General Forum

Went to a card show for the 1st time in years.  (COVID and long way to drive)     Several sellers  were ONLY selling slab cards.  Boxes and tables full of slab cards.    I asked the one seller how things were going and if he was interested in buying some slabs real cheap.   Sorry I'm not buying.   I'm trying to sell.    Then he said  I have a lot of people looking but not buying and my prices are real low for slabed cards.

No,   have not open any but did have one pop open when I dropped it.  Does that count.

   I've busted open 4 or 5 of them for cards I needed for my Herschel Walker collection.  The main issue with slabs in my case is storage space. I currently have over 850 different Walker cards and keep them in regular cardboard storage boxes.  If all those cards were slabbed, I would need several times the storage space.

     I do own a few slabbed cards.  I have a Joe Montana and Walter Payton rookie, among a few others.  I can maybe see it from a card protectioin standpoint, but I've never liked the whole "grading" thing.  As many cards pass over a grader's view in a day, it's hard for me to believe that a subjective grade can mean many thousands of dollars difference in certain cases.  The chase for as many different cards as I can get is the fun for me.  Not going to cry over a slightly dinged corner.

I put on Sarah Mclachlan's Angel and I set them free!!

Glad to hear there are a lot of cardboard liberators out there.  Especially was amused by the Sarah McL. reference....

I find tin snip scissors do a pretty good job on opening up any slab. Those things cut through metal, so plastic has no chance against them. Just make sure you have eye protection or a small towel to cover the slab when cutting. Because plastic pieces will be flying. 

Here's me doing just that. 

https://youtu.be/OU4B9XzVtoM

I have only purchased 1 graded card before (99 cents on ebay a few years ago) and I removed it from the slab as soon as I received it.  I remember it being slightly difficult to open though.

Recently I had to open a two dozen cards that were slabbed. I used several different tools, but the one that gets the job done quick ia a pair of wire cutters or end cutting pliers. Just snip at two of the corners and use a screwdriver to pry open.

Reading this thread reminds me of why I had to do this. but that will be a seperate thread.

personally I just put the slabbed cards in a box made for holding them and call it good. I pick up slabbed cards only when I find interesting stuff for a really good price. Since I store my personal collection in monster boxes  for space needs (I would put my pc in binders but would require way too many binders and pages to store them).

I guess I would bust a slab if I needed to but haven't reached that point yet.