Have we begun to lose our way a bit?

[Archive]

Posted By: John Harrell

I've been collecting baseball cards off and on since 1952 but with a bent toward prewar sets since 1990 and my perspective on collecting is much like Dan McKee's. I have nothing against those who want to collect the best of something but, in my opinion, the slabbing of cards has turned the focus of collecting from the card to the plastic slab and the opinions of those who placed the card in the slab. I consider myself to be a fairly knowledgable collector who can grade cards for himself without a middleman and since I collect only lower grade cards, slabbing only gets in the way and artifcially inflates what I have to pay.

One of my prized possessions is a graded Chuck Klein card from the 36 Goudey set. The only problem with the card is that the slab says it is from the S&S Game Card set. Right year, wrong set. Aside from this problem with slabbing, I wonder who set up the grading standards for these various companies. For as long as I can remember, according to almost every card guide I saw, a VG card could have minor creases and various other defects. Now a card with a wrinkle but with pristine corners and centering is G, according to the slabbing companies. This sounds like the Emperor's New Clothes to me.

I understand the need to authenticate pricey cards, but the grading system, to me, is out of whack (in addition to which, I can't get a slab into my binders). My usual practice is, on the rare occasion that a slabbed card is all I can get, to break it out so it can go into the binder.

For those who feel the need to collect pieces of plastic, I say more power to you. Just don't slab up all the low grade stuff. I like to feel my cards.

John