Posted By:
edacra
I agree with most of the points being made, and especially appreciate Mr. Warshaw's recollections which are dead on - but I don't think I was sugar coating history. It was far from a flat market when the grading companies first arrived. I can remember a certain grading company doing a major push at the bigger Bay Area shows around 87-89, and their booth, with the guys in suits standing behind magnifying glasses was located in close proximity to Mr. Mint's. If they could have sat in his lap, they would have, because most of his business was behind the table with other Dealers anyway. Next to them was a booth of slabbed coins. People would stop by, pick up a brochure, and wander off confused. Even SCD who would later get in the grading game themselves had published editorials about how the concept had bombed. It was still a big deal to see Dealers in three piece suits then, even once collecting had taken a backseat to speculation buying, or um "investing", but I recall it was the Rookie thing that was still the real preoccupation at that point (that was one of those infamous shows where the Mcgwire card started jumping in value with each homerun he hit). Along with the grading companies, you also had the introduction of a publicly traded sports collectible company, and HOF'ers themselves setting up booths. People were desprate to exploit the market.
Even if my details are a little off, the real point is that the intention of grading never really met the hobby needs until things got soft. Once people realized there were thouands of certain "rare cards" it became about picking out that one cherry card and pricing it through the roof. The flipside is that the beaters finally got treated like what they were. If you were collecting in the 80's you probably paid Mint prices for a less the Mint card at some point. Which kind of explains the unfortunate idea that a 9 should sell for many times more then book value.