Thank you for your response to my post. I did print out an application last night and am thinking of sending it in. Been buying too many chips and stuff on eBay and have to be carfull with the checkbook right now though. I realize how sensitive and tense the emotions are on this subject and was afraid that I would get incinerated for my input. It is good to have received many of the friendly responses like yours. I will read the anti-slab stuff you mentioned. To sum up my views on this subject at this time I would say that I agree with many of the comments in a another post from last night.

"Pro-Slabbing Rebuttal (views: 88)
Marvin Weaver (24.1.88.86) -- 4/20/01 3:59 a.m."

Specifically that there is no real need for slabbing even for the positive reasons that I and many others have stated. For preserving and protecting there are cheaper and more practical ways of accomplishing that goal. I too like to take the chips out from time to time and hold them play with them and look closely at them. Now please don't missunderstand. I am not PRO slabbing, just indifferent. I just don't see some other guys wasting his money on a slab as being a threat to me. If the slabbers were to go out and buy up an entire LE, that I wanted, and slab them then tell me if I want one I have to buy their $5 chip for $20 then I would be really upset. That is why with some of the activities that have happened lately, specifically the MM chips, I think the real threat is with the hoarding and other tactics that are being played by the truely greedy who do not care about the hobby just the money that they can suck out of us collectors. I don't worry about some guy puting a subjective value on his chip and sealing it for eternity in plastic. Regarding the grading of the chip, his value that is put on his chip only holds water as long as there is someone who agrees that it is worth it or is a sucker enough to fall for it. I do worry about his ability to snatch up all the good chips and like that example used in school about the important test and the one guy who has a monopoly on all of the pencils. "How much is this pencil worth to you".