a result, I look for BCCG cards then crack them. By doing this, I basically get free authentication since they have gone through Beckett.


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