Another ticket grading question
 

Did PSA always assign a possible number grade to ticket stubs, or was it one of those situations (like strip cards) where originally everything was an "A" and then they begrudgingly started assigning number grades.

Reason I ask is that many vintage stubs have a grading pop that looks like this:

A 32

1 3

5 1

7 1

Just wondering if some of those As are really number grades ahead of their time.

Hopefully others will chime in.

From my experience and I want to say the earliest I sent a Ticket in for slabbing was 2008-2009 and there was the option for both.

I would just choose please grade Authentic, because I thought number grades for Ticket were stupid. Still do.

I mean I somewhat get it, it's nice having a pristine Ticket, but on the other hand, more then likely if it's pristine it wasn't at the game. Either went unused, or was a leftover from the box office. So I always preferred my tickets with some wear and use (like my women), because at least then I knew the ticket was inside the pocket of someone at the event.

Thx. There are pristine tickets/stubs I love and worn ones like you describe. Like both.

oh......and a 2nd point why there may be more Authentic graded then number graded I'm pretty sure if you didn't catch the small print that you wanted a number grade then they would automatically just grade it Authentic.

I don't think people cared if it was a 1 or 3, they just wanted it graded authentic so it then was a known authentic ticket and not a fake or reprint.

I know Shakir who is on here worked for PSA back in the day grading tickets so he might shed more light on this.

The first few Years I sent stubs to PSA I just asked them to slab authentic. Most were pre war stubs and my reasoning was Ticket collectors can tell a nice stub from a beat up one. But over time I saw really nice A graded stubs sell for less than stubs graded 2 or 3. So clearly the Market valued grades so I changed to keep up with market.
For myself I prefer a non slabbed stubs and only slab for resale. I have hundreds of raw stubs and maybe 30 in slabs.

Agree... they are better unslabbed and ungraded. Collectors don't need some third party "expert" to tell them what their own eyes can see.

the points in this post are my exact gripe with the whole slabbing, grading craze. It turns collectibles into commodities which basically price people who are collectors out of collecting due to people, including those with more money than brains, speculating. I don't collect because it's worth "X". I collect because I find in fascinating in it's history, thrilling in the hunt, and gratifying in completing something, among other emotions.
Slabbing and grading in the card world created penis measuring competitions for who has the highest graded this or that. Then slabbing moved to autos. ok, so it helps to ensure authenticity. Fair enough...but now there's auto grading. As if, no one can tell with their own eyes whether or not an auto is bold or not. Why? Money and only money. The TPAs figured out a way to tap into those same competitions now for who has the "Best" auto.
Moving along to photos..So far the Type system is being used primarily for assessing when the photo was made. I am sure next will be grading and then the registry to tap into the same competitions for who's got the best.
And most recently, we moved to tickets. Same story. Started with slabbing to prove authenticity and then moved to grading and then moved to labeling every single thing that happened in the game.
Player's First Game..OK
Player's first game at home..OK
Player's first Hit...Sure
First Single, Double, or Triple?
First Run...ok
First walk..eh
First HR..ok
Every HR thereafter.. I guess
First walk..?
First HBP?
First Sacrifice bunt?
First Sacrifice fly?
First SB..Sure
First Caught Stealing?
First Intentional Walk?
First Grounded into DP?
Golden Sombrero?
a Cycle..OK
I mean where does it end? It all leaves me shaking my head.
It's all about money. Can sellers point out something, anything, that happened in the game that might convince someone else to pay more for it?

Now, I am not a pie in the sky dreamer. I get it. Things have changed and that all the stuff I am griping about is the way it is now. I don't have to be happy about it and can remember the day when it was different. IMO, grading/slabbing has been the main reason why things changed and I don't really think the hobby is overall better for it.

I hear you Mark. I find the description of stubs on eBay pretty comical. "First time Jackie Robinson tried to steal home and was out" is one of my favorites. The lengths to which people go to find something special about a random game is pretty absurd at times.

I have to fall on my sword to some degree and admit that there is a part of me that gets a real kick out of having a 1 of 1, or the highest graded so and so. No one in my life really gives a crap about any of it, so it's not like I am walking around pulling vintage tickets out of my pockets at dinner parties. Frankly I don't even like posting much of my stuff here. But like a lot of collectors of anything, I get a charge out of having "the best" EXTANT (a key word in every AH catalog) or the only one of something. Don't have many of those, but the few I have are pretty sweet.

Actually, it really doesn't matter much right now considering the latest pricing from PSA. Cheapest price $300 a ticket.
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