[conor912]

Originally Posted by williamcohon

I have never sold a card, and have no intention to do so. So money plays a limited role in the value of my cards, and that role decreases the farther I get from the point of sale. What matters is aesthetics, history, nostalgia, and stuff like that.

If my favorite shirt gets wrinkled, I iron it. If I'm playing my Martin guitar for my granddaughter, and she runs over and touches it with spaghetti-sauce hands, I'll clean it. If my sports car gets a dent, I take it to a great body shop. To me, the shirt, the guitar, and the car are better - worth more - for the attention.

As for artificial manipulation, it all depends on how you define words and where you draw lines. For me, removing glue or wrinkles (or spaghetti sauce or dents), is not intrinsically more artificial than applying them in the first place.

This is deep, Bill.

Glad to see you posting!