1952 Bowman Stan Musial PSA 10 on eBay :o

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Unless they can offer a better alternative to the PSA registry, it would be foolish for a new grading company to start up. The registry is what drives everything.

I imagine there are tons of collectors who don't have any registry presence. Yes, a competitive advantage for PSA to be sure, but not insurmountable.

[Dpeck100]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I imagine there are tons of collectors who don't have any registry presence. Yes, a competitive advantage for PSA to be sure, but not insurmountable.

A good friend of mine has a really great wrestling card collection and is working on high grade Wrestling All Stars sets and he isn't remotely worried about the registry. That said the scarcity of the cards can drive market behavior.

No one is taking on PSA unless they were to get shut down. In order to use another grader for the majority of your collection you want their grades to be the most coveted. It is too great of feat to get the market to switch.

New grading companies certainly would be welcomed because competition forces companies to get better but the landscape is very well defined.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Dpeck100

A good friend of mine has a really great wrestling card collection and is working on high grade Wrestling All Stars sets and he isn't remotely worried about the registry. That said the scarcity of the cards can drive market behavior.

No one is taking on PSA unless they were to get shut down. In order to use another grader for the majority of your collection you want their grades to be the most coveted. It is too great of feat to get the market to switch.

New grading companies certainly would be welcomed because competition forces companies to get better but the landscape is very well defined.

If people completely lose faith in PSA's ability to detect alteration, and many are close right now I think, that would offset the registry to a great extent in my opinion. Cards on which people spend 4 and 5 figures are being outed by the hour by three guys behind a keyboard. Imagine the real scope of this.

[Dpeck100]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

If people completely lose faith in PSA's ability to detect alteration, and many are close right now I think, that would offset the registry to a great extent in my opinion.

One of the comments you have made is that many collectors are so heavily invested in PSA that they have no incentive to change or appear concerned about recent findings. I think this is true and reinforces my belief the risks are too high for collectors to run from their PSA collections.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Dpeck100

One of the comments you have made is that many collectors are so heavily invested in PSA that they have no incentive to change or appear concerned about recent findings. I think this is true and reinforces my belief the risks are too high for collectors to run from their PSA collections.

Maybe. I am not sure what to think at this point honestly, I'm bouncing around from hour to hour on what I think will happen. After I see another disastrous card I start thinking people have to care at some point; then later I think well maybe not just too many people invested in the status quo.

[Dpeck100]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Maybe. I am not sure what to think at this point honestly, I'm bouncing around from day to day on what I think will happen.

I don't play in the really expensive segment of the market but I am someone who has submitted a lot of cards that are in my own collection and so the game doesn't stop just because of a bad call.

I have tried to track down cards in a specific grade for years and you need people to get totally turned off from graded cards to have things change significantly.

What else do many of us have to do? We like to collect cards and so grading creates challenges that are really tough and make trying to keep searching worth while. You can still rip packs for the price range of cards I collect and so hunting in many cases is still possible. Grading is the final step in the process for me. I got to catch the fish first and then go to the weigh station. If it doesn't get the grade I want I generally keep it and just keep trying.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Dpeck100

I don't play in the really expensive segment of the market but I am someone who has submitted a lot of cards that are in my own collection and so the game doesn't stop just because of a bad call.

I have tried to track down cards in a specific grade for years and you need people to get totally turned off from graded cards to have things change significantly.

What else do many of us have to do? We like to collect cards and so grading creates challenges that are really tough and make trying to keep searching worth while. You can still rip packs for the price range of cards I collect and so hunting in many cases is still possible. Grading is the final step in the process for me. I got to catch the fish first and then go to the weigh station. If it doesn't get the grade I want I generally keep it and just keep trying.

I can't even remember the last time I opened a pack. Having known about this fraud for years I've been pretty diligent and follow a number of rules but even then there is only so much you can do.