[perezfan]

Always best to collect balls without shellac, in my opinion. If two balls have comparable sigs, the non-shellacked ball will be the more desirable...

* Shellac can turn color over tme (anything from beige to yellow to dark brown)

* Shellac can flake off over time, leaving an uneven surface.

* Shellac can actually lift off and can chip the signature off the ball.

I have seen extreme examples where the shellac starts flaking off, and lifts the ink right off with it.

In many cases, the shellac doesn't do this, but why take the chance? I always hold out for non-shellacked balls for these reasons. As a general rule, a shellacked ball will sell for 25 - 30% less than a comparable non-shellacked ball. Of course there are exceptions that go both ways.

There is a reason that this practice is now antiquated and obsolete. If the auction house is putting a positive spin on it (such as "Signatures are well preserved under a protective layer of shellac"), they are just engaging in puffery and trying to inflate its value. Hope this helps.