[Archive]

Posted By: Mark Anderson

Great ideas in this thread. Of course I know these are directed all over the place - some at a particular company and some at all companies, but I will actually be going through them more in depth (probably after the National is over and I have time to breathe again) to discuss things BVG/BGS can look into.

Obviously, there is no way to please everyone, and sometimes what seems like a great idea to one person isn't economically best for the business, or is considered a detractor by others. There are a lot of factors to consider, and every decision inevitably makes one group happy, one group upset, and one group who isn't impacted too much. Regardless, I love to see what people are asking for, and it is often input from customers that turns into new business ideas or changes for us.


REGISTRY:

Regarding a multi-company registry, this is actually an idea that has been pitched in the past, but as someone alluded to, an official registry like that would require the participation of each company. At the time it was presented a few years ago, not every company was on board and the logistics were rather cumbersome, to say the least. I am still in favor of this idea if other companies are interested.

However, Beckett.com is close to launching a completely new website, all very Web 2.0 friendly. Among the planned changes will be a revamped Registry (aka "My Collections") that allows registries of BGS/BVG, or registries of mixed cards from BVG/BGS, SGC, PSA, and GAI. In addition, you can also put raw cards in your registry. When it comes to adding points and competing in contests, those will be BVG/BGS exclusive. But as far as organizing your collection, all four major companies can be entered. You can see a little glimpse of the new site ideas at this blog:

http://blogbeckett.wordpress.com/2008/06/30/organ-eaze/


SCANS:

Scanning every incoming card has also been discussed at length. Essentially, it comes down to a logistics issue of manpower to scan a million cards a year, as well as hosting and organizing over 6 million cards total. Not out of the question, but would most customers be willing to pay more for this?


UV:

I don't know about the others, but BGS/BVG holders do have UV protectant in them. The levels added change the tint of the material, so you have to balance the amount of UV protection with the aesthetics of the product.


POP:

If anyone sends us an old flip, we will remove it from the POP Report. At this point, we don't receive any flips from any other companies, but I'm willing to remove cards from our POP on any flips other companies send me. Not a problem at all.


CRACKABILITY:

That one we won't change. We want our slabs impossible to open easily as that makes them the most secure. There are ways to free your cards - a simple and cheap method is to snip a top corner of the slab with bolt cutters, and then use a thin flat head screwdriver to pop up the outer edges of the holder.


SLEEVES:

Yes, there are pros and cons. I know the scanning is harder with our inner sleeves. But it is still the safest protection for the card so it doesn't rattle around in the holder and suffer edge damage. I know with a digital camera, just taking the image at a slight angle works. Any other ideas? Also, because we slab so many different sizes of items, particularly with JSA autographs now, the sleeves give us complete flexibility to custom create each sleeve to fit the item.


SCRATCH-FREE HOLDERS:

Very interesting. I'm not aware of widespread problems with this, however, I'm sure it happens at some level. I will actually talk to our manufacturers about whether any kind of scratch-protectant that can be added.


OLD JUDGE CARDS:

We will discuss this in a Grader meeting, regarding photo clarity vs. paper loss. Good input.


ALTERED CARDS:

Although we don't list the exact alterations on the label, we do differentiate Authentic cards into two groups -- AUTHENTIC (meaning unaltered), or AUTHENTIC-ALTERED. Some people do choose to have them slabbed authentic without grades, or even give a minimum grade, and cards falling short of the minimum they want slabbed as Authentic.


See you all in Chicago,
Mark Anderson