I am stunned...what is the most valuable card you have cracked 'unsuccessfully'..
 

Not sure if someone has posted before...sorry if you have.

I am in shock...Just gave a nice Brooks Robinson Rookie a screwdriver gash across his forehead...

Never have I been even close to messing up a holder, but tonight I am mortified...

I have calmed down, and now wondering if anyone else has made an unfortunate slip on opening a holder......

When I was a kid I had a 1959 Topps Vic Wertz Card (no big deal obviously). I was pretending I was selling people cards in my "store" (my parents and sister were my "customers"). I wrapped the Wertz in foil so I could sell a "pack from 1959!". I got a fine pointed black sharpie to write "1959 Topps" on it. The pen broke through and went across Vic's upper lip and ruined the card completely. He looked like a gigolo.

I know that is not nearly as severe as a Brooks Robinson rookie, but it did bum me out an awful lot (I was just a kid, and I only had a couple of "old" cards).

I am really sorry man. That is a total drag. It will be ok though.

Derek

That's horrible to hear, but it will pass.

I've come very, very close to doing what you just described - cracked a T206 green portrait Cobb and the screwdriver slipped...right past the border. Very lucky.

But I have broken a cabinet photograph in half, and I recently attempted to clean a silver gel image and wiped print right off the surface.

Julie Vognar's stories are the most horrendous - I believe one involved creasing a T206 Plank.

My story isn't so bad: I hit a 1965 Tim McCarver with a screwdriver and creased a corner. I will never do that again.

Attachment 91561


Just got these back from tpg graders. They look the same grade to me.

Attachment 91562

I want to say that I got excellent customer service on this shipment. Very prompt and courteous. Messed up some grades imo and corrected me incorrectly on 2 e93's that they insisted on calling e98's.

How does this tie in with this topic?

r/
Frank

Point taken, Frank.

I would like to break the cards from the holders that graded 30 and 20 with a screwdriver, but I would never do that because I really like the holders. You must realize that I have been off - topic since day 1 of the full count board and try and fit my posts in as seemlessly as possible. cheers

Sorry to hear about the Robinson. I have never cracked a card but can imagine your pain.

I was cracking a '67 Topps Mantle in a 4 holder and when I attempted to pop the PSA holder half of the case snapped off and the other half bent the card in half. I was just lucky is wasn't a Mantle from the '50's.

1955 topps #1 Dusty Rhodes BVG 8, still got a PSA 6, it was originally THAT nice! Happned once more on a nice common. So 2 out of most likely one hundred I've cracked got damaged

a screwdriver is NOT necessary for removing a card from a slab.

the best way that i've found is to just go out to your driveway or garage floor and take a hammer and tap around the edges, gently, but enough to crack the edges...go all the way around and the 2 halves just fall apart from one another. its simple and effective...and wont gash brooks' forehead!

I am sooooo sorry this happened to you. I can't even imagine how I would handle it.

Sorry to hear that. I've had my share of blunders. I can remember pushing a T3 Mathewson into a holder and broke the top right corner off. The feeling stung for awhile then passed.

As an expression of "it happens to everyone", why don't we post photos of the cards we have screwed up?

Funny. I looked at the scan without reading what you said and asked myself, "Isn't that Brown an E93, not E98?"
JimB

I had an Ex 1954T J Robinson and wanted to take it out the screw down it was in. I got lazy as only 3 of th 4 screws were removed and one screw was still barely in. I tried pulling the card out and the case clamped back down and the corner ripped off...I thought I was going to puke. Id post a picture but I sold as I couldnt look at it any more and needed an upgrade. My 1915 CJ Jax got knocked outta my hand (in its sgc case) landing on the edge, I really think my heart stopped for a second. Hes doing just fine though.

i think this is probably the case for most botched attempts. if every time i look at something it reminds me of what an idiot i am, then it has to go.

Absolutely...

Slightly off-topic...

I 'accidentally' pinned a pack-fresh 1970 Pete Rose card to a dart board and then accidentally hit him about 6 times with darts. I've told my negative Pete Rose stories before, but I just realized that the dart board incident was BEFORE any of the actual bad experiences with him. Karma?

I have no bad experiences to report, though in all honesty most of the slabbed cards I purchase should have never been slabbed in the first place...they are generally 1s or 2s. I will say the the Beckett slabs can be a bear to bust.

I was recently cracking a few low grade "rare backs" and when it was time to free the PSA 4 Chase RH, I couldn't do it. Sent it to SGC to swap the slab.

I couldn't imagine how awful that would feel after making it 100 years in that condition if I damaged it.

I have cracked a few and never messed up, but I can see it would be easy to do. The last one I did I came up with a new system. Cut off both ends of the holder with a chop saw. Then stuck a screwdriver in one end and it popped right open. Of course you have to be careful. Cutting off a couple of fingers would be worse than damaging a card!

Depends on the card;)

i believe it ended up with the same grade (a 2). i remember she creased it while making a PHOTOCOPY to send to a potential buyer, not during cracking. classic julie, love her....imagine making photocopies and snail-mailing it to close a 10k deal in the 21st century.

I wonder if any of the TPG have damaged a card as part of the crossover process? Are they experts in deslabbing (word?)? Would be funny if they had a back room equipped with sledge hammers, bolt cutters, chop saws, torches & screwdrivers.

Good question Brian. Does anyone know what technique the graders use to crack a card out of a holder? It seems like it would be hard to keep that as a secret.

gekko....
 

sorry to hear what happened:(

i remember seeing psa or gai have a machine, maybe the sealant press machine used to seal the cases have an opposite switch. would be really bad if they use swiss army knives like the rest of us, altho i've read a couple times where a tpg did this.

a few years back at a nat'l i saw one of the owners of b-lauctions (it was scott) cracked out a t206 matty of a psa slab in like 10 sec flat. amazed as that was the fastest i've ever seen anybody cracked a slab, i asked that's all well and good for a $100 card...but you'd take more time with a 1k card right? he just nonchalantly said "nah"...and i believed him.

The guy cracking out the fake Wagner on TV tonight did it with a knife in about two seconds. I wonder if some people are good enough to split one open, switch cards, and reglue it. Yeah, I might be paranoid but....

Who is Julie Vognar?

Yeah, I'm in the dark there. Never heard of her.

i dont know julie personnaly but i bought a C57 george vezina hockey card from this girl in 2006 i think ....
The vezina was graded 1.5 when i bought it from Julie... i cracked it and re-submit it to psa...
Back with a PSA 4 MK :)

Julie is/was? an interesting collector who we had a lot of fun discussing stuff with for years. I never met her, but curiously, I made a friend shortly after arriving in Seattle, who was about Julie's age, from the same town, same background, and looked and acted like I imagined Julie would.

This damned thread has jinxed me :(

Yesterday I took out two old framed photos that had been 'safely' at the bottom of a box of cabinet photos, and found that one of them had a bumpy 'near break' in the image :eek:. How the heck did that happen? :confused: Answer: the hanging mechanism in the other one had jammed through the back - right through the stiff board backing - and into the back of the photo of the other, which I thought was safely protected behind glass.

Happy ending - I removed both photos fro their frames and was able to 'spoon out' the bump :p

T206 Cy Young
 

Same concept but slightly different story....I had purchased a T206 Cy Young from a board member. Received package at work, was in the middle of the day and I was very busy, started to open it, got distracted and some how managed to throw the card out with the packaging. Kept the box though.

In existence for over a hundred years but get it in my paws for a few minutes and look at the damage I can do.....still regret it and I have not purchased another Young to replace it.

Z Wheat

I'm sure it will pass... but will take some time.
Brooks looked too happy on that card anyway:rolleyes:

i use a small bandsaw, i cut the edges right at the glue mark. as far from the card as i can be. slice off all four sides and the slab just comes apart. i used to 'crack' the case but came REAL close to ruining a 56 clemente. the holder broke across the flip.

On a related note have you ever screwed up a card because the seller went way overboard on shipping with tape and whatever and you can't get the damn thing open? I got so frustrated with one that I got carried away with a razor knife and slashed the card. Fortunately it wasn't high dollar.

I've never actually had a problem, but it definitely concerns me. I always use (blue) painter's tape. Holds adequately and easy to peel off.

I've never damaged a card yet, but I've had to tell myself to slow down a few times.

Painter's tape is a great idea.

I once opened a screw down case with a gorgeous 1952 Red Scheondienst. The corners were razor sharp...until I opened it.... While I was loosening the screws the plastic casing lifted and the card slid right out. I watched the card fall to the ground as if it was a leaf falling from a tree. Unfortunately, it hit the ground less graceful then a leaf and right onto a corner. It was a sad and long night...

I've cracked a couple of PSA's with a needle-nose pliers. Pinch the top of the holder and crack it upwards. Probably should wear goggles as there will be plastic flying everywhere :)