Vintage Media Grading (VMG) -- Vinyl records. Is this a step too far?!*

Vintage Media Grading

I took this from a marketplace discussions thread.
Thought it deserved a wider audience.
This new service looks bizarre to me but wondered what others thought.
Anyone use them?

 

Can't blame them for trying. They are too expensive for most people's collections, and they have no appraisal credibility for valuable collections. I am sure it is someone with a desk job that always had a dream about working with records or music.

 

With the "slabbing" of currency, coins, baseball cards, etc.,etc. being a semi-big deal, this isn't a big surprise.
I'm guessing they going for the folks that are only buying to flip and have little interest in the music.
If the grade is dependent on the sealed package, you can't play it and keep that grade.

Edit- Blockchain and N.F.T'S are involved.. this is pure genius.

 

Records are meant to be played. You can always frame the jacket without slabbing it.

 

They should offer this as a 2-for-1 service when you sign up to have your body cryogenically frozen. I'm planning on having all my vinyl done, then, one day in the distant future, the newly thawed out me, and Walt Disney's head, are going to have a listening party.

 

Cheers. That made me laugh!

 

Crazy that their “8” grade = “EX” = can have scratches that are deep enough to feel by touch.

Yikes. I guess I’m picky. And I guess the vast majority of my collection is all 9’s and 10’s.

 

It's infuriating because it fetishizes the hobby into one where records are treated like stock portfolio. Very telling of a vinyl bubble similar to the comics on in the 90's.

 

Is this the same company that seal up your vintage comics and 1980's video games? It renders the item (a record in this case) with no purpose, other than a form of currency.

Now then, it could be argued that the antiques and art trade works the same way. But a painting, ornament, furniture etc still retains it's initial purpose. Sealing up a vinyl record removes all purpose other than future financial gain.

 

This has already happened. All this company is doing is exploiting an angle. When stuff like this happens on a large scale, it usually busts the market, and prices drop.

 

They did this with comic books and I find it insane how it's applied to everything and anything regardless of actual value (and then of course 'adds' to the value or price put on it). This is what happens to things not used for their intended purpose... as in playing (or reading) will 'devalue' them. A coin, stamp, or trading card you can see fully when 'officially' graded and encapsulated... a record or magazine becomes just inaccessible. They still age behind the plastic walls even if breaking the seals supposedly lessens 'value' more.

Don't pay for it, don't feed and reward the practice.

 

CGC......the equivalent grading service for comics has done much to create another similar bubble that hit it's peak in 2021-22. Said bubble is still bursting now, with even comic books regarded as the most valuable keys having lost nearly 50% of their fair market value from this time a year ago. And those prices are still dropping.

 

Post of the day.

 

IMO one feelable scratch is VG, once they start adding up, you're in G+ and below territory

Playgrade is most important to me though... And once you have groove wear and such, the grade drops too... They are saying groove wear is still EX, how about NO...

I have a Getz & Gilberto mono I'm trying to sell, looks VG+ but sounds G+ and priced accordingly... Wouldn't dare try selling records graded with these people's scale, or by these people, too much of a feeling of a ripping people off...

 

Yes, baseball cards too.

 

I love their definition of "mint"

• "Vinyl can have slight wear, light scuffs (scuffing or scratching that cannot be felt by hand), very light scratches, very slight warp Items that would not affect sound quality during playback."

This is the second category where "feeling by hand" is mentioned as a test, which just makes me laugh.

So, now "mint" can have "slight wear" and "light scuffs?" Who started this farce - Discogs mega-sellers?

 

Also, if few are actually listening (or reading) who is going to revere such treasures in the future? I remember when pulp fiction magazines used to be quite sought after and pricey, but the generations that avidly read or collected them have been fading. So a 1920s Argosy, 1940s Thrilling Wonder Stories, or mint Spicy Oriental Zeppelin Tales, has little meaning for many people anymore.

 

Long time Beatles collector here. I gotta admit that most Beatles collectors have tons of stuff they never intend to play (can you say “butcher”?). Their service would be a lot more useful if they would develop an expertise in provenance - identify counterfeits, confirm original seals, etc.

 

OMG, it just gets better. This is a bullet point from the Good+ rating (5/10):

• Vinyl will contain most of the original gloss (no visible groove wear)

And now here is how they describe a record rated Excellent (8/10):

• Some groove wear is evident, light scratches are deep enough to feel by touch

What *are* these clowns?

 

So wait people actually will pay someone to have their LPs graded? Is this a disgruntled record store employee trying to strike a new path on their own?

 

I just bought an original 1957 Cookin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet on Prestige in the Metaverse!

 

They'll probably find out in 30-40 years that these plastic sealed tombs give out plastic gassing migration like the PVC sleeves everyone was using from the 70's through to the 90's. Everything inside is ruined. But at least they've got something to hold the door open with.

 

..a waste of money that could be used towards actually buying the rare album you’re looking for.

 

I certainly wouldn’t argue with that statement.

 

As I said in the other thread; I hate this. I hate everything about it!