Posted By:
JudgeDred (Fred)Jim,
Yes, it appears that grading is here to stay. Yes, we've all found out that the grading services (including the most trusted) are not infallible. Yes, grading services do, for the most part, a good job.
I don't mind grading services but like a lot of people have mentioned, "a person should buy the card - not the holder"
A good point that has been brought up is that incremental steps in grading can cause people to "buy the holder". I've seen (I'm pretty sure we've all seen) that there are 6's better than 7' and 7's better than 8's, etc. The price of lower grade material goes up with the price of the higher grade material (not nearly as much, but it does increase). All this because people get so caught up in the grades and will pay what ever price if the holder indicates a particular grade being amassed by a collector. For a collector of limited means that can be frustrating. I'm happy collecting lower grade, mid-grade and high grade material. It all boils down to the price being right and reasonable.
I wouldn't judge anyone by what they collect (high grade material based on the holder's label) but I certainly believe that blindly giving into a label indication is an odd way to base a purchase and collect cards. I can already see the responses coming - yup, there are those that can collect this way because they have great resources and the impact of a higher price isn't a consideration to them as much as it is to others.
Like I've said in the past, I'll be one of the happiest collectos out there if the escalating price increases come to a grinding halt and prices drop immensely due to any reason (sadly bad economic conditions are included).
What exactly is my point? blah, blah, blah.... I had a few minutes to kill before a conference call... I'll re-read it later and then edit (delete)... blah, blah. blah... we've all heard it before and I get the feeling we'll all hear it again...
Pont - Grading services here to stay - Grading services basically good - Collectors should buy card, not holder (label)...