I don't know if slabbing will come to the poster hobby/business or not, but I do know that in the case of comics many of these same arguments were made, but that slabbing has certainly made inroads with those collectors (though a great majority of sales are still from raw or unslabbed items).
Not sure why someone couldn't "look at" a slabbed lobby card, but one would think it is far easier to look at a slabbed lobby card than anything else that is slabbed. Can "too high a grade" be given? Sure - just as too low a grade may be given. Anytime you grade hundreds of thousands of items there is a chance something will get by you. I'm sure that every now and then there are people that might even disagree with a grade from one of Bruce's auctions, it happens, but the idea is to give a uniform standard of grading (something I hear complaints about all that time that we don't have in this hobby), so that when you buy a slabbed item from any seller in the world you have a good idea of it's true condition and greater confidence in your purchase. In some of the rare instance where CGC (the comic slabbing company) has made a big mistake, they have purchased the item back and retired it, or have had it reslabbed with updated information, and that is the point - they hold themselves accountable because of the fees they charge for their service. My understanding is that John Davis has been charging between $75 and $175 for his services on authenticating posters, not only is that extremely expensive compared to the prices the slabbing companies charge I doubt he is willing to be held accountable for any mistakes he has made (thank goodness dedicated collectors discovered the Dracula mistake before it could be sold). Missing restoration in grading? I know that CGC uses a panel of three different people when grading, this helps in having everyone be a failsafe for the others, and considering the amount of restoration that I see missed all the time in posters (even from some very long-time dealers) I would feel much more confident in three members of a third-party grading service telling me what level of restoration an item has than I would most every other dealer. Just this week I saw a very expensive item from a major seller being advertised with possible restoration as the seller wasn't sure. Could one of the graders be bribed to slab a fake? I guess it could happen (though you would have to bribe a panel of three graders, not just one), but certainly seems unlikely. Maybe some conspiracy theorists will say that John Davis was bribed to give a COA to a fake Dracula one-sheet? As for expensive, the hobby has already lost upwards of $2,000,000 in a couple of years due to fakes, and some "experts" are charging upwards of $200 to verify items so it's hard to make an argument for expensive in light of what is being charged now and has already happened. How much money would have been saved if a small fee had been paid and these items were discovered as being fakes from the outset? And of course a great majority of items will always be sold unslabbed and even if you buy a slabbed item, you can still open it and "free" the poster if you want, but at least you bought it with a much greater confidence that it is what is being claimed. ----- Original Message ----- From: Phil Edwards To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 8:33 AM Subject: Re: [MOPO] slabbing posters Stills are already being slabbed, though considering the ease with which quality copies have been passed off as originals for many years (who remembers the joker in the late 60s/early 70s who used to brown the copy stills in an oven to makë them looked "aged") then who knows how many Dodgy Bros stills are slabbed and passing around. I suspect anything up to a 22x28 would be pretty easy to do once the slab molds are made. That gives you midget trade ads, WCs, regular WCs, jumbo LCs, LCs and a variety of non-US sizes that could be accommodated. Bruce outlined all the reasons why slabbing sucks. I'll add another. Just as comics were created to be read and enjoyed, so advertising material was created to be looked at and enjoyed. Phil ----- Original Message ----- From: allen day To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 10:13 PM Subject: Re: [MOPO] slabbing posters Howdy y'all, Regarding poster slabbing: It will NOT occur due to large sizes and costs thereof. It will NOT occur due to the minimal amount of early material. It will NOT occur due to logistical nightmares for grading / storage / transportation, etc... I can continue, but you get my drift, n'est-ce-pas? To recap ... it ain't gonna happen. ad 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. 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.
