Slab Collector or Card Collector?
The hobby continues to grow at an incredible pace and with the reopening of card shows, we are bound to see another leap during the coming months. 2021 has been a strange year for the hobby, not because of all the hype it has. Rather it has brought into fruition what seems to be a new type of collector in my eyes: the Slab Collector.
To me, a Slab Collector exclusively focuses on the highest graded examples of any given card. I don’t see them as a player collector particularly, even if they do buy frequently into a given player. The trend is always the same: acquire the highest graded possible version of a given card. PSA 10, BGS 10, BGS Pristine 10, and even SCG Pristine are the favorite targets of this type of collector. While most of the cards purchased are of significant hobby importance, others simply fall into the category of highest graded copy.
Card collectors on the other hand focus primarily on the card itself. Raw, low grade, mid grade or high grade; this collector is focused on acquiring one copy of the card for their collection. This has been the way most collectors have approached the hobby for decades.
Now, I am not saying a collector won’t go for the PSA 10 of the card. I believe in buying the highest grade possible you can get without breaking the bank, if a nice gem mint copy shows up and you feel the price is right, go for it. Yet a collector will focus on the card itself. How rare is the card? How condition sensitive is the card? Is the card readily available in grades 8 through 9? Is it one of those cases where the population of the card is low simply because the card was not worth grading? We see this all the time with 90s base and lower-end insert cards, low population cards like the 1990 Hoops 358 Michael Jordan Checklist with a PSA 10 pop of just 143 and a total of just 557 ever graded by PSA. This card was simply not worth the grading fee to most dealers and collectors for years and years. And perhaps the most important question a collector usually asks: do I really need a gem mint copy of the card, when I can save money grabbing a mint copy and have more spending cash for other pick ups? Let’s face it, most of us can’t really tell the difference between a gem mint and a mint copy. I have mint 9 cards that look better than some gem mint ones to the naked eye. Most of the time the issues with the card need to be seen under magnification to find the flaws. Hopefully this is something that grading companies can improve on by adding a grading report for the cards, at least for the high-end ones. Companies like BGS and CSG do have sub-grades giving us more information on the issues with the cards.
As I see the hobby evolve this year, it has become clear to me there are more Slab Collectors than before. Not necessarily more than Card Collectors, but I do see more and more people simply buying gem mint copies left and right, without much regard for the card in question. It’s the Slab Collectors I see paying some of those crazy premium prices during the past few months, only to see the cards come back to earth in sometimes spectacular fashion. While the cards indeed have gained more value than it had one year ago, some cards have lost over 50% of their peak value. Here’s an example: 1996 Topps Chrome PSA 10 Kobe Rookie:
December 27, 2020 is when we see the first spike in price up to $24,000, peaked at $49,101 and last sold was $22,140. This card has actually started to go down from it’s first price spike in December 27, not only loosing more than 50% peak value, but it has started to loose value from it’s first spike.
Now there is a time and place where both intersect: high grade copy of an already rare card. When this happens all bets are off on the price. Anything is possible and all types of collectors will want a piece of the action. These rare cards only show up for sale once every 10 years or more. The rare of the rarest is the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle PSA 10 — there are only three copies in existence. How rare? Here’s a link to Sports Collectors Daily from 2018, when one of the copies was exhibited in a museum. There are no known public sales of a PSA 10 in over 20 years. Some modern cards are equally has rare, it’s a matter of finding them and adding them to your watch list.
If I have learned something during the past few months: prices have gotten so high on some cards, more and more collectors are reaching their “exit point” or “sale threshold”. This is basically the number a card has to sell for for the collector to consider selling it. This means more and more rare cards are coming out to light than ever before.
Collecting can be done for different reasons: hobby, investment, both. But no matter your approach to this hobby one thing will never change: understanding the cards is the key to a successful collection and/or investment. Research has never been more important. Understanding the production numbers of cards has never been more important, and above all, understanding the collector mentality has never been more important. Slab Collecting is certainly an interesting development in the hobby and it’s certainly a way to create a unique one of a kind collection. After all, Gem Mint copies are (supposed to be) limited and it gives that feeling of awe when shown to others.
Slab collecting or card collecting, no matter your choice, be smart about it and above all enjoy the hobby!
IG: Frankie3500
