I'm not sure how "wide" the range really is. Some things would be easier if everyone was using the same nomenclature and definitions, but it's not too difficult to translate one dealer's grades into another's.
It may be true that "one dealer's 'fine' can be VASTLY different from another's," but switching to a numerical system merely gives an illusion of precision. You'd just end up with one dealer's 7.7 being vastly different from another's 7.7. On the other hand, avoiding the issue by simply relying on photographs or detailed descriptions may offer some advantages to individual dealers (saving time and effort in the former instance, saving thought in the latter), but makes comparisons between sales for price appraisal purposes much more difficult . It's my impression that "fine" was imported into comic book grading from antiquarian book, print, and coin collecting. (If someone knows better, please do tell.) Anyway, I've never liked the word much - it reads British or old-fashioned to me, and seems to suggest an assessment of damage rather than a judgement of presentation. I prefer the term "excellent," common in record collecting, mainly because I find it more expressive and modern - like movie posters and records themselves are - and also because I consider it more easily understandable for non-experts. I never use "mint," because, in a word, I don't believe in it for movie collectibles. I also used to think that it was always better to grade "down," and I still believe that it's better to err on the conservative side, but in the end I think that as a dealer I owe it to both sides of the transaction as well as to the larger community to strive instead to be accurate, while acknowledging that elements of subjectivity and relativity will inevitably enter into the equation. It obviously doesn't help a consignor for a dealer to downgrade his or her holdings defensively, and I think it's also a disservice to collectors to devalue their acquisitions pre-emptively. If we all adopt the practice of intentionally downgrading, then at a certain point we're encouraging people to correct in the opposite direction, and generally spread confusion and uncertainty. A lot of it's just habit, I guess, and personal taste. In any event, I wouldn't necessarily quibble with the Heritage grade until I had chances to view better versions of the same poster, and compare them to other dealer's appraisals, including Heritage's own usual practices. Colin CK MacLeod Collectibles at ckmac.com <http://ckmac.com/> Kymar's on eBay <http://stores.ebay.com/Kymars-Stuff> -----Original Message----- From: MoPo List [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Bruce Hershenson Sent: Sunday, May 11, 2008 05:31 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [MOPO] Does the wide range of condition definitions hurt our hobby? Most hobbies have a pretty rigid set of condition grades, usually on a number scale with two digits (i.e., 77, or 9.8). But only a few dealers in our hobby use any number grades, and when they do it is almost always a single digit (the Warren scale), which usually can be pretty much equated to the standard scale of words (good, very good, fine, mint) that have been around forever. But one dealer's "fine" can be VASTLY different from another's! Consider the following poster: http://movieposters.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=58052&Lot_No=52069 <http://movieposters.ha.com/common/view_item.php?Sale_No=58052&Lot_No=52069> Heritage rates this as "fine" and yet (looking at their enlarged image), I know that I personally would have rated it as "good", and I imagine there are some who would have rated it as "very good". Of course, movie posters are far more complex than a stamp, coin, or baseball card, with a far greater surface area, and a much wider range of defects, but comic books are also complex items to grade and somehow it seems THAT hobby was able to come to widely accepted grading standards. Does not this incredibly wide range of condition definitions for a single poster hurt our hobby? I would think that many collectors (especially newer ones) would find it a big turn-off to buy a "fine" condition poster and then later discover that a poster in the very same condition is graded "good" by other dealers. And if so, what can be done about it? Bruce Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
