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Posted By: Shane

I believe that is a two part question on who or what has changed our hobby. For the vintage card collector there is no doubt in my mind that grading companies have been the "x" factor. No matter what side of the fence you are on, the grading companies has changed the value on cards the most. We all have had the need for eBay or an auction house to sell or buy a graded card, but without PSA or SGC we would be in a world of hurt.
For the new collector I believe that eBay has been the enemy for the collector and the shop owners. The auction house and grading companies have really not been an issue for the new stuff. I do realize that BVG has a niche in this arena, but not a significant one to mention. Ebay has allowed the modern collector to pick up anything that he wants at anytime. Once the product becomes dead, (usually 5 months after the product is released) the price is at a fraction of the Beckett pricing.
Ebay has been a huge avenue to all collectors whether new or old.