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Posted By: warshawlaw

At a time when the high end collectors are starting to feel like faith healers with appendicitis, I and my fellow trash collectors are enjoying the theater, particularly watching Verkman and Drent bitch-slap each other. In fact, I think we ought to use some of that big time banner money to have an N54 dealer, auctioneer and grader smack-off at the National dinner, judged by a panel of collectors. J/K

But seriously, I agree that the real "threat" is not from Doug Allen's staff rubbing out a crease here and there, it is from qualified paper restoration experts cleaning, pressing and restoring cards. I am of conflicted feelings on this question. On the one hand, I am concerned that the allegations will diminish the value of all cards, especially because we have amateur graders trying to ferret out the work of professional artisans (until SGC, PSA and the rest have restoration experts on staff scrutinizing every significant card, they are trying to fight a fire with a water pistol). On the other hand, since I have never bought a high grade, super expensive prewar card and likely never will, to quote Robert Byrd, none of my dogs are in this fight. I will say this, however: I wonder if the participants in all of the flame fanning realize that the rank and file collector who is watching this is being turned off from collecting? I know of at least a few respected collectors (unlike me ) who are openly stating that this is the last straw and they may be liquidating their collections because real world stresses are intruding on their downtime hobby. Perhaps it is time to step back a bit and recognize that no one is sitting around repairing those vg T206 commons.

All I can say is I've always preferred my old cards with some evidence of time on them; I like them more and more each day.