Charles Conlon Fakes, Baseball Magazine Stickers & A Brief Tutorial

[drcy]

P.s., if I was selling a standard George Burke photo, I'd describe it as a "circa 1930s photo" or "vintage circa 1930s." There's no need to assign it a "type I" or "original" label to it. Just describe it a what it is and what you know in plain English language.

I describe photos in language people off the street would understand, and, to be honest, if someone says "Is this a Type II or a Type III" photo, I have to go to the PSA/DNA website to look up what those terms means. I remember Type I, because that's a convoluted way of saying "original." Why people don't say "original" when that's a perfectly clear name, i have no idea.

The PSA type system is just a convenient guide that some people use. It's a fair enough and useful enough guide, has its limitations and arbitrariness, as all guides do. The only problem is some people who take it too seriously and treat it as some sort of gospel.

When people ask me "But what about the two year rule?," I say "What are you asking me for?" That's not my rule, I had nothing to do with it. Two was an arbitrary number PSA picked because they felt they had to have a 'rule' for their 'grading system.'

"All models are wrong, but some are useful"-- British statistician George E.P. Box.

In short, the PSA guide is just a convenient guide. Don't treat it as some sort of gospel. If you find it convenient and useful, great. But, as with any set of rules, it will have its limitations and points of reasonable debate. The two years rule is just the one that most often sticks out.

Some photos, such as many of the Burkes, can't be accurately labelled by the PSA type system, because you don't know when the photo was made. Doesn't make the photos any less valuable or collectible-- people have always known Burke printed and photos later--, it's just applying them to the PSA system is trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. Or, at least, you don't know what "type" it is. Could fall within the two years, could have been made 7 years later. But it's still a collectible 1930s photo made by George Burke.

And, returning to my first sentence, if selling a Burke photo I'd call it a "circa 1930s George Burke photo."