ra7c7er
Hoarding records since 1990
I've recently found out I grade records much harsher than just about everyone in existence. But I'm not asking about scratches or scuffs this time. This time I'm just asking about inserts; posters, advert cards, download cards, etc.
From what I interpret goldmine standards to say is that for a album, as a whole, to be Mint or NM it has to have all inserts in excellent condition. A missing insert will knock a full grade off and a missing item means the album as a whole cannot grade better than VG (+). Because the overall grade of a album is the lowest grade of any part Cover, record, sleeve and extras. Correct?
I have another question about download cards. Would a used download card cause a grade drop since the card could no longer be called Mint? From what I interpret to grade a inserted download card as M or NM it would still have at least one available download since that is how it came from the factory. So a used download card would grade no better than VG (+), if you were grading every individual piece of a album, right? or is that wrong?
Would a download card that still has downloads left on it possibly raise the grade or a album or is it just a bonus? But if it is a bonus wouldn't that make the existence of any insert in a album a bonus since it isn't expected and make the availability of inserts fall outside the realm of grading? having a used download card with the record would be like getting Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" with the posters but the posters are ripped in half. It's there but it's no good.
Now I know I am thinking way to much into this but I was just curious as to what other people think. And no not having inserts has ever stopped me from buying a used record but not having the original sleeve has.
I posed this question to Goldmine Magazine in an email and the response was basically, "Download cards are not prevalent enough for us [Goldmine] to change or update our grading scale. Download cards would be considered the same as any other non-standard insert." I paraphrased that from a paragraph. The problem with that answer is that the current goldmine standards for non-standard inserts (posters, cards, etc) doesn't really cover a non-tangible item such as a digital media still being available. I do give big props to whoever at Goldmine answered my email though. It was nice of them to respond with any sort of answer.
I give major props to anyone who read this and understood it. Like I said I know i'm being really technical about the download card thing but I was wondering.
From what I interpret goldmine standards to say is that for a album, as a whole, to be Mint or NM it has to have all inserts in excellent condition. A missing insert will knock a full grade off and a missing item means the album as a whole cannot grade better than VG (+). Because the overall grade of a album is the lowest grade of any part Cover, record, sleeve and extras. Correct?
I have another question about download cards. Would a used download card cause a grade drop since the card could no longer be called Mint? From what I interpret to grade a inserted download card as M or NM it would still have at least one available download since that is how it came from the factory. So a used download card would grade no better than VG (+), if you were grading every individual piece of a album, right? or is that wrong?
Would a download card that still has downloads left on it possibly raise the grade or a album or is it just a bonus? But if it is a bonus wouldn't that make the existence of any insert in a album a bonus since it isn't expected and make the availability of inserts fall outside the realm of grading? having a used download card with the record would be like getting Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of the Moon" with the posters but the posters are ripped in half. It's there but it's no good.
Now I know I am thinking way to much into this but I was just curious as to what other people think. And no not having inserts has ever stopped me from buying a used record but not having the original sleeve has.
I posed this question to Goldmine Magazine in an email and the response was basically, "Download cards are not prevalent enough for us [Goldmine] to change or update our grading scale. Download cards would be considered the same as any other non-standard insert." I paraphrased that from a paragraph. The problem with that answer is that the current goldmine standards for non-standard inserts (posters, cards, etc) doesn't really cover a non-tangible item such as a digital media still being available. I do give big props to whoever at Goldmine answered my email though. It was nice of them to respond with any sort of answer.
I give major props to anyone who read this and understood it. Like I said I know i'm being really technical about the download card thing but I was wondering.
