Slab damage?

[irv]

Originally Posted by deeg23

I know I broke out a Jerry West RC in a PSA slab to get it autographed and it was incredibly easy without damaging the slab! Just used a mini flathead screwdriver and it popped right open. I was surprised and very pleased as I put it right back in the slab and I can't even notice I popped it open (: Going to be trying it on some BVG slabs tonight though for the first time so hoping it's not TOO difficult! haha

Looking forward to hearing/seeing the results.

[glynparson]

The newer PSA slabs are far more difficult to pop open than the old slabs. BVG/BGS still the hardest to crack open but they also have the least amount of collectors and the lowest resale (On vintage cards).

[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by glynparson

The newer PSA slabs are far more difficult to pop open than the old slabs.

Just in my experience, I would have to disagree. I've busted a few of the new (with hologram) slabs, and well more than a few of the older ones. They all seem the same to me. Snip off a corner with a pair of players or some other tool. Then gently work a flathead screwdriver around the rest of the case to break the seal. At first I thought that the newer slabs had some kind of different technology within the recessed area...but I don't think they do.



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[jchcollins]

Originally Posted by glynparson

BVG/BGS still the hardest to crack open but they also have the least amount of collectors and the lowest resale (On vintage cards).

This has always been a bit of a mystery to me. As far as the quality of the physical product, I have always thought Beckett did the best job. The slabs are thicker and sturdier, and yes - busting one open is somewhat akin to breaking into Ft. Knox. Then there is the inner sleeve that really does do a good job - cards in BVG slabs don't slide around in the holder like you see even frequently with PSA. Why Beckett don't have a better following is beyond me. Maybe just because PSA was first to market and had more big name cards graded earlier? Possibly. Beckett did do at least one stupid thing with that BCCG or whatever their lower-tier service is. That's designed to give a card in worse condition a higher numerical grade just so people have an easier time getting 8's and above. Then in the fine print it insinuates "oh, well this is a different club with a different scale." This many years on I think people can see that for the scam it is. But with regular Beckett grading and BVG, I really do think the quality is there. I don't collect enough pure graded to speak to any personal problems with their grading standards - be they high or low - per se. I've got a few BVG cards in my collection right now and I agree with their grades.

[deeg23]

Took me a little while to post as I was at the national, but here's what my BVG and PSA (new) slabs look like post breaking! BVG there is no way those things are being resealed haha and the new PSA slabs show a little frosting, but nothing terrible (pardon the crappy cell phone pics... No scanner!)

[deeg23]

BVG slab 2... Okay for some reason the photos keep failing when I try to upload now, but the PSA one you can tell around the inside "card placeholders" it was popped due to frosting on the ends. Maybe where it was "sonically" sealed??

[jchcollins]

I think it's interesting that if the HOF gets a donation of a graded card, they will bust it out. They don't trust any slabs for "archival" purposes. Meaning not that any slabs are inherently bad, there's just no way to tell how they will decompose over the next 100+ years.

[irv]

Originally Posted by deeg23

Took me a little while to post as I was at the national, but here's what my BVG and PSA (new) slabs look like post breaking! BVG there is no way those things are being resealed haha and the new PSA slabs show a little frosting, but nothing terrible (pardon the crappy cell phone pics... No scanner!)

Originally Posted by deeg23

BVG slab 2... Okay for some reason the photos keep failing when I try to upload now, but the PSA one you can tell around the inside "card placeholders" it was popped due to frosting on the ends. Maybe where it was "sonically" sealed??

Thanks for posting those up. That is good to know!

Originally Posted by jchcollins

I think it's interesting that if the HOF gets a donation of a graded card, they will bust it out. They don't trust any slabs for "archival" purposes. Meaning not that any slabs are inherently bad, there's just no way to tell how they will decompose over the next 100+ years.

I remember reading about that, and it does make one wonder, doesn't it?