Downgrades for fisheyes?

[Balticfox]

Originally Posted by jupiter451

You make some good points. I am playing their game. But understand that the reason I am getting these cards graded is to establish the condition and value of a complete set for selling.

Originally Posted by bnorth

People buy sets to break up and make money. I have never once seen someone put a set together to sell as they almost always sell for way less. I easily lost $1.5K on the last set I put together and then sold.

You lost me on the "selling" part. I hate the way cards and their "value" have become inextricably intertwined in most people's minds. I've always valued cards only for the intrinsic delight they bring me. The only way their price enters into the equation is that now I can't readily afford many of the cards I'd like to add to my collection. It's quite simply the case that if I buy these cards right now, I can't buy those.

While this may also have been true to a much lesser extent fifty years ago, I simply couldn't find the cards I wanted then. So, yes, I suppose things have improved over the last few decades.

I still absolutely hate price focused discussions though. My posts are all about the aesthetics of cards and the joy I've gotten from collecting them over the decades.