I thought about it and I think a lot of people are in the Me Too aspect of thinking about this. Meaning that people are copying what they know about grading without actually thinking about why things are needed. For example, why do we need to label the card at all? Everyone in the hobby is going to recognize what the card is and the whole point of grading is to be the higher level collector. So really the only thing needed is the grade and a cert number.
The labeling is mostly for the database, but without labeling being put on the card it can be changed if there’s ever a mistake made. The database then becomes more fluid and capable of being actually updated/combine duplicate information. The cert number is still tied to the card and anyone can look up the information needed.
In fact you could go further by adding relevant information about the card into the database beyond the labels limitations. For example if you’re research team found a magazine article that entire article could be added to a relevant page on the cards database for all to see.
I would put in security into the label though, like PSA’s holograms and such.
You make a good point about thinking outside the box and not just continuing with things out of habit, but I feel identification isn’t the area to hit. There are a lot of very similar looking cards, such as the Japanese shining magikarp and the Japanese fan club magikarp that have vastly different prices and the difference can be hard to tell in pictures. There are also a lot of reprints (base shadowless, base unlimited, evolutions) and while it’s easy for an experienced collector to tell, not everyone in the hobby is that knowledgeable, especially as it’s now experiencing a boom from the general public. Even on this relatively knowledgeable forum we still get a lot of people asking “what is this card?” and “Is this card real?”
Having clear identification on the label just seems to eliminate a lot of potential double guessing and hassle, part of a grading companies job is also to identify and authenticate the card, after all.
You have it all on the cert number check for the website instead of a label on the card. It’s more fluent than having a shadowless card put into an unlimited case because there isn’t a shadowless variant. It can be changed and updated while maintaining exactly what you want.
This is exactly how the late George Franks felt when he started the MAP Grading service nearly 20 years ago. He judged condition in 4 categories and that was it. No name, no edition, nothing else.
No research, no authentication. Whether it was a Charizard or your child’s little league pic. Didn’t matter. I hate to say it but…I liked it;)
Edit. I just remembered that he gave me a 10 10 10 10 for my 10 year olds LL picture.
Thanks for the survey, hope you get a lot of responses! As much as I love @pkmnflyingmaster Loppuny design with the awesome Pokedex entry theme I don’t think a cartoonish lable would be good for professionalism that draws high-end/ hoby cross-over buyers. My vote goes to @ripguyfawkes for the simple design that makes the grade pop. Maybe with a slighly more italicized font to give an antique feel…
@cedar, thanks for the compliment! The goal was to keep it simple but to include all necessary information. I like the other designs as well though, in the end it all comes down to personal preference.
