Baseball Hall of Fame Says "No" to Slabs.

[David Atkatz]

Originally Posted by Rad_Hazard

Agreed. That’s all the article really tells us: they don’t know so they will err on the side of caution. Which is what I will do by leaving them slabbed because they are worth a ton more and are authentic.

You're "erring on the side of caution," as well?

The HoF says "I'm gonna remove the cards from the slabs because there's a chance--based on the known behavior of some plastics--that chemicals from the plastic will leach into the paper. Better to be safe than sorry."

Sounds pretty cautious.

You say "I'm gonna leave the cards in the slabs because "they are worth a ton more."

Sounds more mercenary than anything else.

You also say a reason for leaving the cards in the slabs is that, that way, "they are authentic." What? If a card is removed does it cease being authentic?

[Rad_Hazard]

Originally Posted by David Atkatz

You're "erring on the side of caution," as well?

The HoF says "I'm gonna remove the cards from the slabs because there's a chance--based on the known behavior of some plastics--that chemicals from the plastic will leach into the paper. Better to be safe than sorry."

Sounds pretty cautious.

You say "I'm gonna leave the cards in the slabs because "they are worth a ton more."

Sounds more mercenary than anything else.

You also say a reason for leaving the cards in the slabs is that, that way, "they are authentic." What? If a card is removed does it cease being authentic?

No no no, I assumed a lot was implied with what I said, but it's the internet/txt so it's not and that's my fault.

Slabs are worth more, that's just a simple fact and the main reason why I will keep mine slabbed. That's me erring on the side of caution for my investment.

And no, I'm not saying that unslabbed cards are not authentic, I'm saying that with slabbed cards you are getting a guarantee that they are authentic (I realize this isn't foolproof either). There are a large swath of collectors that will not buy an unslabbed card because of the risk (trimmed, fake, etc), and while I'm not one of them, I do buy the vast majority of my cards already slabbed and tend to stay away from raw cards, mainly so I won't have to do it myself because inevitably I will.

[David Atkatz]

What you say is true, except for the "guarantee." Collector's seem to have agreed that they will accept what the slab label says as the gospel. And they are willing to pay for that peace of mind. Thus it really doesn't matter whether the label is accurate or not. The authenticator's have created the accepted "truth."
But if the label is ever proved wrong), it's just too bad for the owner. There is no guarantee, and no making up for the value lost.

[Rad_Hazard]

Originally Posted by David Atkatz

What you say is true, except for the "guarantee." Collector's seem to have agreed that they will accept what the slab label says as the gospel. And they are willing to pay for that peace of mind. Thus it really doesn't matter whether the label is accurate or not. The authenticator's have created the accepted "truth."
But if the label is ever proved wrong), it's just too bad for the owner. There is no guarantee, and no making up for the value lost.

Agreed, which is why I said that the guarantee isn't foolproof. If you have a good eye and have been in the hobby for a long time you can use the slab in conjunction with what you know and feel pretty confident in your purchase. I mainly rely on the slab to help me with trimmed cards as I can assume all day, but I'm not great at being able to tell a really good trim job. I also like slabs, they are aesthetically pleasing to me.

I like buying PSA 1's of higher end cards, but focus on getting nicely centered copies with defects that I am ok with. The slab gives me the peace of mind that, yeah the card is nowhere near perfect, but it presents well and is authentic. I liken slabs to the second opinion of a doctor, I was the first doctor, and if the second doctor likes it then I feel much better about the purchase. Can both doctors be wrong, sure, but getting a second set of eyes on something is invaluable.