... to support this claim:

>> I know that the baseball hobby grew
>> ten fold after grading was established.

Not saying I don't believe it, but it does strain credulity, so would like to see where the information came from.

Also, are you saying there is a connection between "grading" and "slabbing" as far as this collector growth is concerned? That is, were you using the terms interchangeably, or did you use "grading" rather than "slabbing" advisedly?

If so, why?

Is there any documentation to support the implied claim in your statement that any growth in the card collecting hobby resulted from the establishment of "grading" (or "slabbing", as the case may be)?

BTW, I can see at least one reason for slabbing trading cards which does not apply to chips (in fact, it's the only good reason I see for slabbing anything) -- that is, trading cards are considerably more fragile and slabbing will help protect them. Of course, they could be encased (or encapsulated) for protection purposes without all of the adverse consequences slabbing brings.

----- jim o\-S