[Stonepony]

Card alterations, whether as subtle as a good water soaking, or as aggressive as a professional repair, is really a thought provoking topic. We all have out tolerances and opinions - which sometimes are amusingly snobbish. Let me first say that I in no way condone any form of deceit in the hobby. Nor have I ever altered a card. I have sold altered cards, both slabbed and raw with full disclosure (examples being some Drake's which a TPG - and I agreed- determined had some edge touches). The problem is I likely own, or have sold cards that have been altered. Altered cards get by my eyes, your eyes and TPG ( perhaps frequently). So when we say altered cards are " worthless" and " I would never buy an altered card"...I have to smile. Really???. Don't feel bad but you probably have. Bill Mastro said ( I paraphrase) " that 90% of high grade vintage cards out there are altered". Now while i have no basis for believing a single word uttered by Mr. Mastro, I also have no reason to doubt his authority and experience with card and memorabilia alterations.
For those of us with high grade, unslabbed cards...are they suddenly " worthless' if myself, your neighbor or a TPG believes them trimmed by a hair? What if a TPG thinks they're fine but your highly respected hobby pal thinks there's a problem?
I have a M116 Mathewson that GIA graded as a 5. I cracked it and sent to PSA who sent it back as trimmed. SGC got their crack at it and gave it a 5. What do I have here... a worthless card or a $1000 card. Often there is a fine line between an altered card and a card that passes detection...so Im not going to bastardize all altered cards.
My point is it's very likely you and I have altered cards that have passed either your assessment or a TPGs. There are opinions as to the condition of cards and often these opinions differ. Which opinion counts...yours, TPG1,TPG2,TPG3? We likely have many undetected,altered cards in our collections. To completely dismiss "altered" cards as junk is somewhat harsh because your collection may very well be full of them and I doubt your love for them would wane if someone would give you that opinion. I don't currently have any cards slabbed as altered but I'm looking for them. Personally, some cards are WAY out of my price range so i would much rather have a great looking " altered" card than a horrific "poor" ( or none at all). I don't want a card thats been completely rebuilt, but if a hair trim or corner touch brings a whale into my price range- I think I'll go for it.
The 51 Mantle in Goodwin was gorgeous and it doesn't surprise me it brought a good price. Yes, the description should have been better- no doubt