Grading hits home

[Archive]

Posted By: Gary B.

"Newly entered collectors/investors will go the slabbed route because that is the way it is now."

I don't know about that. I might be an unusual case in that I collected cards (including some vintage cards) when I was younger, but got out of it at age 16, and now here I am 19 years later back into it. Maybe that wouldn't qualify me strictly as a "newly entered collector/investor," but I have little interest so far in slabbed cards. I have TWO slabbed cards that I have almost by coincidence, and I have never submitted, nor do I have plans to submit any of my vintage cards for slabbing. If I was doing it for investment, that's one thing, but so far I'm collecting just for the love of doing it. There's something about taking a nice card and forever incasing it in plastic that seems kind of cold to me. Oh sure, I could sell it for more, but I can never touch or smell the card again. It's almost like the boy in the plastic bubble. You can see him, you can talk to him, you can even hug him through plastic, but it's just missing something, you know?

This is my problem with buying cards through the internet. Don't get me wrong, most all my purchases are through the internet as I have no choice - card shows around where I live are few and far between, and even then there is little selection of pre-war cards, and when there is it tends to be too pricey. The VERY few card stores that are within comfortable driving distances have very litle in the way of pre-war cards, and their prices are just astronomical, totallly out of touch with reality. I passionately miss being able to see a card in person, talk to the person selling it about the card and then buying it, but how can I justify spending $70 on a card that I know goes on ebay regularly for $15-$25? The card is right in front of me, it looks great, I can even hold the thing, but how can I in my right mind spend the money on it? Indeed the hobby has changed dramatically - some for the worse (can almost never buy a card in person, card grading), some for the better (hard to find cards are accessible at much more reasonable prices) - you win some, you lose some...