You didn’t really address my point. The primary benefit is not scanning to better inform the buyer, it’s scanning to better inform the seller.
If I have a 1st edition base pack scanned, if the card inside is worth more than the pack I’ll open it. If not, you sell it sealed. You aren’t required to tell the buyer what’s inside and they might not even believe you. But it doesn’t matter. You scanned to figure out whether it was worth opening in the first place.
The end result is that loose pack prices are driven lower because it will be safer to assume the top hits aren’t in the pack.
As much as we want to romanticize the idea of the completely random pack, we don’t have the luxury to live in that world as packs become more expensive. Buy modern or crack a box if you want the totally random experience.
All of this handwringing reminds me of how much skepticism was placed on the ebay authentication service for graded cards. Now, people see it as a necessary utility.
The skepticism of ebay authenticity is because the initial announcement, before it was rolled out implied cgc would authenticate psa cards.
I thought everyone was discussing selling a scanned pack. Obviously if someone scans a pack then opens it, or sells it normally that is a moot scenario. Just like if someone weighs a pack and opens it. But if someone sells a declared scanned pack, there isn’t a guarantee.
I don’t see any way this can be viewed as a negative personally But I don’t think it’ll be that dramatic of a drop.
This thread is great and has a lot of very interesting discussion! I see a lot of folks in one camp steadfast in the belief that this somehow ruins collecting, but I don’t see any actual kids searching for packs that were printed 25 years ago… Just a few of the cards! This affects old collectors. More specifically, collectors who at the very least, understand the inherent risk of buying collectibles for a long term hold since they’ve already dipped their toes into the acid pond that is sealed vintage product collecting. Is it disappointing that there’s a new way to map vintage cards/packs? Sure, I guess. But these things are sort of expected if you ask me. I can’t toot my own horn and say “duh, CT scans were inevitable!” but many of of us saw and identified that vintage sealed packs have been vulnerable to metal detectors and other tools long before youtube videos started getting popular addressing the issue. The only way to 100% verify that your loose vintage booster pack is unweighed and unsearched is to witness it being removed from a sealed booster box, and this does not change that fact. Additionally, I truly don’t believe anyone with a stockpile of base set packs is going to suddenly list them for 40% less on ebay now that this service exists and they don’t want to pay $75/pack, although many of us would love that
The biggest thing is the introduction of these services to a commercial market, and I truly think we just need to embrace that and move forward. If people want to see long-term growth in the collecting community then there are going to be gradual and continual changes, and improvements just like this one. Sealed product is and has been the PTCG investment with the highest risk for a very long time. The biggest asset that this new service/method provides is photographic evidence. I believe this can definitionally lower the market value for light packs, undesired holos, etc, but the unbelievable value that this can bring on the polar opposite end is unheard of. THAT is what I believe collectors should be fawning and drooling over. Imagine an authenticated booster pack from your favorite set with your dream card verified to just be waiting within the foil! Crazy!
I see your point, however I still stand behind the tagging of scam. As technology advances I know there are things will make our life easier and I’m not here to argue that I don’t enjoy the benefits, however I think this just makes things more complicated and it takes away the innocence of just opening up a booster pack for fun and seeing what you get.
@Tapp Nice post, but I don’t think pokemon or trading cards need anymore reason for growth. They are laps ahead of pretty much any other collectible.
While I do think this is yet another optimization that takes from organic interest, I’m not dying on that hill. The issue no one has answered/solved is verifying the actual pack to the apparent scan. For example, what pwcc/fanatics do with boxes. Once that is done I will stop complaining!
Don’t pay any attention to how I feel about this. It’s barely of any importance and more like a knee jerk reaction since it reminds me of the whole weighing packs debate. Caring about what people decide to waste their money and time on things like this is pretty small in the grand scheme of things.
Whether or not it’s immoral, it just feels like it’s another boring notch on the belt of optimization. I personally feel that most of the time a step is taken forward in the optimization department, a step is taken backwards in enjoyment.
You can argue how inevitable it is, how packs have moved in this direction over the years anyway, etc, but this kind of thing can always just be broken down to trading enjoyment for money.
Maybe it’s not everyone’s specific own version of enjoyment, but at the very least it’s the original intended version of enjoyment of what a booster pack was made for.
Even if I can agree that from a financial perspective this probably is a net positive for most people eventually, I don’t really care. I care way more that it’s a net negative for organic enjoyment of collecting.
I didn’t make a value judgment on it. It’s good if you’re looking to buy packs. It’s not great if you’re sitting in loose ones, then again that person is in a good position to optimize their own packs.
This is all contingent on this CT scanning becoming highly available but what I can see happening is that pack prices become disconnected with the #1 hit price and instead is driven by the fundamentals of the pack itself. Whether its a popular Pokemon on the pack or a popular/scarce set, etc.
Ironically I think the people this technology will impact the most are the whatnot vintage pack sellers, because now there is a chance that the streamer knows what’s in every pack and that violates trust. And also perhaps it will just make more sense to crack boxes for yourself, pull out the best cards and sell the rest of the packs as loose.
A reseal box wouldn’t have any valuable hits though. This service will hopefully provide someone with sealed vintage a peace of mind. Either way, I’m not purchasing sealed vintage, so I won’t lose sleep over this
I’m surprised this is your biggest gripe! Mine is that we don’t know this new company at all. What’s to stop them from shutting down and stealing everyone’s packs after they’ve done a few successful scans? This could be an LLC started by collectables guru lol I’m waiting at minimum 6 months before even considering visiting that site again
Yeah the images these scans provide are terrible. But they don’t need to be good for a single pack. I don’t see this being useful for boxes at all. Also the company said that the tech doesn’t work well beyond a single pack
To be honest I want to check whats inside some of my vintage packs, no shame i will pay the 75$ to check, and if nothing good ill just keep them as artwork pieces
But I don’t think it’ll be that dramatic of a drop.
Is it disappointing that there’s a new way to map vintage cards/packs? Sure, I guess. But these things are sort of expected if you ask me. I can’t toot my own horn and say “duh, CT scans were inevitable!” but many of of us saw and identified that vintage sealed packs have been vulnerable to metal detectors and other tools long before youtube videos started getting popular addressing the issue. The only way to 100% verify that your loose vintage booster pack is unweighed and unsearched is to witness it being removed from a sealed booster box, and this does not change that fact. Additionally, I truly don’t believe anyone with a stockpile of base set packs is going to suddenly list them for 40% less on ebay now that this service exists and they don’t want to pay $75/pack, although many of us would love that 
