I bought a slabbed card and can't figure out how to open it.
This might work. chain_saw
(http://dickipedia.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/chainsaw.jpg)
Quote from: Mike Scott on September 18, 2015, 05:21:23 PM
I bought a slabbed card and can't figure out how to open it.
What the holy heck is a Slabbed Card?
Quote from: marsattacks666 on September 18, 2015, 09:58:01 PM
What the holy heck is a Slabbed Card?
"Whhhooooooooo!"
(http://cdn.sportsmemorabilia.com/sports-product-image/3-t4989604-.jpg)
Quote from: horrorhunter on September 18, 2015, 09:51:56 PM
This might work.
I'm afraid if I try something
too drastic I'll damage the card.
I think that's the idea of the slab--to make it darn near impossible to damage that card.
I've opened slabbed coins with a hammer and pocket knife (chisel). (They were slabbed samples of 1964 dimes that the slabbing folks were giving away.)
I don't know about how tightly that card is held in there. Might not be enough room for such drastic action.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rY9rBE_tvZs#t=61 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=rY9rBE_tvZs#t=61)
Why open it? If its only a card, and not a comic, you've got a ready made frame Mike? Unless you need to put it in an album for a set or some such, I would leave it in the slab. :angel:
Quote from: Anton Phibes on September 19, 2015, 09:14:20 AM
Why open it? If its only a card, and not a comic, you've got a ready made frame Mike? Unless you need to put it in an album for a set or some such, I would leave it in the slab. :angel:
The painter-boy speaks the truth, Mike.
I don't normally buy slabbed things, but the price was right. All my other Creature cards are in album/binder pages in my Creature binder, so that's where I want to put this one.
It's out. This case is a little different that the one in the video. I ended up using a pair of plyers to snap the edges off till I could pry it apart.
I bought a slabbed Horror Monsters Green card (Incredible Shrinking Man) only because I needed that card and it was as cheap as an unslabbed one. I just left it in the slab and use it for more monster shelf decoration. Now if it were a comic or monster mag it would have been sprung posthaste. I'm not a slabbed collector.
Quote from: horrorhunter on September 19, 2015, 05:26:25 PM
I bought a slabbed Horror Monsters Green card
At least Horror Monsters are rarer cards. The slabbed card I bought was a 1973 YDL. Why even slab those?
Quote from: Mike Scott on September 19, 2015, 06:13:46 PM
At least Horror Monsters are rarer cards. The slabbed card I bought was a 1973 YDL. Why even slab those?
Really.
Who slabs a $2 card? ::)
Quote from: horrorhunter on September 20, 2015, 12:47:10 AM
Who slabs a $2 card? ::)
I paid $5, 'cause it's hard to find single Creature cards from any set, but that's my limit for a 73YDL card.
Quote from: Mike Scott on September 19, 2015, 03:10:26 PMAll my other Creature cards are in album/binder pages in my Creature binder, so that's where I want to put this one.
That's why I don't like slabbed cards either. I want my cards in the binder with the rest of them!
8)
Quote from: Mike Scott on September 18, 2015, 10:18:12 PM
I'm afraid if I try something too drastic I'll damage the card.
Throw the slab in a fire. When the plastic melts, reach into the fire with your bare hand and pull the card out. >:D
Quote from: Sean on October 06, 2015, 06:52:14 PM
Throw the slab in a fire. When the plastic melts, reach into the fire with your bare hand and pull the card out. >:D
Great advice! Just don't breathe in the petrochemicals (I hear they can harm you).
Quote from: Mike Scott on September 19, 2015, 04:11:20 PMIt's out. This case is a little different that the one in the video. I ended up using a pair of plyers to snap the edges off till I could pry it apart.
Yay!
8)
I've purchased two slabbed comics in my life and cracked them both out. I just used a flat screwdriver inserted into the seam and turned it to gradually crack the slab. You have to be careful, especially when you use scissors to cut off one end of the inner well to slide the comic out. I don't mind buying slabbed items if the price isn't jacked up for the slab. Most sellers have items slabbed because they sell easier that way. There is some assurance of completeness and lack of restoration, but the actual grade is often questionable. CGC charges a percentage of fair market value to "grade" an expensive book, so that's just begging for over-grading shenanigans. Of late I've seen CGC books over-graded (as compared to Overstreet standards) commonly to varying degrees, up to and including a FN (6.0) comic getting a CGC grade of 8.0 (VF). PGX used to catch hell for extreme over-grading, but now CGC is picking up their slack.
Collectors can buy their own slabs to encapsulate for "protection" of the item. I'm satisfied with using archival materials such as Mylar and acid-free boards and boxes, and practicing a little common sense handling techniques. I like to store my comics together in boxes. Slabs take up a lot of extra space. Also, CGC used a certain type of paper inserted into the books they slabbed that stops absorbing contaminants after a decade or so and could actually damage the book over time. I cracked mine out to remove the paper and put the books in Mylar and acid-free boards. As long as I don't sail them around the room, or jump up and down on them, they're "protected".
Since so many prospective buyers still respect slabbing I could see having an item you were going to sell get slabbed, if it was an expensive high grade item and you're sure the extra it would probably sell for would well exceed the slabbing cost. On the other hand I've seen many a video, and read many a comment on social media, about items sent in for slabbing getting damaged in the process and coming back in much lower grade with mysterious defects present that weren't there when the item was submitted.
Don't just submit items for 3rd party grading because so many others do it (it's huge with most collectors who make You Tube videos). Do your research first. Learn how to grade and compare eBay pics with commonly accepted grading definitions (such as Overstreet for comic books). It may not be the wonderful alternative so many people think it is. Just the fact that you could buy so many more items for your collection with the money that 3rd party graders charge should give you pause and suggest that some research is in order.