To crack or not to crack...

[jasonc]

Anybody on the edge whether to crack their graded cards or not?...

Right now I am so close to doing it, but don't know whether to. I know there is that discussion about the investment aspect, etc... but man, flipping through these graded cards mixed with my raw cards is bugging me... I like uniformity. A Majority of my prewar are a group of 75 T206's and 80 T205's... about a dozen of these are graded; most of these cards are LOW grade.
I know people are going to ask whether these are for investment or for fun.. not an easy question to answer. In reality, I see it as a hobby just for fun, but down the road I could see the drawback of it from the investment side of it.

Another thing to note is my T206 Cobb, Lajoie, C.Young are raw, but T206 Walsh, Crawford, Willis are graded... so there's always the possibility to getting the Cobb, Lajoie, C.Young graded to add uniformity to the HOF's. What I might decide is crack everything, but keeping the labels for reference.

Nothing is higher than VGEX 4 (for the graded)

Sorry for the rant, I thought posting this and seeing other's thoughts would ease my mind

[swarmee]

Keep them graded. It will cost $10/card when you decided to do it in the future, at least. Plus, with most companies tightening their grading scale, your current VG-EX 4 could be a GD+ 2.5 in three years or "trimmed."

Sure, you want cards that are Poor to Fair and crack those? Go ahead. But be a nice collector and report your flips back to the companies that you've cracked them. That way they can remove them from the pop reports.

[BradH]

I have never commented on this type of thread before, but I will offer a different opinion from John.

I will start by saying that I have about 300 graded cards that I have not cracked open, for various reasons.

But with that said, I crack out almost all of the graded cards that I buy. With some of the higher-grade Hall of Famers and other "valuable" cards, I tend to keep them in their holder. (For me this would basically be $500 and up. I'm not saying that all my graded cards have $500+ value, just that generally that's where I set the threshold.)

But most of my collection is non-graded and I like the consistency of it. Also, I have very little interest in future value of a graded card vs. a non-graded card and I have ZERO interest in the registry numbers. I save most of the flips just for reference and I even photograph some of the cards that I crack open (see below), but again, this is just more for personal reference in case I want to refer to it later.

I enjoy my collection for it's consistency and it takes up far less space when the cards are in binders or top loaders.

That's just my two cents and I know it's almost blasphemy to many on this board, but I enjoy the beauty and look of non-graded cards in my collection.

[T205 GB]

Honestly Brad all I could see there was you cutting your thumb off for a $20 card. It makes a nice clean cut but at what cost possibly?

[bbcard1]

I generally crack and keep the flips so long as it is low grade and I prefer to keep it raw. For SGC, torquing a screwdriver along the seam will pop them right out.

There are a few cards I keep in. The most compelling is when you get a card that is graded higher than it would be if submitted again.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by bbcard1

I generally crack and keep the flips so long as it is low grade and I prefer to keep it raw. For SGC, torquing a screwdriver along the seam will pop them right out.

There are a few cards I keep in. The most compelling is when you get a card that is graded higher than it would be if submitted again.

Same here. Crack and keep the flips...with the exception of a few I leave graded. For what I collect, I can usually buy raw or graded for about the same price, so I'm not losing any money by cracking. Higher dollar cards I leave graded.

Originally Posted by T205 GB

Honestly Brad all I could see there was you cutting your thumb off for a $20 card. It makes a nice clean cut but at what cost possibly?

That's what I was thinking too. It made me nervous just looking at it.

[BradH]

Originally Posted by T205 GB

Honestly Brad all I could see there was you cutting your thumb off for a $20 card. It makes a nice clean cut but at what cost possibly?

Lol -- good point! But the impression with the exacto knife or blade is actually fairly light -- you're just trying to score the plastic a little bit so there's a fairly clean break. Then I usually put the holder in a vice on my work bench and the top of the holder snaps off easily with a pair of pliers.

Really -- its MUCH easier than it looks. Maybe I should do a "how to" video.

[Leon]

I will sometimes crack out lower grade cards but usually not higher grade ones.

Originally Posted by jasonc

Anybody on the edge whether to crack their graded cards or not?...

Right now I am so close to doing it, but don't know whether to. I know there is that discussion about the investment aspect, etc... but man, flipping through these graded cards mixed with my raw cards is bugging me... I like uniformity. A Majority of my prewar are a group of 75 T206's and 80 T205's... about a dozen of these are graded; most of these cards are LOW grade.
I know people are going to ask whether these are for investment or for fun.. not an easy question to answer. In reality, I see it as a hobby just for fun, but down the road I could see the drawback of it from the investment side of it.

Another thing to note is my T206 Cobb, Lajoie, C.Young are raw, but T206 Walsh, Crawford, Willis are graded... so there's always the possibility to getting the Cobb, Lajoie, C.Young graded to add uniformity to the HOF's. What I might decide is crack everything, but keeping the labels for reference.

Nothing is higher than VGEX 4 (for the graded)

Sorry for the rant, I thought posting this and seeing other's thoughts would ease my mind

[The-Cardfather]

.

[jasonc]

Well, I did it!! No more clanky graded holders; I am now putting the cards in pages in a binder. Here is a page with Walter Johnson (pitching) (for the record, it was an "A" graded card) .. I am also keeping the labels, I've decided to just put them at the back of the binder for now.

Man, I am liking this a lot better. Yes, the financial aspect is somewhat lost, but I am really enjoying how this is shaping up -- putting the cards in their respective spots when I get them. For the last 4 or 5 days, everyday, I've gotten my binder out and looked through them, which before they sat there in individual holders for a few months!

[tiger8mush]

Originally Posted by jasonc

Well, I did it!! No more clanky graded holders; I am now putting the cards in pages in a binder.

They look great! You have selected cards with nice eye appeal. I'm sure you are eager to fill up the page now!

[conor912]

Originally Posted by jasonc

Well, I did it!! No more clanky graded holders

YES!!!! Dont collect scared. Welcome to the revolution.

[rdixon1208]

I bust my cards out and put them in a binder. I know it's not the best thing to do from a financial standpoint, but it makes me happy. I use stamp tongs for handling.

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Originally Posted by conor912

YES!!!! Dont collect scared. Welcome to the revolution.

Inspirational post, Conor! That's catchy....

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

There are several attorneys here on Net54. Surely one of them can make that happen.

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