Looking at it from the angle of keeping costs down, a gasketed holder makes the most sense. Even with modern CNC machining, a set of dies for injection molding is a big investment.
3D printing has potential, but right now it's painfully slow, and isn't great for clear stuff.
So a size that can hold most "regular" cards and a gasket to adjust the size is the most cost effective.
I've thought for years that the gasket could be made in different colors. That would allow some customizing, like team colors, or even just a lighter choice for cards like 71 Topps or 50 Drakes.
I knew the square "thing" I mocked up wouldn't appeal to everyone, it's what I could do with the old image and paint in a few minutes. Plenty of room for improvement. There's really no big reason most T size cards couldn't be in a small slab. the 3x4 size of a toploader could be pretty good.
I've been trying to figure out a slab with a pocket to contain a detailed report/certificate.
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