I'm guessing most of you started collecting after TPGs became common?
If I can't see a card in person, a really good scan will tell me all the important stuff. The slabs provide a bit more protection when they're done right. When they're not? They're worse than a plain box.
I can only think of cynical reasons to need a TPG.
Most dealers pre-tgp were at best poor graders, at worst deliberately misleading. Many were good, but the average weekend card show dealer wasn't.
Having tpg commoditizes the collectible, meaning it can be sold to a collector who doesn't know much. All they need to know is what the card is and the grade.
That's both good and bad.
The good is that a lot of people especially people with money may want to collect but don't have the time to learn much about the cards they'll be collecting. Having TPG means they can do that comfortably and that raises prices for all of us. (Also both good and bad)
The bad is that TPG has created an entire generation of collectors who have limited knowledge and experience at handling the stuff they collect.
TPGs are far from infallible. And while I've graded a few cards to make things easier on the family someday, I've also come to have far less faith in them all around.
One can't tell a fake from real even when given a list of points identifying the fake.
Another covers either a mistake or unintentional damage by altering the card and reslabbing it.
And that's not on really obscure sets.
Seriously, I'll trust myself over that sort of place every time.
Steve B
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