Every time a TPG changes their flip or slab design, it seems there is at least some effort or preference for sellers or collectors to have their cards in slabs with the latest flip or slab. Reasons for this are manifold I presume. The new slab is more secure and hence more tamperproof. The new flip is aesthetically more pleasing to the eye. Old cert numbers become incompatible with registries. Etc, Etc.
In some cases the reverse is true. GAI slabs with the original design and cert numbers beginning with 101, 102, 103 & 104 are generally considered to be much less likely to be trimmed or of questionable authenticity, but the more recent slabs with GAI are regarded with more suspicion. The reasons for this have been discussed elsewhere.
As a corollary to GAI history, sales of GAI slabs pale in value by comparison to the other TPGs. Hence crossing over the 101s etc to other TPGs before selling seems a prudent move. It has worked for me.
What about the TPGs themselves
? Is a flip or slab change a nefarious business ploy to boost profits by causing an influx of reslabbing or reflipping requests from obsessive compulsive collectors
?
With the recent changes made by SGC, it seems that most auction houses have jumped on the "flip train", as the number of new flips being sold seem to dwarf the number of older flips being offered. Are consignors reslabbing before consigning or are the auction houses sensing a boost in value for the newer flips and slabs
?
Some of the premises above are undoubtedly true and I doubt, that in 2025, any of the current flips or slabs will still be used by the TPGs.
Card companies change their designs every year as well as the images and contents of the reverses. After 100+ years, their age is identifiable by these changes. The flip history of PSA and SGC has been discussed on this forum before as well.
The alphabet soup of the TPG, the grade assessment and the age of the flip can all affect the value of the card contained in the slab.
We are also well aware of the criminal element of tampering with slabs to place a less valuable card with a legitimate flip and reslabbing.
The TPG wants you to believe that the flip is more important than the card, hence pop reports and registries to promote their product. Some have been more successful at this than others, but i shan't out them here.
Where am i going with all this
? I'm not sure, but in fifty or one hundred years will theire be an intrinsic value of the flip itself
? Will there be flip pop reports
? Will the slabs ultimately degrade the cards, but not the flips
? Certainly vintage cigarette packages and advertising displays have an intrinsic value to collectors without containing cigarettes or cards.
Will TPG grading as we know it today become merely a footnote in card collecting history
? What will replace it
?
And finally will
TPG ephemera become a hobby unto itself
?
Answer all of the questions above and i will send you a flip.
