What is it, exactly, about grading?

[Archive]

Posted By: John Harrell

I don't collect slabbed cards because the standards used don't, in my opinion, fit with grading standards used by all collectors prior to the slabbing business. A VG card is allowed to have a minor crease or wrinkle. I don't see why I should pay more for a VG card just because somebody in a grading company arbitrarily decides that VG cards are no longer allowed to have a crease or that an EX card can't have an imperceptible wrinkle. The slabbing artificially increases prices which makes it harder for a "collector grade" person like me to finish sets. I have no special preference for raw cards, based on nostalgia. I'd like to collect NM sets but can't afford them and with slabbing, raw cards become harder to find. I just don't like paying artificial prices for cards whose value is inflated by someone else's arbitrary standards.

John