I’m thinking out loud with regards to @alchemyst comment about there being no junk slabs. I don’t want to argue for a new word because “junk slab” has a useful meaning to the market as you mentioned and it’s a good caution word that if someone wants to sell their unlimited wotc cards or ETB Charizard V they’re not leaving money on the table by selling it raw.
Whilst @alchemyst opinion is that there is no junk slab, my opinion is that there is no junk slab if it’s part of a collection. If a collector wants to finish the base set on the CGC registry (whenever it comes out) then that Wartortle is a requirement and higher grade is a higher registry score. In more extreme cases some collectors like to do the whole PSA 1 to PSA 10 of a card too. Or the simple case that someone just wants the base Wartortle because they like it.
It would be interesting if @alchemyst could futher elaborate why he is an adversary to the term. And personally I’m not a fan of the term too so that is why I brought up the conversation again. Basically I understand why the term is useful, but I don’t like the term hence my opinion.
The consensus of the more experienced community “decides” that. There’s no definition for a junk slab, but an experienced collector will know it when they see one.
That being said, you don’t have to care what people think about your cards. Instead of getting caught up in semantics, just ignore the haters and do your thing (the fact that “junk slabs” by definition have bad investment potential still stands tho). By any means, if you love your cards, be ballsy about them. Start a collection thread and show us why you love them.
Embrace the junk! ← and I mean that in the most sympathetic way!
I just don’t like the term junk slab. Are there cards that are less desirable or valuable? Sure. I have a bunch of japanese final fantasy cards that are pack fresh, ready to be graded though. Are those junk? There’s not much of a market for them.
I try to be cognizant of words I use. Especially if there are people who look up to me. It’s the same reason why I wouldn’t call my best friend a murderer, because she had an abortion.
It all boils down to influence. Those who hold influence over others, should choose their words a little more carefully.
So, the more well off people in the community are the ones who dictate what is and isn’t a junk slab? No disrespect, but no thank you. Most of them have a vested interest in selling graded cards.
I definitely ignore people pertaining to my collection. I’m just speaking for others. The majority of collectors, are not well off. Telling them that a lot of their cards are “junk”, has a psychological effect.
Of course there are people who want their cards graded regardless of the value. But the reality is a huge number of low grade common cards were submitted by flippers, who are now stuck with them.
Yes, CGC 3.5 Base Unlimited Gust of Wind, I’m looking at you. Without being silly there is no reason why anyone would pay for that.
All the participants in the market decide the value. If the value is so low that a grader/seller loses money selling a slab, then the seller is subsidising the production cost of an item.
It’s literally the difference between an asset and a liability. There are real consequences for the existence of this class of item. A lot of people will lose a lot of money. And many of the people who bought or are buying low value slabs are buying a ticket for a sinking ship.
Everyone is allowed to collect how they want. “Junk” in this context has a financial meaning, not necessarily an aesthetic one. Having the term to describe a certain class of cards enables a realistic discussion of the current state of the market. It also acts as a warning to buyers to encourage more informed purchases.
Junk slabs are a real and serious phenomenon. That’s why the term exists. I’ve yet to see a counterargument that doesn’t depend on the feelings of others which is not particularly compelling for me.
Calling a CGC 3.5 unlimited Base Wartortle “Junk” won’t stop people from submitting their raw mint Wartortles to PSA as long as there is a market for higher grades.
i think there is a clear divide in the junk slab discussion between people who view cards in terms of value and people who view cards as a hobby/entertainment/whatever you want to call it, but as something that isn’t mentally audited when they interact with it.
one reason i’ve struggled to get deeper in “the pokemon community” is because i cant stand the obsession over value of cards. luckily i’ve found nooks and crannies with others who don’t make it their focal point, but this whole junk slab debate encapsulates that dominating sector of collectors who *seem* to care more about how much their collection is worth than the simple fact that they have the collection.
The market does decide the value, but it doesn’t pop out of thin air. It starts somewhere. What was the value for an English first edition base set box prior to late 2019? What’s the value now? It wasn’t the market that initiated that. Didn’t a well known collector admit that he was trying to manipulate the market in the past?
If the context of this is just about a financial one, then it circles back to a profit convo I had not too long ago on here.
Tl:dr… if something has a value, I wouldn’t consider that junk.
Emotions play a huge part of collecting cards. Hell, that’s the reason why most collectors say they collect anyway. If that wasn’t the case, the charizard Logan Paul wore to his fight, wouldn’t be worth what it is.
That’s true.
My psa 4 ken Griffey Jr rookie card will be given to my niece when I die. If she can get $20 for it, I’d hope she wouldn’t consider that Junk. She just made $20.
To a rich person, $20 is nothing. To probably a majority, it’s something.
I don’t want people thinking I’m against people calling things less valuable. I just don’t like referring to those things as junk. Especially for those who do hold an influence over people.
Lets call them misfit slabs. I understand grading a card because it fits your collection or sentimental, but in terms of actual market value and even collecting value, its very low or zero. You can enjoy it all you want, just know that putting it in a slab doesn’t do anything for it. Not even really sure why you would want to grade a card that isn’t very rare, that is damaged to a sub 5. Its not like you are preserving it, its already in a condition that probably won’t get worse from just a sleeve and toploader.
I just want people to be comfortable slabbing their cards, without others calling them junk. If all the youtubers and influential people are labeling things as junk, than more than likely fans will listen and not grade those cards. Do those fans affect me in any way? No. Neither do people who fall for pyramid schemes, but I still speak up about things I don’t agree with.
None of this actually addresses any point I made. Regardless…
Everything has a “value” yet we still throw things away (aka junk). When the cost (in terms of both money and time) to extract this “value” exceeds the actual value we are extracting, it’s unproductive behaviour. It’s the same reason why the vast majority of used plastic goes to a landfill despite the raw material having value.
The issue in graded cards is that there are now a lot of cards where the market value is below the cost to produce the item. Surely that’s an interesting phenomenon with consequences and deserves a descriptive term. This has been my only argument made from my first post on this topic and I have yet to see a valid counterargument.
Calling it a “junk slab” has nothing to do with how the beholder perceives the card. It is referring to how the market treats it. The junk wax era has some beautiful cards, but they were so overprinted that they became worth less than the cardboard it was printed on for decades. I think going off of how the term “junk wax” is used, a junk slab is any slab worth the cost or lower than the cost to grade the card. PSA slabs that are going for $5 are junk slabs in the definition I am working with.
because having it graded by psa does increase its value. Griffey is my favorite athlete of all time and it was my first baseball card I ever got. So while I won’t make money on it, my niece will.
