[Lordstan]

9. As I have not physically handled them: do the PSA and Beckett slabs provide better protection for photos than say an album page with an acid-free comic book or magazine board behind the picture? That is how I store mine now but for certain photos I'd be willing to go with a holder instead.

PSA holders have a plastic front and back that are similar to a large photo holder front and back, but more tight onto the photo. They are very thin, but feel fairly sturdy. The Beckett ones are bricks. They are approx a half inch thick with the photo inside an inner plastic sleeve. They are very sturdy. It took me about 15 min each to get some photos out of them. I took the pics out because they were too big and a real PITA to store. If your main goal is security, these can't be beat. Also, they do slab smaller size photos. I don't know if either use mylar in their holders, but I would think that would be the safest.


10. Is there a preference among collectors for numerical grade or "A" only on photos?

As far as I know, only Beckett grades photos in their slabs. To this point, I don't think there is any extra value associated with a numerically graded photo. That being said, do I think the TPAs will eventually try to create the same type of registry fervor for the "highest graded copy extant" of photos? Yes. If they can figure out a way to get everyone to pay to have their already slabbed photos reslabbed with a grade they will.
For myself, I couldn't care less if a grade is on the slab or not. As they say on the card side, I buy the photo not the slab.