T206 Find - Removal from photo album

[T206.org]

Hi everyone - long time!

I'm talking to a gentleman who inherited some T206 that belonged to his great grandfather.

Quick summary:

176 total cards
28 hof (1 of each Matty and WaJo portraits are the top cards)
Mostly commons otherwise
2 slight miscut / partial double-name (Street Catching, Elberfeld Fielding - not enough detail to see what the second name is)


I haven't seen them in person yet, and the pictures that he sent weren't the greatest quality (sample attached). It is clear that they were handled at least a little bit before being placed into these self-adhesive scrapbook / photo pages. Some appear to have creases and corner wear.

He's afraid to remove them from these pages, so I'm not sure what the backs are, but he did remove one card (SC350 - attached), so there's a chance his grandfather was a Sweet Caporal smoker. Either way it will be exciting to hopefully see what the rest are.

That one example looks fairly clean on the back, so maybe most/all of the cards are okay. Does anyone have experience removing cards from these types of storage pages, and if so do they usually separate cleanly?

I am trying to help him assess the value so that I can make a fair offer.

I will let you know more if/when I can get a better look at the cards.

Thank you,
-Trae

[egbeachley]

Awesome to see new cards still pop up from time to time.

The value is going to be tough. Big difference between backs coming out nice like the one example which may have been selected because it was coming off anyway, and having the rest damaged.

Good luck!

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

I would experiment with a slow lift and a hair dryer on high aimed under the lifted edge.

[sb1]

DO NOT try to take them out by peeling them off...they might be pasted in and pop off or they might pull paper and/or crease. They need to be soaked page by page and properly dried in between book pages(old phone books work great with additional weight on top) and rotated to new dry pages as they dry to prevent warping.

Based on the example they might come out fine, if they have dark brown horse glue, you can forget it.

[t206kid]

What Scott said ^^

[t206kid]

I’ve soaked many cards. This will be a big project. And you will have to cut up the pages and soak one by one. I’ve also never had any luck with the horse glue

[T206.org]

Thanks guys! I'll let you know if I can strike a deal, and how it turns out if so.

[t206blogcom]

Definitely soak them. Good luck!

[Michael B]

Everyone cavalierly says soak in water. If you do that it should be DISTILLED water. Regular tap water contains chemicals such as fluoride and chlorine which can affect the paper and inks. Distilled water doe not damage paper items and it works very well on the old animal based glues. You can find distilled water at some grocery stores, also in stores like Target, Walgreens, Rite Aid. It should cost a few dollars for a gallon.

[Jobu]

I'd do some more homework and testing before soaking these pages.

These look like the scrapbook pages that have been made for the last 20-30 years -- tacky white page with a plastic sheet cover built on to each page. Is that right?

If it is right, I would be surprised if they used a water-based adhesive, so soaking this might just create a big mess. It might work too, you never know. I would cut out a section of a page without a card on it and do a test soak to see what it does to the adhesive. If it doesn't budge, the hairdryer idea might not be a bad thing to try because that should have a good chance to soften the adhesive. If I am right about these being newer pages, I think the adhesive was made to be pretty weak, which sure looks to be the case from the one card that was pulled out, so you might get lucky and be able to slowly peel them out too.

[T206.org]

Dually duly noted, thank you! :)

I think you're right about what these pages are Bryan, yep.
It looks like there are a couple of beaters that would be good to test with.

[Pilot172000]

Send pics when you get them!! I just love T206 finds like this!

[JollyElm]

You might give some thought to an additional approach as well. Instead of focusing entirely on getting the cards off of the pages, think about ways to break down the pages themselves. In other words, some albums may be multi-ply (for lack of a better word), so you might be able to slowly 'peel' away levels of them, making the sheets thinner and thinner. Take a look at that method, too.

[Bigdaddy]

You might also try putting a single card (and associated backing) in the freezer and then after a day or so, see if you can 'pop' it off.

Have never done this with an album page, but it does work with gum.

[T206.org]

Unfortunately I don't have much of an update here.

Last I heard from the seller someone in PA, a dealer I presume, had removed the cards from the album and nearly doubled his offer (to at least $15k so he said) once the cards were removed.

They must've came out without damage and/or had some rare backs. They do seem to average EX or better with clean fronts.

All I've got are these low quality pictures of the fronts:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8mgid99pmz79s7x/AABNhfuiK0TeyI2yakCtTAfqa?dl=0

The seller referenced a list of information on the cards post-removal, and was going to share it with me, but never did despite several follow-ups.

If any of you know any dealers near Telford, PA maybe we could find out more through them. It would be great to know about the backs.

[ullmandds]

love it all arranged by team!!!!

[Leon]

Such are the stories of finds. I think anyone doing this for very long has had a similar experience or three. Hopefully we can at least, eventually find out what will come into the hobby.

Unfortunately I don't have much of an update here.

Last I heard from the seller someone in PA, a dealer I presume, had removed the cards from the album and nearly doubled his offer (to at least $15k so he said) once the cards were removed.

They must've came out without damage and/or had some rare backs. They do seem to average EX or better with clean fronts.

All I've got are these low quality pictures of the fronts:
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8mgid99pmz79s7x/AABNhfuiK0TeyI2yakCtTAfqa?dl=0

The seller referenced a list of information on the cards post-removal, and was going to share it with me, but never did despite several follow-ups.

If any of you know any dealers near Telford, PA maybe we could find out more through them. It would be great to know about the backs.

[prestigecollectibles]

I've had good luck removing cards and photos with this method by very gently sawing back and forth with fine, waxed dental floss. The outcome might depend on what kind of adhesive was used.

[ALBB]

yes,
Horse Glue