Would you consider having your ponies professionally graded?

[cloud_weaver]

Hi all!  So as I've been scrolling through ebay for various vintage toys, I always come across the occassional toy that has been professionally graded.  ^-^


I was wondering - what are your thoughts on it?  Are you for or against it?  Would you want any of your collection graded?


I only know of one site that actually grades ponies and they only grade the MIB/MOC ponies.  Although I've thought for years about having my Licensing Show Rarity, Bay Breeze and Licensing Show Pinkie Pie graded.  (Well, LSPP is loose so she would be a no-go .)  But honestly the thought of having something professionally graded and then preserved in a collector's quality case (which blocks out harmful UV rays) has always pulled at me a bit.  Of course, grading is a bit expensive - but I've still always wanted a handful of my ponies professionally checked out (not for resale purposes mind you, just for my own obessive compulsiveness). 


Also, it would be nice to actually be able to purchase a pony from ebay and know *exactly* what you are getting, rather than find the shady seller has turned the pony so that those ink marks don't show. 


Anyway - thoughts please!   

[LadyMoondancer]

I would never bother, personally, especially not for ponies I already had in hand.  I mean, they are what they are, you know?  And do professional graders even know what to look for with MLPs?  I can just imagine one grading a white-haired Posey as perfect because they don't know her hair is supposed to be pink.

[Vintergatan]

What an interesting topic. I never even heard of professional grading for antiques but I think it would be kinda cute if all ponies had a sort of pedigree and the people in charge would be some of the most famous and old school collectors in the community that everyone trusts

[teresat]

I agree about eBay. So hard to tell the condition of a pony from pics. I have gotten some real gems for great prices but also the occasional disappointment.
A pony can look fine on the outside but be filled with mold. Ewww...

[NoDivision]

I think perhaps for older ponies it might be interesting... but for the newer ponies, like the exclusives that you mention on ebay, it personally just makes me lol. Ponies that a lot of people purposefully keep in their boxes that there are a good amount of in decent condition people are trying to sell for like 20x market value because they are 'graded." The listings always states it like "omg this pony is still in its box. it still has a sticker. it is SUPER RARE IN THIS CONDITION." But it's really not.

[PinkRosedust]

I don't know, not really sure what that is. Who does it? How do/would they make a grading scale?

[Taxel]

At first I thought this was going to be about a "pony show" (like a dog show), and that sounded like a silly and fun activity for like a meetup or a con, but I'm not exactly sure what this means. Like those antique/pawn shop shows where experts come in and evaluate the item? If that, I probably wouldn't bother. My ponies are all perfect to me.

Though I would love if all sellers were actually honest.

[Baby Sugarberry]

I'd never bother grading/buying graded ponies because of two things - generally when a toy or collectible is graded, it gets sealed in packaging to protect that grade.  Secondly, ponies are prone to deterioration, especially in sealed environments.  Case in point MIB ponies with regrind, who did not have those issues when they were first purchased at the store.  So to me, it seems utterly nonsensical to get ponies graded. 

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Grading inflates the price.  As Baby Sugarberry said, many of the G1s will continue to break down.  So there's no point in grading something that is going to keep degrading. 

[hathorcat]

I completely understand where grading comes in for certain lines - there are lots of toys and toy lines out there who are "worth" significantly more than MLP so for those then yes it works. However, as much as I adore them and consider myself a "collector", MLP are not quite in the same league as other items.

As others have mentioned with the well documented and well known deterioration issues which plastic ponies suffer, lifetime grading of a toy could be difficult - whats to stop regrind or cancer or similar even after the pony is boxed behind its plexiglass.

The other problem with making a toy line gradeable is insurance and selling - if products are known to be of gradeable value, then some insurers will only insure an item if it has been graded. This would mean if you have a collection that you spent $5000 on over the years and years of collecting and you wish to insure it if MLP were a recognised vintage item which needed to be graded you may only be able to insure those items in your collection which you have had graded. Likewise with selling - some items only sell now if they are graded and I wouldnt like that to happen to MLP as it makes prices soar [unreasonably so in a lot of cases - look at the prices some people ask for graded Beanie Babies].

And all that doesnt factor in that you would need to source a valuer who the community trusted and respected as otherwise the grading would be pointless!

All that negativity having been said...if its something you decide to do for your collection I think it would be really interesting to find out how you get on.

[babystarz]

I'd never bother grading/buying graded ponies because of two things - generally when a toy or collectible is graded, it gets sealed in packaging to protect that grade.  Secondly, ponies are prone to deterioration, especially in sealed environments.  Case in point MIB ponies with regrind, who did not have those issues when they were first purchased at the store.  So to me, it seems utterly nonsensical to get ponies graded. 

This is my concern too. There's no guarantee that a pony will be in the same condition it was graded at five years ago. I wish there were a way to preserve them as-is in an airtight seal blocking UV rays, but even with that there's going to be degradation (though it may happen more slowly without oxygen, free radicals and pathogens involved). Such measures might be worth it for a rare pony, but I don't think I'd do it for my whole collection.

[KarentheUnicorn]

Na, I'm not really interested in that kind of thing. The odd instance where you run into a shady seller on ebay can usually resolved through ebay and paypal resolution dispute.

And since I have no plans on selling my collection it wouldn't be of very much value to me.

[mlpfan]

not for me, althogh it could work as a bussines

[Juri]

I personally wouldnt, I think there is so much knowledge on pricing here in the collecting community that I would be able to price  and insure accordingly.