I wouldn't call more value for nicer examples a phantom value. It's been that way in nearly every collecting hobby for a very long time.
Being able to quantify it and make money from that is somwhat new, but hardly something that began with TPG in any field.
And cards are primarily a demand market. Otherwise the Wagner wouldn't even be close to the most valuable card. I'm not even sure it would make the top 500.
What grading has done is to bring in a group of people who have a good deal of money, but not necessarily the time to learn all the nuances of a wide range of cards. With TPG they can feel comfortable buying certain cards without the suspicion of alterations and fakes. And that has raised values on the popular sets well beyond what they would be otherwise.
Many of the less popular/less well known sets especially postwar are actually the same or lower than they were several years ago.
Not saying that's good or bad just that it is.
Not saying those same people don't understand the history or the baseball.
And the anti-slab crowd will perhaps be happy to note that slabs while still available for stamps have largely failed to succeed. Certificates which have been around for long time (Maybe a century or more? they were preceeded by expertising marks) can now have a grade included, and that's becoming more popular.
Steve B
Steve B
Quote:
Originally Posted by Matthew H
If the rarity of a card determines its valuation then no value should be lost by cracking a slab.
Rarity value is simply supply and demand, but thats not what you are referring to in any of your posts.
successfully cracking and re-subbing a card for a higher grade actually makes the same card worth more money. That is so crazy to me. TPGs have added phantom value to cards, coins and currency. Just a fact
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