Buying Authentic Altered Cards
 

Im back into collecting vintage cards after a long hiatus. From experienced collectors, what is the take on buying SGC or PSA A cards for your collection?

It seems to me, after a bit of research, that one can buy a much nicer looking card going with the A rather than buying a card in the 1-4 categories.

But, I know nothing about potentially selling such cards in the future and know nothing about how collectors feel about having cards in their collections that someone else has previously screwed with.

Opinions?

I like Authentic cards personally. I'm a low grade collector so it allows me to have a lot more eye appeal for just a little bit more than the cost of a poor example--it's win/win for me. That said, opinions do vary. Some people won't touch them, regardless of the price.

Bestdy777 makes some compelling points on the merits of Authentic-graded cards.

It just depends if you are figuring on making a good profit down the road. Most collectors won't touch Authentic cards. Then again, some gorgeous cards are more often than not ONLY available as Authentic, such as 1959 Bazooka, 1960 Post Cereal, 1954-54 Briggs Meats, 1954-55 Esskay Franks, 1962 Post Cereal Baseball and Football, and 1962 JELL-O. These are probably not what you had in mind, as they're mostly all very tough regional / food issues.

There's a lot of "bang for the buck" if you ferret out great eye-appealing cards that technically could only be graded an "A".

Just keep in mind, when it comes time to sell, unless the typical attitude towards Authentic cards becomes more mature, where a card is judged for the merits it truly possesses, you had better not be hard-pressed to quickly cash in your cards. There just aren't that many collectors willing to enthusiastically buy Authentic cards. I wish you the best. For what it's worth, I agree with you--some 1s, 2s, 3s, and 4s look lousy compared to a beautiful AUTHENTIC that's mostly all there.

Go for your win-win situation. Sounds as if you've given the matter some thought, though again, if re-sale is imperative, think it through all the harder before you plunk down your dough.:) --Brian Powell

For me it comes down to what is altered or what was done to give the card an authentic grade. If the card is trimmed up, I'll likely not touch it. If there has been colorization for example, and the card looks good, I'm interested. Same thought for me if a stain or crease was removed.

Just because it's slabbed with Authentic (A) doesn't necessarily mean that it's been altered. Personally I haven't picked up anything that has been altered, I mainly have cards in raw form, but there are a few cards that I'd definitely purchase in an (A) grade. A couple, for instance, would be a '68 Brooks Robinson 3D, that I think went for around 33K with an authentic grade and a '61 Brooksie Dice Game that went for I believe 20K also an authentic grade.

I was mainly referring to any card that has been intentionally altered...i.e trimming or colored. Something like this for example.....

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/KQQAAO...vu/s-l1600.jpg

Setting aside the cards that had to be cut out from something and are mostly "A" cards and the rarities that are lucky finds in any grade, it just depends on the collector. The market is far smaller, so the prices are likely to be erratic. Sometimes the "A" is nothing more than the card being a real beater. This card got an "A" from PSA:

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibit...20Robinson.JPG

I'd be thrilled to own a Mantle in this sort of condition with an "A" holder. Just a matter of price. I'd rather have an "A" beater with all honest wear than an "A" recolor or trim that looks nm, but that's just my prejudice.

Excellent point, and very well said. ---Brian Powell