Should I crack a graded card out?

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Posted By: Hagar Henderson

I'm putting together a 1963 Fleer baseball set non-graded. I picked up a pretty good Willie Mays at a good price that happened to be PSA slabbed. It's graded as Ex-Mt 6. When I bought it I had intentions of of cracking it out of the slab so that I can put it in the album with the rest of the set. Now I'm having second thoughts about cracking it out. Do you think the grading increases the value enough to leave it slabbed? What would you do? I'm facing such a difficult decision. Please help me decide!

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Posted By: Griffins

Sometimes it's cheaper buying a mid grade slabbed card than a raw one. Your options, as I see it-


1. Crack it and put it in your set
2. Put it in a Ultra Pro graded card page in your binder
3. Scan it and put the scan in your binder, and keep the slab separately.

Do you plan on keeping the set long term? If so, crack it. In 5-10 years who knows what grading companies and standards will be around.

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Posted By: Dave Hornish

It's a 6-pop that puppy out!

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Posted By: Hagar Henderson

OK, the decision is made. It's getting cracked.

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Posted By: Tim

I don't know your collecting tendancies, but given mine this is what I would do.

Leave the card slabbed for the time being. I wouldn't crack it until it was one of the last cards needed to complete the set. By that time you may come across a raw card at a good deal that fills your need and you can then sell off the slab. If for some reason you give up on this project it will make moving the card easier and you don't run the risk of resubmitting and receiving a lower grade.

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Posted By: Hagar Henderson

Well, it's done. I had to use bolt cutters to crack that slab. That was definitely the hardest slab I've ever cracked!

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Posted By: MikeU

"Sometimes it's cheaper buying a mid grade slabbed card than a raw one."

I concur that this is many times the case. There are many more raw card collectors that slab collectors. The slab collectors tend to shy away from mid-grade cards and the raw collectors stay away from slabbed cards. This makes for a small zone of better buys for slabbed vs. raw in many instances.

You really can not go wrong either way. For a small set like 63F, you could get a three ring binder and fill it with 4 pocket pages. Raw cards placed into penny sleeves, then into a CardSaverI. These fit nicely into a 4 pocket page. Graded slabs also fit nicely into the 4 pocket pages. So I have found this method the best for presenting a combined graded/raw set.

Whatever you do, do what you want and that will make you the most happy. Do not do what you think other people will view as wise, unless it matches your want/happy goal.

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Posted By: G. Maines

It seems like the grading companies have moved from "tamper evident" slabs to "tamper resistent" slabs. I think that this choice jeopardizes the card.

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Posted By: fearless

BOLT CUTTERS??? For a PSA slab? Can't believe
you didn't screw up the card. PSA's are the easiest
slabs to pop with patience and a flat blade 4"
screw driver working at a corner.

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Posted By: boxingcardman

They usually open up easier than a drunken sorority girl

Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc

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Posted By: Hagar Henderson

I think this slab was an anomaly. I've cracked a few before and never had to resort to bolt cutters.

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Posted By: Steve Murray

"3. Scan it and put the scan in your binder, and keep the slab separately."

This is exactly what I do. Print out on photo paper, cut to size, looks great in the binder. Hard to tell the difference and the card stays protected.

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Posted By: Jason L

certainly better than cutting the actual card to size and sending the photocopy in for grading bumps!