Card doctoring...

[mckinneyj]

> if one of the major TPGs slab a card, it's legitimate

> once slabbed a card becomes a commodity

> observation about the cards certain people buy versus those they sell


These and other thoughts have recently occurred to me as well and I find myself left jaded a bit and wondering what the future might be. The fact that we even need TPGs I find somewhat disconcerting... I'd rather that all cards were "raw" and authentic and unaltered (and there are differing opinions on what constitutes alteration for that matter) - but that's not our world. I wonder if someday should I need or want to liquidate my collection will uncertainty of how these traits are viewed have negatively impacted today's value - I suppose that its just a hobby; but still... I sometimes think that one big scandal involving a major TPG will crush that value - again, just a hobby; but we're all acquiring/buying in a market that is heavily propped up by the influence that TPGs have on it. Just another small fish writing here...

[rainier2004]

Originally Posted by mckinneyj

> if one of the major TPGs slab a card, it's legitimate

> once slabbed a card becomes a commodity

> observation about the cards certain people buy versus those they sell


These and other thoughts have recently occurred to me as well and I find myself left jaded a bit and wondering what the future might be. The fact that we even need TPGs I find somewhat disconcerting... I'd rather that all cards were "raw" and authentic and unaltered (and there are differing opinions on what constitutes alteration for that matter) - but that's not our world. I wonder if someday should I need or want to liquidate my collection will uncertainty of how these traits are viewed have negatively impacted today's value - I suppose that its just a hobby; but still... I sometimes think that one big scandal involving a major TPG will crush that value - again, just a hobby; but we're all acquiring/buying in a market that is heavily propped up by the influence that TPGs have on it. Just another small fish writing here...

If PSA gets caught in a major scandal that send hoards of customers away, all the values collapse. This could be a thesis, but just imagine that you woke up tomorrow and every PSA card was 10 cents on the dollar...

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by rainier2004

If PSA gets caught in a major scandal that send hoards of customers away, all the values collapse. This could be a thesis, but just imagine that you woke up tomorrow and every PSA card was 10 cents on the dollar...

IMHO, Steve, that will never happen because I believe demand is like the step pyramid for scarce to downright rare, significant vintage cards. If the upper crust of the demand supporting the price falls off, there is that next layer only a small step down to catch it. Contrast that with the demand for the cards of the young, current, but unproven for the long run phenoms. That demand, creating current high prices, is much more like an extension ladder, swaying in the breeze, susceptible to falling over and all the way down when the new "superstar" proves himself to be fatally flawed or simply overrated.

Good luck in you collecting, and hopefully Michigan will eventually give the Spartans and Oh how we hate Ohio State better competition in the future!

Larry