Baseball Cards Top Five Darkest and Brightest Moments

[Brendan]

In no particular order

Worst
1. eBay (no protection for sellers, counterfeits, etc.)
2. Beckett (honestly? check out the values they give some cards)
3. Turning the hobby into an investment (junk wax era..where's my gum?)
4. All this new crap. There's a "refracter" numbered to 5, one numbered to 10, one numbered to 25, one numbered to 50, etc.
5. Counterfeits, forged autographs, shilling, etc. The general public view the card business as a shady one. (which it probably is in all honesty)
6. Grading companies. Who cares if a slab says "9" on it? I can't believe the people who spend $2,000 on a common 1952 Topps card graded 9. I'm all for people spending big amounts of money, that's great for the hobby. But could you at least buy something that will retain it's value once the registry craze is over?

Best
1. eBay. It made people realize the true value of cards. Pretty decent place to pick something up. (yeah, I know I have it on my worst list)
2. Online forums, auctions houses, etc. Allows us to chat with fellow prewar collectors and buy rare items
3. The Gretzky Wagner. Like it or not, (overrated....) this whole thing turned many 'newish' collectors onto prewar. Nothing like an expensive card to spark some excitement in these (mass produced) T206. (however, this card literally started PSA....so maybe I changed my mind)

Can't think of anything else very unique on the best side, so I'll stop at 3.