Please vote: Card grading/conditions for collections

[Nils]

I have been working on some updates to the collection manager, including the ability to specify a condition for each card.

Since there are so many different grading schemes out there I thought I'd let you vote on your favorite. So if you are using our collection manager, please select the grading scheme(s) that you'd like to use!

[CardAgain Sweater]

I have been working on some updates to the collection manager, including the ability to specify a condition for each card.

Since there are so many different grading schemes out there I thought I'd let you vote on your favorite. So if you are using our collection manager, please select the grading scheme(s) that you'd like to use!

I think you could even go fewer than 5 grades:

Mint - pack fresh, might not have been exposed to sunlight or oxygen. Absolutely no flaw, nick, nothing that can be seen without a jeweler's loop. Almost no cards fit this category.

Lightly Played - some little white spots on the edges of the black borders, maybe a fingernail tap mark on the art or text box. Absolutely no folds, creases, visible scratches when held from 2 or 3 feet away. Closer to Mint than to damaged.

Heavily Played - This card has been in the wars; battle scars are apparent through double sleeves and across the table, but no missing pieces or illegibility of the art or text box. Closer to damaged than to Mint.

Damaged - God God, what did you do to this poor card? Missing corners, text or art rubbed off, water damage. Fit for altering, maybe by a talented hand. Almost no cards are listed for sale or valuation in this category.

Subtle gradations seem to be pretty subjective, so I believe a list with fewer chances for that subjectivity is better for realistic grading. I always hear people argue over their definition of mint compared to near mint, and near mint vs. lightly played, and lightly played compared to moderately played...

Most cards will fall into lightly or heavily played. Most of the disagreements over value happen when an attempt is made to split this largest group of cards into tough-to-define gradiations.

Anyway, my two cents. Looks like another good tool for the site however it gets implemented. Thanks, Nils!

[Nils]

Thank you for posting your thoughts about this CardAgain Sweater! I have just updated the poll to include a sixth option, which is the four conditions you suggested.

In general I think it might be a good idea to err on the side of caution though. So rather have too many options than too few. It's always easier to ignore an option that you don't need than to figure out what to do when your preferred option isn't there.

[ApothecaryGeist]

Most sellers/traders combine Mint/Near-Mint into a single category.  The secondary market generally considers Mint to mean that you personally witnessed the card being opened from a booster pack.  Mint also contains some qualifications of proper centering of the cut and no smudging of the printing.  (Meaning that some cards straight out of the booster pack are not considered Mint.)  But once a card changes hands it become Near-Mint.  So most sellers/traders just consider Near-Mint to be the best condition possible.

Most online shops (I use tcgplayer, Troll&Toad, ABUgames, Star City) these days are using the following categories: Near-Mint, lightly played, moderately played, heavily played, damaged.  Some combine moderately played and heavily played into a single category.

Years ago it was common for placed to use: Mint/Near-Mint, Excellent, Fine, Good, Poor.  These were the categories popularized by the various pricing magazines like Scrye.  They are roughly equivalent to the modern terminology used.  Of note: Good condition cards are roughly synonymous with heavily played cards.

Of course this is all from the perspective of United States card sales/trading.  I do not know the history of the customary terminology in other parts of the world.

My $0.02 - Thanks. 

[Nils]

Thank you for your comments! I am now planning to go with this grading scheme, I hope that will work for everyone?

[Lohoris]

I have been working on some updates to the collection manager, including the ability to specify a condition for each card.

Since there are so many different grading schemes out there I thought I'd let you vote on your favorite. So if you are using our collection manager, please select the grading scheme(s) that you'd like to use!

I think you could even go fewer than 5 grades:

Mint - pack fresh, might not have been exposed to sunlight or oxygen. Absolutely no flaw, nick, nothing that can be seen without a jeweler's loop. Almost no cards fit this category.

Lightly Played - some little white spots on the edges of the black borders, maybe a fingernail tap mark on the art or text box. Absolutely no folds, creases, visible scratches when held from 2 or 3 feet away. Closer to Mint than to damaged.

Heavily Played - This card has been in the wars; battle scars are apparent through double sleeves and across the table, but no missing pieces or illegibility of the art or text box. Closer to damaged than to Mint.

Damaged - God God, what did you do to this poor card? Missing corners, text or art rubbed off, water damage. Fit for altering, maybe by a talented hand. Almost no cards are listed for sale or valuation in this category.

Subtle gradations seem to be pretty subjective, so I believe a list with fewer chances for that subjectivity is better for realistic grading. I always hear people argue over their definition of mint compared to near mint, and near mint vs. lightly played, and lightly played compared to moderately played...

Most cards will fall into lightly or heavily played. Most of the disagreements over value happen when an attempt is made to split this largest group of cards into tough-to-define gradiations.

Anyway, my two cents. Looks like another good tool for the site however it gets implemented. Thanks, Nils!

Sorry for the gravedig, but I've found this thread from Google, so I expect other people to end up here.

Question: are these definitions to be considered "official" now that the grading is implemented? Because on the site itself I could never find any official definition of it…

It would also be awesome if someone had posted some examples somewhere