My respectful response would be that A2 quality in the Netherlands or Taiwan does not mean anything when we see a plant on the table before us as a judging team.
If it grades poorly for you within your system, that’s fine.
That is as it should be. If you see thousands of Phalaenopsis in your career, your standards are likely to be very different then the average AOS judge. That is certainly true. The two systems will never agree, and that is as it should be too.
That's actually the problem ! In theory the AOS should be over the Trader's Joe quality standard, at least that's how it used to work in the past. So it is not as it should be, quite the opposite.
There are 'true' mass propagated FCC/AOS that exist, Phal.Join Glory 'Cl-361B Beta' is one of them, no discussion... It is an amazing flower by itself, I grow it since before it was awarded actually...
I have seen indeed quite a few awards that made me wonder how was the judge's experience with orchids, or if some ever had seen any orchids after all... Some had to be rescinded or disappeared from the awards database because of the international laugh they made.
Paphiopedilum rothschildianum 'Max & Best' FCC | AOS (91 points) March 2020
Was a great one, flower count, shape, color, stance, size, all was kind of wrong with it... Maybe the point scoring reached 91, but when someone knowledgeable looks at the flower, the only idea is where is the dumpster or how the hell can I sell it and get back 100us on it...
That's why the AOS awards have to target a certain excellence, and not award something below average, especially more below mass produced Costco and the like average... If Trader's Joe has a plant with 40 flowers as an example, it is not possible to give an AM to the same variety that has 20-25 flowers...
It is absolutely the same variety for sure. There are no seedlings released of this kind of varieties, ony individual clones are sold by Taiwan with a few exceptions of seedlings crosses for the hobby market by 1-2 smaller nurseries. But that one, is a pot plant variety, so there has been at least 50k if not more plants produced of it, certain...
There is the point score, that looks great, but it used to be more an overall instant judgement, including experience, that it is worth an AM, FCC, or HCC, according, not only to the AOS database, but to the experience. Then the points were computed to see if it was not too off tracks. But dumb point scoring a plant to calculate a HCC AM or FCC is not really worth at all. All the top knowledgeeable AOS judges from the past I know were able to know what was the value of the plant by looking at it, and they were really difficult, 20 years ago.
An AOS award must be superior to a Trader's Joe or PlantDiscount middle range plant, there is no discussion possible about that. Otherwise AOS awards have no purpose and no point to exist...