Is It Utterly Insane...

[zachclose21]

Yes. The slab protects the card more than any other holder.

[bbcard1]

I have cracked a ton of t206s and t205s, the highest grade probably being a 3. I would not crack a card that got a grade "on sale"…you know one of those 4s or 5s that you just look at and go "Huh? How did it get that? I've seen 2s that have better eye appeal." In that case, you sell them and buy a lesser grade. That's workable in the case of a T206, not so much on a true rare issue.

The reason I cracked the cards i did was that those sets are huge and I want a consistent presentation of the cards as part of a whole. Can you imagine a T20 set of 520 in slabs? It would become so large it would be unwieldy and hard to enjoy. I do usually keep the flips with the cards after cracking. Never regretted the decision for a minute. I don't like slabbing or the grading companies and don't trust they are fair or ethical…but I could be wrong…happens all the time.

Conversely, I am considering slabbing some of my Delongs. It is a small set and that would allow a consistent presentation, though the grades do not justify the slabbing and I have no doubt of the authenticity of any card in the set.

[frankbmd]

Given the majority sentiment expressed on this thread, if I were SGC or PSA or BVG, I would be promoting training videos on how to most effectively crack their respective slabs. After all it's money in the bank for them. What goes around, comes around. What other industry could prosper by promoting the destruction of their product?

Let's see.......toilet paper, garbage bags, firecrackers, cigarettes, gasoline and in many cases cardboard.............oops that's what we're trying to protect.

Makes sense to me.

[EvilKing00]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Given the majority sentiment expressed on this thread, if I were SGC or PSA or BVG, I would be promoting training videos on how to most effectively crack their respective slabs. After all it's money in the bank for them. What goes around, comes around. What other industry could prosper by promoting the destruction of their product?

Let's see.......toilet paper, garbage bags, firecrackers, cigarettes, gasoline and in many cases cardboard.............oops that's what we're trying to protect.

Makes sense to me.

funny - the big one I always say is tires. You know they can make tires that can last forever, so why don't they? not profitable.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by EvilKing00

funny - the big one I always say is tires. You know they can make tires that can last forever, so why don't they? not profitable.

Oh-oh! Now one of those touchy-feely guys is going to invent a slab that disintegrates after the sale.

Then even the flippers will be repeat customers.

[Paul S]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Oh-oh! Now one of those touchy-feely guys is going to invent a slab that disintegrates after the sale.

Then even the flippers will be repeat customers.

Planned obsolescence. What a concept.

Oops, gotta go, my lamp just blew a bulb.

[SushiX37]

I'm a PSA guy, so my answer would be to leave them as is. That's just my opinion though. (Please don't let this turn into a PSA hatefest.)

Rich

[iwantitiwinit]

This may sound corny but I feel as if I have somewhat of a responsibility to safeguard these small pieces of cardboard that have survived intact for a hundred years. In the past they've been owned by others and I would think in many cases by several others who have cared for them. My cards will never be in better shape then they are now, you can't undo damage however minor it might be. The best way for me preserve them and to prevent future damage is to leave them slabbed. Personally I know how bad I'd feel if I ever damaged a card when cracking it out of a case or mishandling it. Rather than a question of preserving value, to me it's more of a question of preserving the "treasure".

[dougscats]

I've always collected ungraded cards.
I love the sense of antiquity that comes with touching them, they're sometimes a better bargain, and I've found that being able to flip through the pages of my T206 collection is really a pleasure.

Even so, I've accumulated a hundred or so graded T206's while collecting the set. I cracked open dozens of Authentic and Poor slabs [and it felt good, too!], figuring there wasn't much, if any, money lost in liberating those, and because in many cases the grades didn't do justice to the cards. My practical side doesn't like losing money, though, so I didn't crack the 2's and better. I'll be selling/trading those off as I'm presently in the process of replacing them with ungraded cards.

In the end, of course, it's to each his own. If I collected Mint cards, I'd probably want them graded. But Mint is not the allure for me even if money were no object.

I'll add one thing: It seems to me, and I suppose it's a logical development, that there are fewer and fewer ungraded cards on the market.