I will not bore the BB with the entire article, just the slabbing part. It is from a column ran in the the Philadelphi Daily News.
The graded-card infatuation also is seen by many, this writer included, as a bad thing for the hobby. It has priced the collecting of
sports cards out of reach for many. Complaints often are heard from collectors who send a mint card to a grader only to have it
come back undergraded and not in the condition it was sent in.
Grading also differs among companies (a 10 from one company is an 8 from another) and, worst of all, there is the
supply-vs.-demand curve that is now resulting in a lot of high-priced graded cards gathering dust in dealer display cases.
McCay and Caplan both agree that the real new millennium gives the hobby a perfect opportunity to become fun again.
Communication is the key. And it has to be fun, otherwise find something else to fill your time. Collect because you enjoy
collecting, not because it's a surefire way to save for junior's college education. You will find it to be a very enjoyable hobby that
way.
Ted Taylor has been a lifelong collector of baseball cards and sports memorabilia. He has run memorabilia shows in the area and
writes for various publications. Taylor is the president of his own Abington, Pa.-area public relations/marketing firm.
|