Are graded cards the future of vintage?

[raulus]

Originally Posted by homerunhitter

I just saw someone posted on Facebook that there are a Ton of fake graded cards circulating in the hobby. What are your thoughts on the number of fake graded cards circulating in the hobby?

Do they mean fake?

Or do they mean authentic but altered?

I suspect the number of outright fakes is low. Not that there aren't some, but certainly not a meaningful fraction.

But there are some around here who will tell you that there are a high number of altered cards running around in slabs , at least when it comes to high grade vintage.

Having said that, from time to time you do hear about some goons running around with their own slabbing machine and putting fake slabs together. Or a similar situation is goons who do a crack and replace with a reseal of the slab. Still a real card usually, but much lower grade after they replace the real card with a low grade version and reseal. Those situations have the potential to be a bigger deal, particularly for an unwary buyer who just assumes that if it’s in a slab, it must be good.