Agree with the OP and basically all others who've chimed in here...
The advent of TPG grading (and the corruption/capriciousness associated with it) is what drove me from collecting cards with some memorabilia sprinkled in to collecting memorabilia with a few cards sprinkled in.
I know that's a run-on sentence and will leave it to the others to eloquently describe their experiences. But suffice to say that the God-like importance people put upon the TPGs drove me away from cards and over to memorabilia. When thousands of altered cards began showing up in numbered slabs (with no negative consequences for the TPGs), it just cemented the decision for me.
Probably fortunate timing on my part, seeing what happened to card prices shortly after the grading scandal. I still love vintage cards... but only those that don't come with a barcode and meaningless number attached.
|