What is next in 21st century card collecting

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Posted By: Frank Wakefield

For some time now I've thought that paying someone else to tell me the grade of my own card was nuts. The idea of that is fundamentally wrong, to me. I understand that lots of folks here like it, some love it...

After reading pieces of the Bobby Binder thread I'm reminded that evidently some collectors today not only pay someone else to tell them the grade of their card (paragraph 1), but now also pay someone a fee each month so they can know what their card is worth... That seems ludicrous, too.

So what can be next? I'll tell you. If you need to know the identity and condition of your card (paragraph 1), and you need to know a value for your card (paragraph 2) it seems that the only remaining variable in collecting would be what to collect. Where are you Ted Z??? I think it is time that you and I, along with some other dinosaurs, offer a program, (for a monthly fee with some sort of monthly market report, too!) whereby we evaluate a collector's collection, identify weak areas, and make recommendations as to which cards to buy! That would complete the process.

New collectors could collect fearlessly. We'll tell you what to collect, SGC and PSA will tell you what it is you've collected, and some cardpriceonthenetdotcomknucklehead can tell you what it's worth. Collecting on autopilot! With all the worries removed!! Like cruise control. Like that parallel parking system... like a mutual fund where the fund manager makes the decisions.

Surely that is all that is left for this collecting century.


Realistically... I'd rather take the grading fees and the cardprice fees, and use them to buy more cards.