Slabbed cards vs Factory certified autographs
 

for those that collect signed baseball cards, if you had to choose, do you prefer your baseball cards slabbed (PSA, Beckett etc) or factory certified autographs(such as topps pack pulled autographs) I collect both at the moment, but trying to decide if I should collect only slabbed cards or only factory certified cards for consistency in my collection preference. which do you collect or prefer? thank you

I personally like IP autos that are slabbed. More unique than an xxx print run

....especially the ones that utilize a signed sticker where the athlete/subject was never in the same state as the card. :rolleyes:

ETA: I couldn't care less if they were slabbed.

No sticker lol

I always prefer in person, though I've found it difficult sometimes to find rookie cards that are signed in person vs factory certified:

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There was a time when I would have said pack issued auto hands down. The reason was the certainty that the signature is good. Otherwise I am trusting a TPG to get it right. And as the years go by I have less trust esp on signatures that have as many forgeries in the marketplace as good ones, like Mantle and Williams.
Now counterfeit cards with forged auto's have appeared so on a number of cards Cards with holograms that were marketed as counterfeit proof. So for a casual autograph collector like me some cards need both.
As for preferance I prefer cards not in a case. But the marketplace seems to prefer cards in a case.

Autographed Cards
 

If the player didn’t play before 1915 and die before 1981, I ain’t interested. So I guess that makes me a slab collector. :D

1) slabbing does not matter to me at all. If it's an auto card I want, the presence or absence of certification is not a factor.

2) Collecting autographs comes with the risk of buying fakes. Slabbed and in-pack cards both come with the same risk. There have been multiple scandals where it has been found that a relative or friend of the player actually signed the in-pack cards. Obviously there have been scandals about fakes winding up slabbed. There is only one way to 100% avoid fakes. That is collecting cards you have seen signed in front of you. That's it.

My advice to you is collect what you enjoy. Collecting, as a generality, can not be explained by a logical set of parameters. Outside of those who invest, most of collecting is an emotional response to these items(plus maybe a little OCD) that bring back a memory or feeling. Having your collection uniform is only important if you think it's important. Have fun. That is the best way to guarantee that you will continue to enjoy what you collect.

I suppose I should say I prefer factory cards. Mostly because I collect signature rookies. I thought they were cool when they came out, and just never stopped. Haven't bought any in a while though, and there are a lot out there that I didn't know existed when they were new, and a few of those have numbering oddities, like the same card numbered x/200 and x/525 with no real difference to be seen. (For example, I don't recall the exact numbers)