Do you grade tickets?
 

Curious on what people's opinion is on getting tickets graded? Personally I grade tickets to protect them, get a grade assigned, and also participate in the registry. Ive had many conversations with people about this and most think Im crazy for doing this.

I personally do not see it, but that's just me. I am not a fan of grading in general, and don't have any desire to seek out someone's arbitrary opinion regarding the condition of my items...

As for protection, I think these things look a lot better in an acrylic screw-down holder (or something without a bar code). To me, the bar code is ugly and modern - and it clashes with the otherwise beautiful memorabilia contained within. I see it as a violation which sort of goes against the original reason for collecting these artifacts from a more innocent time. Just my 2 cents :o

I have a number of vintage tickets in my collection that are graded, and the slabs don't bother me, so I've left the tickets entombed. I can't imagine, however, ever paying to have a ticket or ticket stub graded. Do I really care whether someone at PSA thinks my Bob Feller no-hitter ticket stub is a 4? Or a 5? Or a 6?

I recently picked up the ticket below, which is a proof for the first baseball game in Cleveland Stadium (July 31, 1932). During the course of nearly 30 years of collecting, I've seen less than a handful of ticket stubs to this game and never a full ticket. So buying this proof was a big deal for me. The staining and dog-eared corners would make this a PSA beater. But the thing is, if it were in mint condition, I wouldn't value it any more (or have bid any higher). Having it slabbed would add nothing for me.

If you had every opening game to every Cleveland game would that change your mind? I guess thinking about it from the point of view as a set. If I had one 1955 Topps AA football card in Mint condition, I wouldnt grade it. If I had 100 in mint, well.....

I have several tickets I was going to send in to get slabbed and graded mainly so that they would be protected when being matted in any one of my team projects, but i've come to the same conclusion as Perezfan that a good quality screwdown protector is actually nicer and looks better...and less money!!

I agree with Mark whole heartedly!

BTW, collecting baseball tickets has been a huge focus of mine for about 40 years. Most die hard baseball ticket collectors that I know in the hobby do not slab their tickets.

Why do I need someone to authenticate a ticket that has a date on it? To me this seems redundant and a waste of money. It seems to me that it is slabbing just for the sake of slabbing. I don't get it and don't suppose I ever will, FWIW... ;)

Nice dialogue on ticket collecting by Rob here. He has got one terrific Cleveland Indians ticket collection, BTW... :)

That's a question that's very on point, Scotty. One of my passions is collecting opening-day tickets (and stubs) from Cleveland. I have about 70 different and never have given even a passing thought to having them slabbed. That's not to say I can't see why someone else would; it's just not for me.

Nice ticket Rob and great collection. I am not sure if a buck and a quarter is a good deal for the upper reserve in the midst of the great depression?

I am in the camp of not grading tickets. I suppose I would buy one graded if that is what is available such as this 1915 WS game 4 below that I lost out on recently. I purchased and own the below 1916 WS Game #1 ticket and love the writing on the back and have no desire to slab it but what is interesting is it has the same top 2 corners as the slabbed ticket but I am quite sure the writing on the back that I love would drop the grade to "poor" . And I just realized Ernie Shore won both of these games :).

Michael,
When it comes to collecting baseball tickets, it's never bothered me that the patron wrote something on the ticket. On the contrary, it's always indicated to me that the fan thought that it was important to add this info because they wanted to remember specifics of the event.

My own interest in collecting baseball tickets began when I came to the realization that a saved baseball ticket was the direct link to the fan's eye view of an specific event linked to sports history. Baseball tickets, especially to regular game day events, were rarely saved, instead of thrown away. Most patrons never believed that they ever had anything other than sentimental value....

Scott, you are so right. It's easy to see where tickets might have been saved for something obvious like a No-hitter, or 3000th hit, but other things like a players first homerun (and he then goes on to have a HOF career) or something like Rick Monday saving the flag. I can't imagine too many people saved that ticket thinking it would be an important event in baseball. By the way, anyone having one of those tickets (April 26th, 1976) please let me know :)

I'm one of only very few collectors who even consider most of my tickets in my collection to be collectible so I would never spend money to have them slabbed. :D Either way I don't see a problem with anyone who wants to slab theirs. I thought about getting my postcards entombed just because I think postcards look great in SGC slabs.

Mike,
At one time I owned a ticket to Rick Monday saving the flag in 1976. I recall seeing one on eBay about a year ago, but they infrequently show up. I'll let you next time I see one. ;)

What does that Monday/Flag game ticket normally sell for? (hint: great idea for a thread...most sought after (non 300 game, 500 homer, 3,000 hit, no hitter, postseason) ticket stubs in the hobby).

What a great story. I never knew about this (just watched the clip and interview on youtube). Amazing.

Dan,
I sold my Monday/Flag ticket stub (EXMT condition) in the old Parleton Auction in the SCD back in the late 1990's. It sold for about $40- $50 if I recall correctly. At the time I was fine with the sale price, as it was not a good fit for my personal collection. It came from a large collection that I purchased in 1998 that had over 1500 different baseball tickets in it mostly from the 1970's. I paid exactly $1.00 for the Monday/ Flag ticket. :)

The full ticket to this game sold on eBay for several hundred dollars if I recall correctly...

This ticket is on several collector's want lists that I am aware of, BTW...

I hope this helps!

Quite true Scott. I have a few Red Sox stubs from my youth that I put the score on the back and even the attendence. If I did not put the score on the stub, I put it on the front of the program (even if I scored the game). Serves has a great remembrance for me.

i love tickets and got several graded tickets. All my graded tickets were already purchased graded and i like the slabs for the protection and storage. Personally i could care less about the numerical grade and the registry though.

I looked into slabbing my Academy Awards tickets at one point, but PSA turned them down and SGC did not handle tickets at the time [not sure if they do now]. Given the change of heart I've had about slabbing stuff that isn't for resale [I do it only if it really needs it for protection or to complete a run or set that is already slabbed], I am glad I did not spend the money.

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibit...ge/Collage.jpg

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibit...ars%20show.jpg

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibit...ars%20Show.jpg

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibit...ars%20Show.jpg

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibit...ars%20Show.jpg

Above is the oldest ticket I've ever seen, for the 16th Academy Awards. Best Picture for 1943 awarded that evening--Casablanca.

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibit...0BOG%20Tix.JPG

The Board of Governors Ball is the after-party. Much tougher ticket than the show, as not all show attendees are invited.

Grade Tickets??? Depends on the Ticket
 

I have hundreds of tickets in my collection. Many of them are graded. Some are slabbed authentic (because it is hard to explain the 1 or 2 numeric grade but I still like the details of the game on the slab) while the majority remain raw. Older Tickets were made to be handled and when they are in great condition they are very scarce. You need to understand that tickets are graded like baseball cards. If the grader sees a crease, no matter how small ,that ticket can't get better than a 5 (on rare ocassions a 6). Some tickets also aren't made with a perforation, so they have an uneven audit tear (again knocking the grade). Some paper also lends it self to very slight surface creasing (i.e. 52 brooklyn w.s. ticket and 1950 yankees w.s. tickets and 1943 w.s. cards tickets). It is almost impossible to find a ticket without a crease on those issues. I feel the strict ticket grading adds to obsession of obtaining the rarest of tickets. I HAVE RAMBLED, but keep this in mind, if a ticket stub is from the 1960s or earlier and is graded a 4 or better, rest assured that you have a beautiful ticket (maybe the nicest ever graded for that game).. If it is a 6 or better, you probably won't find another for the same game in the next 3-5 years in that nice of shape. P.S. Still looking for a world series 1927 game 4... Would love to trade or buy one....

Makes me pretty happy for my 6, 7, and 8s in the 30s and 40s.

http://www.psacard.com/PSASETREGISTR....aspx?s=104861

Great tickets!! Thanks for linking your registry. It really makes my point, though. Notice that his stubs (actual items that made it to the games grade between 1-4). The fulls never made it to the game so they grade very high... The fulls are still more desireable and worth more a lot more, but a high graded stub is tough to obtain.

Very true, good point. I like the full tickets but at some point you have to accept they don't exist or they are locked in a collection