Entombed in Plastic

[ScottFandango]

why would you do this?

1. you like to devalue your card
2. you like to risk damaging the card from handling
3. you like water or mildew staining to advance
4 you like to risk damage during crackout
6 you like small plastic shards on the floor or in your eye..

very strange indeed....

any other reasons to perform this "unwise" task?

[Howe’s Hunter]

1 GAI, 12 SGC, 14 PSA. Used to use a table saw to free them. Now, just a twist and the last 4 PSAs and 2 SGCs have just popped open. Not so sure about that whole air-tight seal thing everyone thinks is going on.

[gorrister]

I do it because I'm not concerned about the value. I don't collect because of the value. I like to store my cards in plastic pages - as God intended. Because I'm a type collector and not terribly interested in having the most expensive cards in the highest grades, I can justify it easily to myself. If I had a 52 Topps Mickey Mantle PSA 8 - sure, I'd leave it in the plastic. But, I'll never own such a card because I have no desire to have investment grade cards.

[Luke]

Originally Posted by ScottFandango

why would you do this?

1. you like to devalue your card
2. you like to risk damaging the card from handling
3. you like water or mildew staining to advance
4 you like to risk damage during crackout
6 you like small plastic shards on the floor or in your eye..

very strange indeed....

any other reasons to perform this "unwise" task?

It sounds like you're buying cards purely for investment, which is fine. Most collctors would probably just chuckle at that post though.

[travrosty]

Originally Posted by ScottFandango

why would you do this?

1. you like to devalue your card
2. you like to risk damaging the card from handling
3. you like water or mildew staining to advance
4 you like to risk damage during crackout
6 you like small plastic shards on the floor or in your eye..

very strange indeed....

any other reasons to perform this "unwise" task?

Maybe they want to hold their card and not keep them in a tomb.

I break out slabbed autographs the same way. Some people want to collect cards and not slabs or numbers.

[7nohitter]

I freed a '57 autographed George Kell last week to toss in the binder. I've also freed the Berra, Aaron, Williams cards from that set.

[rainier2004]

Ive taken down 100-150 slabbed cards. Im not going to argue slab vs non-slab but cards were meant to be held, put in pages and experienced...like when we were kids. Im sitting on all my slabbed cj's ( about 80 or so) until I finish the set and will free them 1 by 1 and place into my customized book. I dont bust them out yet as I may up/downgrade some. I CANNOT WAIT!

[SetBuilder]

Grading T206 cards that are obviously in bad condition is kind of tacky in my opinion (and a waste of money). You can tell it's poor (creased/stained/rounded, etc) just by looking at it, you don't need PSA to tell you the condition sucks. Keep these raw. It looks better anyway, I never liked seeing the word "poor" next to my cards. Kind of insulting to a 103 year old card, don't you think?

Every time I see beaters in PSA slabs I feel like cracking them out. There are plently of ways to protect cards other than a slab.

[glchen]

Originally Posted by SetBuilder

Grading T206 cards that are obviously in bad condition is kind of tacky in my opinion (and a waste of money). You can tell it's poor (creased/stained/rounded, etc) just by looking at it, you don't need PSA to tell you the condition sucks. Keep these raw. It looks better anyway, I never liked seeing the word "poor" next to my cards. Kind of insulting to a 103 year old card, don't you think?

Every time I see beaters in PSA slabs I feel like cracking them out. There are plently of ways to protect cards other than a slab.

I realize that I'm in the minority, but I'm of the opposite opinion. I think that if you have a beater of a card, the card "wants" to be slabbed just like that PSA 8 1952 Mantle. The card wants to be around to be enjoyed for another 100 years, and there's a lot more chance that will happen if it's slabbed. It'll be better protected from the elements, and there's less of a chance it will accidentally get thrown away.

[Chris D.]

The main reason I buy slabbed cards is because I worry about buying an altered card. I would rather a card in poor condition than one that presents better but is altered.

[rdixon1208]

Originally Posted by Chris D.

The main reason I buy slabbed cards is because I worry about buying an altered card. I would rather a card in poor condition than one that presents better but is altered.

+1

[betafolio2]

I've cracked probably 100-150 cards out of their plastic prisons. Now, as for this comment:

Originally Posted by ScottFandango

6 you like small plastic shards on the floor or in your eye.

I have one thing to say: SAFETY GLASSES! I always wear them when cracking a slab, and you should too!

[bbcard1]

By the way, I am not convince the value of a 1 or a 2 is enhanced by being slabbed. .

[g_vezina_c55]

Originally Posted by bbcard1

By the way, I am not convince the value of a 1 or a 2 is enhanced by being slabbed. .

I dont think too. But i love the look of the card in slabs.

[phikappapsi]

I prefer slabs on mine for a few reasons, but the predominant one is, the vast majority of transactions I'm in on, are over the interwebs... Slabs, for all their flaws, do help protect me as a buyer. It's not like the old show days where you could examine each card up front, feel the stock etc etc...

The new online purchasing world makes slabs almost requisite, especially for any card over the $500 threshold IMO

[Tao_Moko]

I think slabbing is fine if it does not impact the value. Cards are still worth what someone else is willing to pay so I never consider paying more for a graded card and often times I don't agree with the grade. I recently discovered I can let my two year old play with them before I bust them out which is a positive. If I did believe in leaving them in the holder then I would collect SGC over PSA for eye appeal.

Opening is easy with my handy dandy letter opener. Two turns and a pop and the cards free without damage. I haven't damaged any of the 100 or so I've busted out over the years.

[FrankWakefield]

Great photos, Tyler, Rob, and Chris...


A slab is kinda like bubblewrap... Most of the slabbed cards I've acquired have been broken out. A card travels better in the mail if it's in a slab. For folks who leave the cards in slabs for protection, then leave them in their shipping packaging, too. That'll keep the sunlight out, protecting them more (except for any moisture or mold that is on that slabbed card ((that could be eliminated if the card were removed and dried))). Just print off a page that has the scan of the card you bought, and tape that to the envelope.

A stack of white border cards fit nicely enough in a small box, and take up about the same space as 8 slabs stacked together... the raw cards take about 98% less space. And the cards become easily sortable, neat to lay them next to each other when following the series changes or the uniform changes...

ARRRRRRRR...... how do Pirates like their cards? RRRRRRAWWWW!!!!!