Thank you to those who responded to my original post. I got some unexpected, but not surprising, feedback. It seems the number one reason people refer to the chipguide is to ensure their item is authentic.

THIS SHOULD BE A WAKE-UP CALL TO THE HOBBY!!!!!

This tells me two things:
1) Slabbing should definitely be reconsidered....the younger collector / newbie / investor can buy with confidence without devoting years to
learning the nuances of the hobby.

2) What an absolutely inept and horrible job the CCA has done the last 15 years regarding the sale and manufacture of fake chips. While every
hobby-themed organization or collector's club i can think of outright bans or discourages fake, fantasy, or re-pops, the CCA does the opposite!!! It's a shame that the hobby is inundated with so many of these spurious items that this issue has become the top concern of those entering the hobby.