Is it still possible to build a pre-war collection while avoiding TPGs altogether?

[japhi]

Ya, there are guys selling on ebay making good money cracking mid grade PSA slabs and selling the cards raw for 50% more than they paid for the slabbed card.Tons of value for low/mid grade guys who like cards that are not in plastic.

Not prewar, and not baseball, but I missed on a card last year that was in a 5 slab that looked like an 8 all day. I contacted the seller to see what the flaw was - he was expecting a way better grade but under the proper light there was a minor issue with the surface that PSA found.

Looked like an $400 dollar card and sold for $60, was on vacation or would have pulled the trigger myself. That card looks deadly in some guys binder and when he goes to sell he will find someone to pay 200 bucks for it easy.

I just don't get the hate for TPG's, IMO it's a win for everyone.