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Posted By: scott brockelman

I believe if you look(as I am sure you have) that you will see it is a very small group of people that are continually arguing in regards to "protecting the hobby" most of whom have a huge stake in graded cards. Some of these people have come to the realization that all may not be as it appears. Given the nature of the hobby and where many of it's participants evolved from, I can't even imagine that these people did not do their due diligence in forming these large collections. Instead they placed large amounts of money and blind faith to a few dealers. NOW, they wish to be proactive in reforming the entire hobby, in reality they are being reactive, to what could be a severe loss to them.

The core collectors on this board have spent years researching the cards they collect. In most instances they know much more about the sets they specialize in than most of graders and other experts. How many times have some of us been approached by grading companies to give some type of opinion?

To embark on assembling vintage card sets, one must first learn about that set, thru handling the cards, lots of cards, examine the stock, examine the edges, examine the print process used. In time you learn what is good and bad. This larger group of collectors has little to lose in the way of tampered cards or any other malady found inside of a holder which they cannot detect. They have spent immense time studying their collectible before spending immense amount of money, AND yes some of these people in the second group do spend large amounts of money as well.

Whatever unfolds in the collectibles of vintage cards, rest assured the collectors of the base material will always be there. Most other collectibles have weathered similar situations and came back to previous glory thru the collector not the investor.

Scott