What would happen if TPG went out of business?

[Fred]

Has anybody considered what would happen if the top TPGs went out of business? I know of no way to track submissions so I have no idea how the TPG business is. I can almost guess that PSA has probably lost a lot of grading opportunities for the new and shiney crap.

Any opinions on what would happen in a post a'pop'alyptic hobby?

[DeanH3]

My first thought is graded cards might see an increase in value. I doubt registry folks would just give up building sets. A new registry might need to be developed to replace the outgoing registry. But there would then be a finite amount of graded cards which might drive up prices. I know I would still prefer to buy graded even though I don't collect for regisrtry purposes.

[glchen]

I think the example to go by is GAI. If a TPG went out of business, it'd be similar to how things went with them. Cards in that holder would sell for a discount, but they would still be respected as being authentic and roughly comparable to that grade given. PSA's business is extremely good right now, which is why their backlog is so long. I doubt they will ever be in danger unless they lose a major lawsuit (a la the Wagner card), and even then they'd probably still survive.

I doubt there will ever be a time when all TPG's all gone. That would happen around the same time when new baseball cards were no longer produced and baseball were no longer played.

[Matthew H]

The TPG's will be around but they could cheapen their product and leave lots of collector holding the bag... Grading 500 gem mint cards in a row would be a good place to start.

[novakjr]

IF all the majors went under. I guarantee someone would step up and start a new one. Possibly giving discounts on crossovers...

My personal feeling is that it would never come to that. It may wind up that the last man standing carries the torch for good. After that, I don't think the start-ups would stand a chance.

[Sean1125]

Originally Posted by Fred

Has anybody considered what would happen if the top TPGs went out of business? I know of no way to track submissions so I have no idea how the TPG business is. I can almost guess that PSA has probably lost a lot of grading opportunities for the new and shiney crap.

Any opinions on what would happen in a post a'pop'alyptic hobby?

Actually there is a pretty solid method to make money on the new and shiny crap using PSA, you just have to crack cases of it... Time is of the essence every time though because the earlier you sell PSA 10 rookies from the product the more they get.

[glynparson]

There are a lot of altered and bogus cards now. Things were much worse in the early 90s for trimming and vastly over grading. TPG is flawed but a legitimately honest TPG would be great, in my opinion, for the hobby. There is just to much baggage at all the existing companies in my opinion to be that TPG.

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by glynparson

There are a lot of altered and bogus cards now. Things were much worse in the early 90s for trimming and vastly over grading...

Absolutely! Cards with worn corners were run through paper presses and then cut back down to size, making them NMMT, or better, to the uneducated eye. There were a fair number of dealers specializing in such cards at that time, even to the point of regularly advertising in SCD and appearing at many major shows. You had to examine cards with a loupe at shows, looking for razor sharp edges and/or pinched corners as tell-tale signs to protect yourself, even during the early years when PSA came on the scene. TPG solved a great portion of that problem, and will always be here, in some form, although it may evolve.

There will always be a premium for quality--if you want your cards to appreciate in value, buy rare and significant, in the best condition you can find (with the era being relative) or afford. That said, you will still have to buy the card and not the holder. If the slab slip says NMT, and it doesn't have good eye appeal to you, chances are it won't appeal to the next guy either if and when you eventually sell!

Best, guys,

Larry

[T205 GB]

Cards will sell based on their qualities and not their cases. I would make an analogy about women but I think it would end badly either way

[Al C.risafulli]

I think as long as there is an internet, there will be a place for grading companies and authentication companies, despite whatever flaws in the business models that may exist.

It is too easy to use lighting and photoshop to sweeten a scan of a raw card, and it's too easy for an unscrupulous seller to use "I don't have a scanner" as an excuse for taking a weak-looking picture of a card and throwing it on eBay. I think we've probably all fallen victim to buying an ungraded card online that arrived at our door looking different from the scan/photo we saw online.

As long as there's a reputable holder around that card, I can make a reasonable assumption that A) the card is authentic, and B) the condition of the card is going to be reasonably close to the grade it's been assigned.

The lure of having access to an entire universe of cards via the internet is far greater than what, to me, is a small downside when dealing with grading companies, IMO.

I'm a big fan of grading - not because I can't identify an authentic card or grade it myself, but because it makes it easier to buy. I also prefer the uniform way they display, and I'm a klutz, so it helps with protection.

-Al

[BearBailey]

There would be half as many posts on this board!!!

[Deertick]

We would do as we did in the old days. Give it a grade and argue about it. Trade stories on how far one dealer has his head up his butt. Trust some dealers and not others. Go to great shows and meet the dealers behind the adverts.

I started selling on prodigy. No scanners, accurate descriptions, no 'feedback system'. Oh, and also no scams or complaints.(That I was aware of). I think I sold over a hundred individual cards on there before ebay came out.

[cobblove]

[kmac32]

With my collection, nothing would happen as I don't have them graded for valuee. My E121 set in graded to preserve the cards and for the way they display. If grading increases the value of the card, fine. However, that is not the main goal.