Am I crazy for liking...

[JollyElm]

Originally Posted by Volod

...the unslabbed car.

Haha!! Good stuff!!

I realize that grading cards is becoming more and more the wave of the future. Unfortunately, you can't get around it and if I ever plan on selling my collection, I'm going to have to get the big guys graded.

With that said, all my sets--1957 to 1979, in varying degrees of completeness--are ungraded (I freakin' hate the term 'raw'!!!! Drives me bananas!!!!!). If I find a graded card that fits what I need at the right price, I'll sometimes buy it and add it to my trade bait, not including it as a hit to my need list.

As others have said before, I love feeling my cards, sniffing that aroma of cardboard and everything that goes with it...and enjoying them! Having a card in a slab is like visiting your uncle in prison. There's something very unnatural and uncomfortable about it.

Plus, if I see a card in great shape and it looks awesome to me, why does it suddenly increase in value and prestige when the very same card is entombed in a slab??? Nothing has changed with said card. It's still the exact same card it was before it was graded.

[mintacular]

For cards worth under $100, yes I prefer raw. But over that, I like (more) safety/security that a trained eye has determined the card is authentic/unaltered. For example, would rather pay $20 for this raw Aparicio (raw) than a graded a 6 or 7 that costs atleast that much.