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DJI think Wonka and I are the same person but I don't know him.
Collecting baseball/tobacco cards have been around 100+ years. Why is it "now", in the year 2005 that we must know (keep track) how many cards in a particular grade exists. These opinions all based on what the number on the plastic says-graded either fairly or unfairly by unknowing people and it will never be a fair evaluation since, believe it or not, raw cards do exist.
These "fantastic" old collections (names of great collectors were made above) were obtained when the business was a hobby and cards could be picked up fairly cheaply. Sure they had to have some disposable income but not like today. Look at the price guides of the 1970's (Babe Ruth Goudeys for $60) and the buy/sell lists that were sent out by early dealers. As there are collector's of milk cow dispensers, horse shoes, bottles, cat figurines...collections are born out of the "want" and the values of these items wouldn't break your bank and you can have fun with it.
To think an old time collector who purchased a Wagner for $3K would ever believe it to be a six figured card is simply...insane, an illogical thought.
I know a mailman who made $12K a year in the 1980's and has a seven figured collection that will never find it's way inside a grading facility. He purchased a complete 1952 Topps set for $1,200 in 1976. I think Barry Halper traded away a cow for a Pre-War jersey that sold for high five figures and there is no way I can buy Microsoft stock at forty cents a share in the mid-eighties.
I think the registry is simply so misleading and so flawed. It sure has done two things. Add excitement and new collectors.
DJ