General Forum

I'm not a slabber, I like my sets in binders.  But I do understand wanting cards in the best possible condition.  But can someone explain to me why you would bother slabbing a 1/1?  Whatever condition it is in, it is the best possble version of that card.  Does it matter if it is an 8 or a 9?  Help me understand.

I think that for "investors" rather than collectors it insures that it will not get in any worse condition so they can turn around and sell it for it's best possible sale value (or try anyway)

i'm not a slabber either.. i rather have the card "as is" .. shows that the person takes care of it and gives it that authentic age.. more of feeling type thing.. ufort i have bought a few only because it was a card i wanted and needed for some reason or another.. other than that, me personally === No Slab Zone, 

I'm the complete opposite, I can't stand binders. Being slabbed does add an extra layer of protection, and I like how they look being in them, especially BGS, or SGC. PSA is alright, but tends to look cheaper with it's bland single grade. Don't really like any of the other companies, though I have a few of theirs, and may end up busting them out, plain top-loaders are fine too.

I've never bothered submitting any, and not likely to unless I come into a lot of money. I've managed to acquire a hundred or so of them over the years. Very few have cost me a premium, and most have been at, or well below a raw version's going rate. While none of them are fool-proof, it also increases the chances of a card being as advertised when buying on-line. Some people's idea of near-mint is nowhere close to mine. Also I don't have to have 10's or even 9's, can't tell much if any difference in an 8 or even a 7.

I can see getting a 1/1 graded a lot better than I can someone getting a 1/1 autographed, which I feel is destroying a card. You can bust one out of a slab, be pretty hard to un-sign it.

I think some slabbers like the validation of knowing--and others knowing-- they have a quality card. A PSA 4 1 of 1 just wouldn't be as cool as an 8.5, even if either way it's the best of its unique kind. Not only is it a unique card, but it's beautiful, as well  certifiably so. I suppose that's some motivation. 

I will refrain from a full anti-slabbing rant. Heck, if it was 10 bucks a card, without paying megabucks for shipping and required insurance, I might even get 5 to 10 cards graded. Not for protection, certainly. Mostly to verify authenticity. Given the number and quality of fakes out there, I can't be absolutely sure some of my cards are authentic. I'm 97% sure, but that 3% is pretty annoying. 

And maybe a little to assure value when I'm dead. It cost me a bit to authenticate two of my late father's nicer coins when I sold most of his collection. (Both real. Each worth over $1000. Kept one, sold one. I digress.)

I'll stop now. 

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I have often considered getting certain cards graded, ie: Gretzky rookie, Ryan rookie, etc. to hopefully get a good grade to sell and make enough money to buy another quality ungraded card and make a few bucks to reinvest  also. Never gone through with it though. I have a Barry Sander rookie graded, but I think that is the only one I have.

SCD had a good blog recently about how the Baseball HOF busts out all the stabbed cards it is donated because they are more concerned about long term preservation of the cards. There is some concern about plastics used to slab cards because no long term studies on potential damage to the cards and the HOF uses a 200 year window for card preservation. They also bust all the signed baseballs out of plastic because they say it can fade the signatures over time without proper air circulation. Food for thought if you plan on living to 200. 

How much exactly is it to get a card graded?

I'll answer, even though I've never had a card graded and haven't looked into it in a few months....Wait, I'll go look.  Ok, depending on the age of the cards and the number, I think it can be as low as $7 per card, but that's for a lot of cards. It's $18 per card, generally (for cards under $100 declared value.) But if submit a minimum of 10 cards, it's $10 per card. You get the $7 per card deal if you submit a minimum of 100 cards. (Uh huh. I'd like to spend $700 to grade my cards) But wait! That's not all. It's $18 shipping for return postage for 1-8 cards (now, presumably in their PSA prisons). Plus, I'm gonna have to really dredge the website to find it, but I know there's mandatory insurance....huh. Maybe they changed it. I can't find any mandatory shipping anymore, and I looked pretty hard. 

Bottom line, if you want to just get a few cards graded, it's gonna cost...oh, let's play - I can think of about 8 of mine that I could see to graded. So, it'd be $162 total.  If I moved up to 10, It'd cost...$124 with postage. That works out to $12.40 per card. Oh, except that some of the one's I'd have graded are valued at more than $100. Then it goes up to...$18 per again? I'm not even sure. Not worth it to me, but maybe acceptable to some. And they do have monthly specials. Too bad you can't just walk into a store and have it done....

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