Wagner: from playing in Forbes to being mentioned in Forbes.
 

Not that I would throw it out of bed, but is anyone else bothered by the diamond cut?

No way, I've always felt the shape makes it immediately recognizable and unique :cool: .

Interesting article.
I wasn't collecting much when the cut Wagner went on the block, and wasn't part of this board or the debate at the time.
I guess I'm not grasping what is so horrible about cutting a card out of a sheet and getting it graded. Putting to the side the whole question of deception and lying about it, all cards were printed in some medium and designed to be cut out. To me, removing a card from a sheet is light years different than taking a already cut card and screwing with the borders to make it better. But I can see many people don't value this distinction. I am not an art guy, but isn't there a huge difference between (a) cutting a fantastic Andy Warhol paining out of an oversized canvas so that it can be framed nicely and (b) trimming an Andy Warhol painting on the edges so that some kind of imperfection can be removed?
I realize that you guys who lived through this probably have zero interest in rekindling the debate.

^^^^ kind of agree

Doctoring the Wagner
 

Part of the problem is that Mastro did't disclose it as altered.

I don't know if I buy the fact that Mastro cut his card from a sheet. There are no known T206 sheets in existence but he had one and it contained the Wagner card? Leaving said Wagner on an uncut sheet would make for a one-of-kind piece, though I'm sure all he was taking into consideration was the fact that he could create a "perfect" Wagner from what he had. Isn't it more likely that his Wagner was oversized, like the "Jumbo" and it was simply trimmed?

So, lets say Mastro did have a sheet. Where did that sheet come from and why hasn't anyone seen another T206 sheet since?

Maybe he had a T-206 strip, something like the "proof" Wagner to cut it from. If so, what other cards might he have created?

I thought that the previous owner had cut the card from a sheet and Mastro was "improving" it.

You probably need to do a bit more research...

I'm always open to learning more and developing a deeper knowledge base :cool: .

I had read the book "The Card" about a year and a half ago but it's not fresh in my mind. After refreshing myself a bit I see the claim is actually that the card was cut from a sheet at some point, then once Mastro got a hold if it he further trimmed it to improve the appearance.