Speaking as a collector from way back that has returned after a couple decades on the bench, I would be very hesitant to spend $3000+ on a 1/1 (or any numbered card) that is not in in a case from one of the Big 3. I have only been back a few months, but I see plenty of posts of folks identifying raw cards on Ebay (or at shows) that are fakes. Even when placing them against "real" versions of the same card, I am not skilled enough to always identify the fake from the real card. I feel slightly more adept at identifying a fake graded slab, and at least there seems to be a higher degree of difficulty to pass off a fake slab. At least if I am buying a graded card, there is a pretty high likelihood I will own a "real" card. The piece of mind is worth the premium to me.
|