Memory lane auction results last night

[Fred]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I am guessing many of the 10s were 9s that bumped for insiders.

Please say it aint so... That never happens, right?

Back to "why pay for the frigging label?" It's insanity, but then I guess I don't have a great appreciation for a number system which is arbitrary.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Fred

Please say it aint so... That never happens, right?

Back to "why pay for the frigging label?" It's insanity, but then I guess I don't have a great appreciation for a number system which is arbitrary.

It's like buying any other commodity -- you expect the price to go up, or hope so anyway.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

It's like buying any other commodity -- you expect the price to go up, or hope so anyway.

Maybe beyond that, you like nice stuff, and prefer it when the nice stuff has been acknowledged by an authority on the matter. Just how much it’s appropriate to rely on the authority is a matter of personal conviction. But obviously in the marketplace, the results suggest that the level of reliance is fairly high.

[Fred]

Originally Posted by raulus

Maybe beyond that, you like nice stuff, and prefer it when the nice stuff has been acknowledged by an authority on the matter. Just how much it’s appropriate to rely on the authority is a matter of personal conviction. But obviously in the marketplace, the results suggest that the level of reliance is fairly high.

I guess that's the sad part. The level of reliance on something that is proving (or already proven) to be more and more unreliable and apathetically accepted by a community of impaired collectors that seem to be blinded by it all.

Sorry, but in the end this has impacted a lot of collectors and turned a hobby that used to be fun into a circus sideshow.

It would be nice if the TPGs actually did what they were supposed to do. Kind of hard for the main TPG to say that they were trying to improve the hobby when the first card they encapsulated was a sham.

Sorry for the rant.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Fred

I guess that's the sad part. The level of reliance on something that is proving (or already proven) to be more and more unreliable and apathetically accepted by a community of impaired collectors that seem to be blinded by it all.

Sorry, but in the end this has impacted a lot of collectors and turned a hobby that used to be fun into a circus sideshow.

It would be nice if the TPGs actually did what they were supposed to do. Kind of hard for the main TPG to say that they were trying to improve the hobby when the first card they encapsulated was a sham.

Sorry for the rant.

Just once, I would love to eee who is consigning these high end cards that people are so dazzled by.

[Snapolit1]

I dont understand why grading would ruin the hobby for people who profess they don’t care about grading. That makes no sense to me.

Just collect what you want to collect.

[trambo]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

I dont understand why grading would ruin the hobby for people who profess they don’t care about grading. That makes no sense to me.

Just collect what you want to collect.

Agree w/this 100%.

[Fred]

Originally Posted by Snapolit1

I dont understand why grading would ruin the hobby for people who profess they don’t care about grading. That makes no sense to me.

Just collect what you want to collect.

Grading has brought out the "competitive" wallets that "have to have the best". Nothing wrong with that except the result is auction hammer prices that have marked increases which leads to investors driving up the price of the top graded cards which then leads to an increase in price to the lower grade material which drives the price up on everything which makes "people that don't care" if the card is raw or graded pay more for something that used to be much less. You've heard the saying "A rising tide lifts all boats".

It's probably the evolution of the hobby. However it would help if the TPGs actually did what they were supposed to do, without bias and with an adherence to published "industry standards" (which includes actually making a determination cards are TRIMMED).

I can predict the thoughts of some that believe that TPGs do more good than not. To that I say, try to find an old auction catalog that had a collection of T206s from a famous collector and then attempt to tell yourself that many of the cards in the TPG holders were not trimmed. This is from the earlier days of grading which would indicate there was bias and a bit too much "subjectivity" in grading from the beginning and one couldn't imagine things have changed much since then.

I think a lot of collectors are waiting/hoping for the bubble to pop and then see a precipitous drop in interest in what was once a hobby.

However, I could be wrong.