Posted By:
barrysloateJim- you won't make a lot of friends on this board if you say the mid-grade collector is becoming unimportant, because that is how virtually everyone here collects. And I know the amount spent on PSA-8 material is huge, but that is because the cost of each of those cards is so great. This kind of reminds me of a well known joke:
50 men are sitting in a bar and to pass the time they decide to figure out their average net worth. Just as they are finishing Bill Gates walks in and orders a beer. They quickly recalculate their figures and determine that each on average is now a billionaire.
The point is that because a small group of buyers spends a disproportionate amount of money on high grade cards it greatly skews the average. Even if less than half the hobby money was spent on PSA-2 to PSA-4 it might still represent 98% of the collectors. There are just different ways to view the numbers.