A New Idea for Grading Photographic Cards

[paul]

I like the idea. But I think a major hurdle from the grading companies' wooden perspective would be the set registries. For all those millions of collectors putting together N172 or G&B sets, how would you count the photographic quality subgrade in the registry contests? I don't think the grading companies would be perceptive enough to realize this is a non issue.

[barrysloate]

Interesting point Paul, and one I hadn't considered. Perhaps for registry purposes the actual grade would be the only thing that counts. The photo quality directly impacts the value of the card, so that number would be important when it's being sold. But the registry is kind of arbitrary to begin with; it's just a way to assess and compare sets on paper. Don't think it's as important in that scenario. These are the kind of details that would still need to be worked out.

I realize theoretically the #3 set could be better than the #2 set based on photo quality, but that's life. There is only so much one can do with these numbers.

[tothrk]

I think that Wright card in question is the rare blank front/blank back combo.

[JamesGallo]

Originally Posted by paul

I like the idea. But I think a major hurdle from the grading companies' wooden perspective would be the set registries. For all those millions of collectors putting together N172 or G&B sets, how would you count the photographic quality subgrade in the registry contests? I don't think the grading companies would be perceptive enough to realize this is a non issue.

I don't see this as a problem. You could do a multiplier where the photo grade gets added to the card grade and gets you it's registry value.

Ie a low grade cards with a nice photos would get a higher value on the registry. They already weight the cards on the grade and the point value so this would just add another calculation to it.

Since they grade cards with both an autograph grade and a card grade there should really be no reason they can't do a card grade and a photo grade.

This same new value system could be used for autograph cards to and it would encourage cards to be resubmitted for several reasons.

Auto cards in high grade would gain even more value in a set

Lower grade auto cards would get a bump for a nice auto.

Photo cards in low grade would get a bump if they had a good photo, so it might not be as pointless to grade them to put on the registry

Can you imagine a PSA 9 card with a PSA 10 auto getting 10 or 11 registry points it really would open up a whole new world if they crossed it over.

I think this could be done with the right company and an open mind.

James G