PSA/SGC Slabbed Photos....To Crack or Not?
 

PSA has their own photo authentication and slabbing division and both SGC and PSA will slab cabinet photos.
It's my understanding that most large institutions (MLB Hall of Fame, Museum of Modern Art, Smithsonian, etc.) will immediately remove any slabbed items from their plastic tomb upon receipt as it's not deemed archivally safe to have these items slabbed for long term preservation/storage.

So my question is this: If you are a photo collector do you prefer your photos slabbed or raw/unslabbed? If raw/unslabbed, do you buy and crack out slabbed photos for your collection, or leave them slabbed if purchased that way?

Personally, while I like the authentication aspect I prefer my photos out of the slab. With that being said, when buying pre-slabbed photos I've only managed to bring myself crack a couple out of their tomb because I can't get past the fact that I'm most likely pissing away some of the "value" of the photo by removing it from the slab.

Thoughts?

I actively avoid anything that is slabbed so I would never consider grading a cabinet photo nor do I look at any that are already graded. If I happened upon one that I had to have I would crack it out.

Alan

I like the slabs.

Who knows what might happen to the photos over the next 100 years but safe to say I would be long gone and not worried about them.

They display nicely in the slabs.

Just my opinion but that is what a forum like this is for IMO.

I prefer my photos not to be slabbed. If I purchase it slabbed, I typically evaluate the photo and determine if it's worth it to crack out or not.

Some are slabbed with a pedigree label (for example a players personal estate), I'll keep it. I've also had photos that were old, bone dry & brittle where any attempt to crack out would likely cause damage in the process.

Even just eye appeal only, a lot of snapshots photos don't look great when slabbed because of all the different sizes that don't fit exactly.
8x10 photos do look nicer in slabs as it's more uniform size.

I feel the way you do, Paul. My collection is a mix of both. Nearly all images acquired more than 7-10 years ago are unslabbed. Everything I've purchased since then, save a few, are entombed.

I've submitted a few of my more valuable images to PSA in the past year or so and only requested the Cert. No slab.

My preference would be to have them all in binders or drop-front boxes with museum board and mylar, and a place to retain the PSA cert tag(s). Lighter, easier to flip through. Haven't committed to that yet.

I think about this as well. I want to do my best to preserve these images but at the same time I doubt I'll give a shit if my photos are slabbed or not, or how well they're preserved, while on my deathbed.

Those PSA slabs are a hell of a lot more imposing that the old PSA or Beckett photo slabs. Breaking a photo out of those would seem to require some pretty decent tools.

I like the slabs if I am not framing something. I've carefully handled photos in the past and chipped off corners and made small tears despite my psychotic efforts to be careful. Those suckers can be fragile.

I agree with this. I hate the slabs but I hate damaging photos too.

I started putting my cards in slabs around 2005 because I was working on a type card set of Hall of Famers, and at the time I liked to display my cards. I had shelves all around my office, and with all the different sizes and shapes of the cards I'd collected (maybe 150 different type cards at its peak), the SGC slabs provided some uniformity that made them display better.

Eventually I started realizing that they also protected the cards better than I could - not only from clumsy hands but from dust, dirt, moisture, etc. They're not archival, but they're more archival than nothing.

I feel the same way about slabbed photos. They protect these brittle pieces of art really well. I also think that, to some extent, they reduce the temptation on the part of some people to trim them or clean them - the slab makes them lie flat, which improves the appearance of edge tears, paper loss, and wrinkles that often get trimmed away.

I do, however, think that maybe we're getting a little carried away with these giant slabs or plastic laminate that are housing huge pieces. These days I collect mostly large-format 19th Century team photos, and I dread the day when companies start grading these.

-Al

-Al

Count me in the pro-slab crowd.

I don't collect photos so excuse my ignorance on the subject, but would it help to use a bandsaw to make a clean cut and then separate the halves? Or are the photos in question fragile enough that any extraction process is risky?

Here's a recent video we did on cracking slabs....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrNLnjjWPIU

I use the same exact method for the PSA's big photo slabs. Using a sturdy wire cutter to clip off one of the top corners is all you need to start the process. Don't start at the bottom of the slab, as the photo sits much closer to the bottom edge. Far better to start near the flip. Once clipped, you can easily pry the slab apart with a knife or screwdriver.

I would not use a bandsaw, as the potential for damage seems greater. Plus, I do not have one, haha.

As for slabbed photos... I had always heard/read that the photos (or any glossy paper for that matter) should never be pressed against any surface. Way too much potential of the glossy paper sticking to the plastic.

A mylar sleeve with an archival backing board is the way museums do it (including Cooperstown). I actually think some photos look quite nice in the slabs, especially when displayed on an easel. I just don't like the idea of glossy paper being pressed firmly against plastic for eternity. Just my .02

How I store some of my photos. Others are in album pages but these are housed in drop front boxes with Mylar and museum boards.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...efb6a684dc.jpg


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Wonder if PSA could do this in the same slabs . . . add a new service . . . $50 more for "museum level preservation."

Damn. This looks much better (and just as safe) than the slabs.

I think collectors are just addicted to slabs. And I also suspect PSA would screw it up somehow.

In retrospect, I'd be happier with the letters of authenticity and no slabs on pictures. And I'd continue to get signed checks slabbed.

to slab...or not to slab
 

If you truly enjoy the photo for it's own sake, a layer of plastic is just one more obstacle to seeing what the photo actually LOOKS LIKE. It's a cataract.

If it's an investment, to makes total sense to slab.

TCMA has the right idea.