Posted By:
DJI agree whole heartedly with what many of you have said and your concerns. Being "old school", I at first rejected the idea of grading my cards but I lightened up over the years as my personal views wouldn't matter and the hobby would live on. There are still a lot of people who know nothing of eBay and would rather utilize the want ads. I don't want to be like that.
Would I prefer the old days? Yes! Grading is a necessary evil and does make collecting easier for the novices and dealing without being able to view the card. Today we depend so much on scans that even a bad scan can add reassurance to the potential buyer.
The analogy is: eBay has made the baseball card show a dinosaur as graded cards and the population report has made the price guide a dinosaur.
Would I ever pay $7K for a PSA9 of a T206 common? Hell No!
Would I pay $500 for an n172 John Ward that is visually appealing but has an ever so small wrinkle and corner pinhole that has been graded a 40 because of this? Hell Yes!
I will leave this transmission with the philosophical (sp?) of the 1980's Tv Show "Facts Of Life":
You take the good, you take the bad,
you take them both and there you have
The facts of life, the facts of life.
Also, if you want to see a documentary on the PSA Grading process, check out the link:
http://www.psacard.com/grading/process.chtml
DJ