Posted By:
steve k<<< Steve, you collected before grading and you approve of the grading???? WOW! You are the first one I have heard of that has been around awhile. There were lots of doctored reprints floating around? Yes, but I know what I collect and I trust me way more than any grader out there. And..... there are reprints in graded slabs. Dan. >>>
Dan - "Grading" (Slabbing) as you of course know, as well as grading also includes authentication and detection of alterations. It wasn't just about a counterfeit card problem before grading, it was also about altered cards which was a rampant problem. Even for an experienced card collector such as myself, in a card shop or at a card show an alteration could be missed or undetected. Grading certainly has room for improvement, but anyone who believes that card collecting hasn't gotten better and more enjoyable since the advent of grading, simply isn't being realistic.
BTW Dan, I remember in one of Warshawlaw's posts awhile back regarding your suit with PSA, that at one point you were willing to settle for an equivalent dollar amount in PSA grading fees. PSA rejected your offer. But the fact of your offer tells me that you must feel that grading has value and that you also did "approve of the grading." Perhaps you don't approve anymore but you would be in the minority of card collectors - which is fine.