Hi Todd
Congratulations to you all for putting this together. Do you have a ballpark
figure of the cost of authenticating a lobby card?
Regards
John
Website: www.moviemem.com
JOHN REID VINTAGE MOVIE MEMORABILIA
PO Box 92
Palm Beach
Qld 4221
Australia
----- Original Message -----
From: "Todd Spoor" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, October 09, 2010 8:11 AM
Subject: [MOPO] New Authentication and Grading Service
Hello MOPO,
I wanted to introduce a new Authentication and Grading Service to all of
MOPO since you will be seeing it in some of the Heritage listings. You can
view the website at www.mpgrading.com
I have been working on this technology for the last year and half with the
help of Rob Borst, Todd Feiertag and most recently Dan Strebin.
There are 4 things we are doing that are truly unique, 3 of which are
Patent Pending. I believe all of them will help the movie poster
collecting hobby tremendously. Please read on or go to the website.
1. One of my initial reasons for creating this service (before the
Universal Horror scandal hit) was the frustration of not knowing how many
posters there are for any given title. I know this is impossible to
accurately gage since there will always be new finds of posters and
posters hidden in the archives of some collectors, but it would be nice to
have as accurate a number as possible. Until now, there has been no way to
fingerprint a poster. We have created a 9 digit DNA invisible ink stain
that is placed on the bottom corner of the poster. The DNA is registered
to our company and the chances of it being reproduced is 1 in 33 trillion.
The DNA is so secure it is also admissible in court. Now, EACH poster has
a fingerprint and can be tracked as it moves from auction to collector and
back to auction. (Isn't everyone curious to really know how many posters
of their favorite title are really out there... I am!!!)
2. Encrypted Patented Microchip: All of the poster's information is housed
in a tiny encrypted microchip that is recorded in a 1"x 3" ACID FREE tag.
This tag is attached to the BACK of card stock posters, i.e. lobby cards,
inserts, half sheets, 30x40's 40x60's, etc. without having to SLAB them.
This tag CANNOT be removed from the poster with out it going blank,
therefore it CANNOT be placed on a fake. The tag is also laced with our
DNA 9 digit number which MUST MATCH the DNA stain on the front of the
poster. For paper stock posters, i.e. 1 sheets, 3 sheets, 6 sheets, we are
only putting the DNA ink stain on the front of the poster. The Encrypted
microchip tag is placed on a Certificate of Authenticity that accompanies
the poster with a MATCHING DNA ink stain that corresponds to the poster.
3. Patented Grading System: I think everyone would agree that if we sent a
poster to 10 different dealers or auction houses we would probably get 5
to 6 DIFFERENT grades! I have heard almost everyone complain that if you
send an item to a "Grading Company" then send the SAME item back 6 months
later, you will probably get a different grade. This will never happen
again with this system. I worked very closely with a Computer Programming
Development team to devise a computer generated grading program, called MP
GradePRO. Over 1000 hours went into the testing of this program to insure
that no matter WHO grades a poster, it will be done without bias. The
program assigns weights to every flaw therefore reducing the grade of the
poster as more flaws are recorded. For example, all the grader has to do
is measure each tear, whether it is in the border or into the image, count
how many of each size tear there are and then enter that info into the
grading system. The program then calc!
ulates the grade. It's that simple, in other words, NO MORE
SUBJECTIVITY!!! To show you how accurate this is, Ron Borst, Todd
Feieretag and myself all graded a poster independently of each other. We
then had a complete novice who had never handled an original movie poster
before in her life grade the same poster that we did. The grade came out
the same!!! Wouldn't it be great to know that your poster's grade didn't
go up or down based on if the grader is having a bad day???
4. 21 megapixel image complete with color index chart: Our 4th level of
security is to take the highest resolution image available that is
uncorrected color-wise. The color chart is kept next to the image so that
if the poster comes back to us, it can be compared for reference to make
sure that fading has not occurred. The picture is also a road map to show
every detail and flaw so that if the poster is ever re-graded, it can be
matched to the original image to insure authenticity and record any new
flaws.
It is my hope that most of you will see this is NOT an attempt to bring
another money making grading system to the hobby. What we are trying to do
is BRING NEW PEOPLE into a hobby that we all love and want to see prosper.
What we are giving people is a way to feel secure by:
A. Knowing what they are buying is real.
B. That it is graded in an unbiased and accurate manner.
C. Can be tracked and will eventually know how many of a particular title
are out there.
D. Poster or lobby Card can still be displayed without encapsulating or
slabbing the item.
I welcome comments, as I know there will be many!!!
Regards,
Todd Spoor and the MPgrading Team.
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
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