Here's my opinion. The problem doesn't seem to be the rating system, but rather those who abuse their own grading system and are inconsistent,, especially those who "overlook" flaws, or any who use "stock" images, enhanced images, or the "wrong" image..
I have fewer than one in 1,000 posters returned for condition, so I feel my grading system is working fine, so I see no reason to change mine. I also auction far more posters than every other auction put together, so if you want a new "standard" that is consistent and has almost no problems, why not just ask everyone to switch to ours? I will gladly share it with everyone, and I don't want it called the "eMoviePoster.com scale", but maybe the "Standard Grading Scale" or any other generic term. Exactly *WHERE *is the problem that needs fixing? If any auctions do have a problem with over-grading or under-grading or inconsistent grading, then shouldn't all of you ask only those auctions to review their procedures and fix them, and not try to "fix" those with no problems in this are? And if your opinion is that all the auctions are not having problems, then I don't see that there is a problem at all. I *DO *ask you all this: How do *YOU *grade a poster that is " *A heavily-worn item, showing significant signs of use such as multiple pinholes or staple holes, tape, tears, soiling, pieces missing, small markings or pen/pencil marks."* I call that poster "fair" (at best). Do any of you call it "good to very good" as the Warren grading scale does, and is that not a terminology that is sure to greatly mislead "newbie" collectors? * And do ANY of you want to me adopt this system?* On Tue, Mar 11, 2014 at 12:29 PM, Tommy Barr <tommymb...@gmail.com> wrote: > I am using Heritage as an example, but I hope nobody uses that as an > excuse for sniping, as I think we all suffer from a mote in the eye here. > In a recent auction HA had this poster - > http://movieposters.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=161410&lotNo=52344. > > I noticed it was the same poster as previously sold by them - > http://movieposters.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=161253&lotNo=50302. > > The only difference was that the grading had moved from 'fine' to 'fine+'. > I contacted HA to enquire about that and received a reply from Grey Smith. 'If > items are reconsigned with us, we have a team grading and evaluating each > lot for condition ignorant of its previous sale. Naturally, grading will > always be subjective to a degree.' I replied that while I accepted > grading as subjective I did not think it unreasonable to expect > consistency from the same source, and it would appear that the present team > is more lenient in its appraisal than that of the recent past, as is > evidenced by yet another poster previously rated 'fine-' which has now been > promoted to 'fine'. > http://movieposters.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=161410&lotNo=52506 > > http://movieposters.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=161246&lotNo=53484 > > I received no reply to that. > > Now I appreciate that we are dealing with quite fine distinctions here, > but grading is important. Having large images to view is all very well, but > it does not show everything. Wrinkles do not always show well, and there > are no images of the back of the poster so the amount of tape or writing > there relies on description. > > The main problem I find, though, is one of comparison. Is HA's 'fine' the > equivalent of EMP's 'good' (and surely 'good' meaning 'not very good' is > one of the worst anachronisms)? HA does at least assign a numerical value > to the rating, and other sites such as MoviePosterBid and > MoviePosterExchange do use numbered grading, but there still often appears > to be some difference in values as, for example, MPX seem to be very > critical and often have posters as low as 2 or 3 which I expect others > might have as a 4 or 5. The majority of eBay sellers are quite happy to > describe their wares as 'excellent', and major auction houses such as > Christie's simply have an A,B,C rating system. > > I like the iguide.net numerical system, and should something like that > not now be accepted as an approved standard? CGC and third party grading > would seem to have limited appeal, but there is no reason why a unified > system cannot be applied. It is surely long overdue, as Alan Adler's post > of Jan 2006 demonstrates - > > A unified grading system would be fantastic. > > It will happen - just a question of when. > > Look to Overstreet's comic guide and the pages on grading comics and > > find a useful and well-organized list of criteria that has worked well for > the comic world. > > Overstreet even has a book out devoted only to grading of comics. > > It has photos of every grade - using a number scale - 1-100 I think -but > could be wrong. > > Check it out at the bookstore or library. > > There is no reason this can not be accomplished for movie posters - > > Even though there are a number of sizes - the same rules set forward for > grading movie paper can work for all with minor notations. > > > > Eight years later but still it hasn't happened, but the idea must be > appealing. At least we would then be able to view and compare posters based > on mutual assumptions, and also be able to compare the rigour of the > dealers in their appraisals. > > > > > Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com > ___________________________________________________________________ How > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: > lists...@listserv.american.edu In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF > MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. > > -- Bruce Hershenson and the other 29 members of the eMoviePoster.com team P.O. 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