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petecldAltered items being sold as un-altered is a problem we have already so why would anyone be against having these items clearly marked a such is beyond me.
I also don't understand why some fear making this type of material legitimate. One man's trash is another man's treasure. EXCUSE ME if I don't have $100,000 for a Mint '33 Goudey Ruth. Maybe I do have $1,000 for a "restored to Mint" '33 Goudey Ruth that I'd be happy and proud to own. If that is what I want who is anyone to say I shouldn't have the opportunity to buy such a card.
They are still authentic items. Using the logic of the anti-authentic crowd we should just take down the Statue of Liberty, burn the Mona Lisa and paint over the Sistine Chapel. THEY ARE ALL RESTORED!!!! Are Baseball cards more sacred? Please.
The problem isn't restoration, It's the crooks who don't divulge this fact to potential buyers. Slabbing and labeling these items would in fact make them impossible to pass off as un-altered to future buyers unless they are complete fools in deep denial.
Also, trimming the edges of comics IS a serious problem. I have seen cases where a comic that is "restored to VF/Nm" selling for what a comic in good un-restored condition would sell for so clearly even though CGC has been slabbing restored material the market has decided they aren't worth what un-restored pieces bring and I suspect the same would happen in the card collecting field.
I just feel that companies like CGC, SGC, and PSA shouldn't cater to one type of collector and should remain completely unbiased toward any and all submissions and simply do what they say they are there for - authenticating and/or grading.
It's not like when they do find your card trimmed you get your money back from them, so why not just slab everything and label it for EXACTLY what it is.