Just popped this T206 out of its plastic, guess what grade it was given ?

[danmckee]

Originally Posted by Rob D.

Excellent points, Dan. It's good to know that you've stopped having your cards submitted for TPG and aren't selling slabbed cards any longer.

Keep fighting the good fight.

I have stopped submitting actually Rob after my last SGC debacle with the Old Judges and the Maryland T205 find.

But you will still see slabbed cards in my cases and on my store.

If I buy them already slabbed and they were bought for resale, then I usually sell them slabbed.

If I buy them slabbed and they are for my personal set, well I think we already know where that giant box of broken slabs in my basement came from.

take care
Dan

[T206Collector]

If you believe that the internet has given our hobby a terrific boost, it is naive to ignore the positive impact that third party grading has had. While graders make mistakes -- being only human after all -- it is a tremendous comfort to know in most cases what flaws a card has that are not visible in a computer scan. Not only do you have a reasonable expectation of what you are buying, but when it is time to sell, you have a reasonable likelihood of selling the same card you bought.

Long gone are the days of the card purchased through the mail that was advertised as Nrmt/MT, only to have it show up in VG -- and then having to sell it as a VG card when the time is right.

To ignore all that good because of a few negative experiences is really missing the forest for the trees.

[frankbmd]

All systems are flawed, but

If I buy a loaf of bread that has a bit of mold on it when I open it, do I stop eating all together?

If my car develops an oil leak or a squeaky wheel, do I take an axe to it and start walking and never buy another?

If a card dealer sells me $50,000 worth of raw cards for $100,000 claiming they are NM and then years later, when I need some cash, offers me $20,000 because the same cards are only VG in his humble opinion, do I shoot him?

I would submit that the answers are no, no and no.

In the first case the merchant would likely replace the loaf of bread or refund my money and I would continue eating.

In the second case, the dealer or a mechanic would fix the problem and I would continue driving.

In the third case my $50,000 worth of "graded" cards would average EX, a few might be NM and some might be VG, even if they were all in slabs with PSA 5 or SGC 60 affixed. Reasonable sellers and buyers could agree upon the market value at the time of purchase and at the time of sale. The original buyer might make a profit or a loss depending on market values at the time of purchase and the time of sale. The original dealer could make a "reasonable" profit at the time of sale and then make a "reasonable" profit when he resells the same card. Plus he would not need to invest in a bullet proof vest and if he was savvy, he would find that he could expand his market on something called the internet.

I have over 1000 graded cards and probably 100,000 raw cards. I once placed 237 raw cards spread out on my dining room table and observed them for a week. They remained in the same place for the week, became a bit dusty, but not once did any of them take a breath.