Just received my first slabbed card...
 

I'm returning to collecting after a "hiatus" since about 1993 (total cliche these days, I know) and just received my first slabbed card, a PSA3 T201 Eddie Collins/Frank Baker.

It's a beautiful card and I'm very happy with it...but I just had a moment where I realized there's something profoundly unsatisfying about never being able to actually touch the card. I'm sure that's a pretty standard reaction - just thought I'd share.

Others share your feelings ...

https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=200591

p.s. welcome back to collecting, beautiful card!

Thanks! After reading a bunch of threads here I'm getting paranoid that it's fake or altered, but it looks pretty consistent with other PSA3s (maybe a bit nicer than a couple), and at least from a small photo, it looks the same as it did when the same slab sold in 2006. There are a couple of scuffs on the right edge of the slab, but that's probably nothing to worry about...right? :o

I think you're ok with that card being real. It looks good to me.

Thanks for posting that thread from 2015, fascinating and fun to see everyone's binders... I'm old school, so while I have a lot of slabbed cards, I prefer raw cards and have a lot of my vintage in binders.

I definitely prefer raw cards that I can touch and put in binders. But most cards that I pay more than $100 for I purchase graded...just increases likelihood it's authentic as well as provide additional protection.

And it does kind of bother me that the only Mays and Mantle cards that I own are graded...so I've never actually touched the actual cards...just the slabs. But it's nice to know that if I accidentally drop one while looking at it (which I've done) it won't lose tens or hundreds of dollars in value with a new corner ding, etc.

Slabbing cards has two drawbacks: they will stack much higher, dangerously so, and are definitely not as attractive in helix form.

Brian

Yeah, that's pretty much what I'm thinking as well, although earlier this week I impulsively sprang for a raw 56T Koufax (which I may end up regretting).

Another consideration is that, although I have no desire to be a flipper, at some point I will probably want to start selling some cards on eBay as my interests become more focused. I figure it may be difficult to sell raw cards as a new seller without an established track record of credibility, so I may have to start with some graded cards if and when that time comes.