Posted By:
Marc S."I just figure he wants to help out collectors? BTW, since you are a registry guy what do you think about this move on PSA's part? Just curious....take care.."
Leon, I really do not think of myself as a Registry guy anymore.
I sold off my 1955 Bowman set in 2007.
I have publicly stated on numerous forums that I would never, EVER start another player Registry set. Although I do have a really nice Mike Schmidt collection, I really am not actively upgrading much, nore do I have much to do with that set...
I do have a few random team sets here and there. But 90% of my collecting focus in the past year has been on collecting interests of mine that fall outside of the Registry. I find that I have a SIGNIFICANTLY more fun time in this hobby communicating and trading with people than competing with others on a Registry.
As for my perspective of this move by PSA, I think they are doing it because they have significant revenue/profitability concerns. Furthermore, I think this decision will adversely affect valuation of the straight grades (the value of a PSA 8 will drop, and the value of a PSA 9 will also drop, albeit more slightly). I think we collectors in this hobby place an extraordinary amount of our collecting budget in the "services" provided by the grading companies and other experts. I think this move just shifts more of our budget away from collecting and more toward services...ultimately not creating any value for anyone. I am very happy about my current collecting foci, and am furthermore happy that I'm relatively less impacted by this move by PSA. We as collectors need to value consistency. And I find it hard to judge why it makes sense after 15 years of grading and millions upon millions of cards graded, to suddenly change the rules of the game.
Marc