What would happen if TPG went out of business?

[DeanH3]

My first thought is graded cards might see an increase in value. I doubt registry folks would just give up building sets. A new registry might need to be developed to replace the outgoing registry. But there would then be a finite amount of graded cards which might drive up prices. I know I would still prefer to buy graded even though I don't collect for regisrtry purposes.

[glchen]

I think the example to go by is GAI. If a TPG went out of business, it'd be similar to how things went with them. Cards in that holder would sell for a discount, but they would still be respected as being authentic and roughly comparable to that grade given. PSA's business is extremely good right now, which is why their backlog is so long. I doubt they will ever be in danger unless they lose a major lawsuit (a la the Wagner card), and even then they'd probably still survive.

I doubt there will ever be a time when all TPG's all gone. That would happen around the same time when new baseball cards were no longer produced and baseball were no longer played.

[Matthew H]

The TPG's will be around but they could cheapen their product and leave lots of collector holding the bag... Grading 500 gem mint cards in a row would be a good place to start.

[novakjr]

IF all the majors went under. I guarantee someone would step up and start a new one. Possibly giving discounts on crossovers...

My personal feeling is that it would never come to that. It may wind up that the last man standing carries the torch for good. After that, I don't think the start-ups would stand a chance.