Posted By:
Corey R. ShanusDear Jim,
You say you are the owner of 25,000 (PSA I presume) slabbed cards. From various posts I assume that most/all are high grade. Let's take your number that 15% are altered (though my view is that the percentage could be considerably higher). That means you have close to 4,000 altered cards in high grade holders that not only are worth considerably less than the holders indicate, but more important (from a true collectors standpoint) have materially different characteristics than their holders represent. I personally have challenged you in previous posts to have the conviction to resubmit your cards to determine if by current detection methods you might be able to filter out some of the altered cards. Your response has been an unconditional emphatic no. In my view a true collector would really want to know what he/she has, and not be content to hide behind the label on some holder that by his/her own admission has a real probability of being erroneous. While I respect very much your efforts to expose shady practices and try to improve how the grading/auction companies conduct their affairs, the fact remains that you have much more an investor's (as opposed to a true collector's) mentality. Yes I agree that it is important that grading companies do a better job of detecting alterations, and that exposing alterations is an important service to the hobby, but to say so emphatically how much you disagree with boxingman's post, the thrust of which is that true collecting is what you know, not what others tell you you should know, is not reflective of a true collecting mentality. The collectors revolt that you speak of can be started by none other than Jim Crandell making a public pronouncement that you are determined to expose the failings of the grading companies, and to that end are resubmitting all your cards to expose those that are altered. Yes you will take a big financial hit. But perhaps you more than anyone, given your vast holdings of high-grade slabbed cards, have it in your power to really do something. So if you're not willing to lead by example, then please stop bemoaning the failings in our hobby.
07-06-2007, 09:17 PM
Is the Grading System Broken?
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