Grading Technical vs. Overall Appeal
I have noticed that prices for lower grade but better eye appeal are getting higher. In fact a better centered card sometimes out prices a card graded two grades higher. Does card grading need to change and give more weight to overall appearance? The idea of giving a numerical grade was to make it easy to compare cards and establish price points. In fact, this is not the reality. Would a badly centered but technically not OC be more desirable than a perfectly centered card graded lower because of a corner being slightly less sharp? If grading is supposed to equalize card assessments and value, something is off in the grading world.
Overall eye appeal should be part of the grade. I know that sometimes makes grading more subjective. But we all view cards with our visual senses and not whether a corner is 90% sharp versus 85% sharp.
|