R312 Holder

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Posted By: jbrcards

This is my first post, anywhere, anytime, so please forgive any breaches of protocol. They're unintentional.

I mainly collect 50's-60's graded cards, but several years ago I bought a nice 1936 R312 Dimaggio at an antique book show. None of the grading companies could slab a card of that size at the time (it's about 4" x 5 1/2"), but I sent it to GAI and received a pre-grade of NM-MT 8 with the card sealed inside a lucite screw-down holder.

Last year I heard that the technology had improved to the point where GAI could slab the card, so I submitted it for permanent grading. It came back with a permanent grade, but in a thin, flimsy plastic holder roughly the size of a poster. I don't remember the exact dimensions, but it was in the neighborhood of 18" x 24". It was ridiculously huge and offered no protection whatsoever for the card.

I sent it back to GAI. They were professional and courteous and restored the card to its original lucite holder and pre-grade. They also threw in some free grades for my hassle.

I haven't seen any graded R312s offered for sale, but some of the auction houses are beginning to carry GAI graded cabinet cards in this same type of bizarre, huge holder.

I was wondering whether anyone else had experience with these kinds of holders, and what they thought about them.