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At one point, he holds the PSA graded copy next to the SGC copy and claims that any color differences they have are due to "chemicals" being used on the card (nevermind the fact that the one he claims was altered actually has *better* color). This is of course nonsense. Then he starts talking about how if the stain was present when PSA graded it then they would have given it a 2 and not a 6. Again, this is nonsense and demonstrates remarkable ignorance of PSA's grading standards. They regularly assign 6s to stained cards even to this day. I could post numerous examples of them. Most cards that were removed from scrapbooks like this one were simply removed with water. If the glue is water soluble, it will come out easily with just water. No "harsh chemicals" necessary. If the glue is not water soluble, then you would need a solvent that is so harsh that it would destroy the card. Furthermore, this claim that we don't know the long term effects of soaking cards and that it poses serious risks is also nonsense. People have been soaking cards for more than a century. There is a long established history of the effects of soaking cards. There are millions of soaked cards in slabs. Properly cleaning and soaking cards preserves them. It does not destroy them. There is an entire field dedicated to the preservation and safe restoration techniques of paper artifacts.
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If it's not perfectly centered, I probably don't want it. |
#2
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Does anyone else think Kurt is just an outright con artist? He's selling a snake oil potion with a limitless list of magic properties. We'll never hear an honest statement of what's actually in Kurt's Card Care spray, just trust him that it's an elixir to fix the (card) world's problems. Even his devoted followers will admit that a lot of his before and after pictures are nothing more than carefully staged with lighting tricks to hide issues that never really disappear with his treatment. It's akin to magic diet pills where the subject is told to suck in their stomach for the "after" photo.
I suppose as long as he's just conning other con artists it doesn't bother me much, but I'm amazed he has as much of a profile as he does given how much stench there is around his sales tactic (and that's ignoring the ethical discussion about altering, which is a discussion I'm not engaging in again). |
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My avatar is a sketch by my son who is an art school graduate. Some of his sketches and paintings are at https://www.jamesspaethartwork.com/ He is available to do custom drawings in graphite, charcoal and other media. He also sells some of his works as note cards/greeting cards on Etsy under JamesSpaethArt. |
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Would you characterize me as "shady, deceptive, and disingenuous" on this topic?
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If it's not perfectly centered, I probably don't want it. |
#5
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To the extent you're defending Kurt's and others' use of chemical potions to improve the appearance of cards, and submitting and/or selling them without disclosure, I would say that's shady.
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My avatar is a sketch by my son who is an art school graduate. Some of his sketches and paintings are at https://www.jamesspaethartwork.com/ He is available to do custom drawings in graphite, charcoal and other media. He also sells some of his works as note cards/greeting cards on Etsy under JamesSpaethArt. |
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As a chemical-using science person for a living type dude, doctoring cards with a "secret recipe" is a big deal, VERY especially after seeing that interview and seeing he has very little idea how to approach making his "secret recipe" rather than trial and error.
I suspect, though I say this with no tips or close knowledge, that propylene glycol may be part of the recipe. It helps things like cardboard (for instance) take up water deeper into and between cells and hold onto it better. It also won't ruin the "plastic" as he calls the card gloss. It's also quite sticky and doesn't tend to precipitate out of whatever it's applied to, meaning when the water and other chemicals are gone, a residue hangs around that could make the situation worse over time. You can share "active ingredients" without giving ratios. But let's be real. Most people using stuff like this are doing it for the quick flip and that's someone else's problem 5-10-20+ years from now. This is just an example of an unintended consequence of using a chemical. I'm slightly alarmed that he talked about his discovery process as a "throwing things at the problem" process rather than approaching it with the properties of the chemical(s) being used. |
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The new MO is low grade high eye appeal stained and lightly wrinkled cards that can be altered with chemicals for +2-3 or more grade bumps. Which is very unfortunate as that's many real collectors sweet spots in terms of price to quality ratio. They will likely now start being outbid by what can only be dubbed as "Juicers". Really sucks. Hopefully there's some kind of chemical testing that can be implemented into tpgs process. Though that's probably expensive and time consuming so I really doubt it.
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My Red Schoendienst collection- https://imageevent.com/lucas00/redsc...enstcollection My Baseball Snapshot Photo collection- https://imageevent.com/lucas00/snapshotcollection Original Type 1/Press photos etc for sale- https://imageevent.com/lucas00/photosforsale Last edited by Lucas00; 04-17-2024 at 01:06 PM. |
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And I have no issues with his supporting businesses like that but he too practices cleaning cards and has said he has cleaned thousands of them yet I have seen his eBay graded listings and either of those thousands of cards he has cleaned none are those he has listed or sold or...he is not disclosing, which is the issue I have.
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( h @ $ e A n + l e y |
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My avatar is a sketch by my son who is an art school graduate. Some of his sketches and paintings are at https://www.jamesspaethartwork.com/ He is available to do custom drawings in graphite, charcoal and other media. He also sells some of his works as note cards/greeting cards on Etsy under JamesSpaethArt. |
#10
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Kurt made it abundantly clear in his interview that he's not using water. Yet instead of conceding that some people might be rationally opposed to mystery chemicals also being used on cards, you revert back to the arguments that (1) Water doesn't damage cards, and (2) Trust Kurt because he's an expert. Quote:
This seems like an appeal to authority. We have to take your word for it that Kurt is a scholar who properly restores and preserves cards after careful research. When I watched his interview, I saw a guy who might be fun to grab a beer with, but not a master chemist who could confidently state that his product will never be detectable. His answer when asked whether someone could detect his work on a vintage card was equivocal and concerning. |
#11
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I object to Kurt's Card Care.
But nothing's wrong with water. Kurt isn't using water, he's using chemicals. But the chemicals he's using are as safe as water. Trust me. Do you know what he's using? No, but I've seen the results, and anyone who thinks differently doesn't know what he's talking about. And it bothers me that none of this gets disclosed. That's because there's nothing to disclose.
__________________
My avatar is a sketch by my son who is an art school graduate. Some of his sketches and paintings are at https://www.jamesspaethartwork.com/ He is available to do custom drawings in graphite, charcoal and other media. He also sells some of his works as note cards/greeting cards on Etsy under JamesSpaethArt. |
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Want to find out what's in the stuff? Buy some and take it to a lab. It's certainly not against any law to attempt to make your own after getting the lab results; you just can't sell it. Well, maybe if the recipe was tweaked ever so slightly...
Either way, I'm guessing the formula to be much simpler than anyone would think. Last edited by BillyCoxDodgers3B; 04-17-2024 at 03:56 PM. |
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If it's not perfectly centered, I probably don't want it. |
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I don't understand how someone can acknowledge they don't know what Kurt's magic potion actually is but simultaneously hold that it cannot harm the card over the long haul.
Oh wait, logic has nothing to do with it. Anything is fine if it makes money. Never disclose. |
#15
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The before and after pictures that you're referring to where the lighting differs in an effort to make the creases look better than they actually are were taken by his customers, not him. Kurt pretty much always uses the same lighting in his videos and images. If you look closely, you can almost always still see the creases he worked on in his after photos. As for me being a "devoted follower", I like Kurt. I think he's a great guy. But I don't use his card spray when I soak my cards (I did buy a bottle for fun though). And I don't use his polish either, as I don't collect shiny stuff. But people clearly like his products and they clearly work as there are approximately one million cards in slabs that have been worked on using his products. As for him being a con artist? No, that's silly. The guy literally fixes cards live on camera, tells you exactly what he's doing while he's doing it, and then posts the grading results when he's done. He sells a product that works and shows you how to use it. He wouldn't have so many repeat customers if his products didn't work. It's clearly not snake oil. Can you achieve the same results by researching how professional paper restoration experts safely clean documents that are far more important and valuable than our baseball cards? Yes, of course. But most people are too lazy to do the research on their own. Hence he has a large and loyal customer base. People fear what they don't understand. Paper restoration and preservation is a fascinating subject to study. You can learn a lot just by reading.
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If it's not perfectly centered, I probably don't want it. |
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__________________
My avatar is a sketch by my son who is an art school graduate. Some of his sketches and paintings are at https://www.jamesspaethartwork.com/ He is available to do custom drawings in graphite, charcoal and other media. He also sells some of his works as note cards/greeting cards on Etsy under JamesSpaethArt. Last edited by Peter_Spaeth; 04-17-2024 at 12:05 PM. |
#17
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Don't insult my intelligence by pretending I don't understand card restoration. I understand it well, I just don't buy the arguments that it's a good thing for the card collecting hobby. Considering the evidence and disagreeing with your position doesn't make me fearful or unintelligent. |
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__________________
If it's not perfectly centered, I probably don't want it. |
#19
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So one bottle is good for 1000 cards and he sold 30 bottles? It's one of the more ridiculous claims I've ever heard
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"Trolling Ebay right now" © Always looking for signed 1952 topps as well as variations and errors |
#20
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I've personally known about him since 2019, so ya, several years. And he has 5 full-time employees. You can often see them filling orders in the background of his videos. He sells a lot of product. I see no reason to question his claims.
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If it's not perfectly centered, I probably don't want it. |
#21
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I know you can chemically preserve paper properly. Kurt's card care isn't the Library of Congress, Does he know what he's doing with his formula? You decide. I would also add preservation of paper chemically is almost always manuscripts and other extremely thin documents. Not colored card stock. I don't think the hall of fame museum is taking in 1880s scrapbook cards and soaking them in kcc. Clearly he has them side by side, one soaked with water and one soaked with chemicals and they are extremely different looking. And the water soaked looks exactly the same as the card that never touched water. I'm talking with someone who openly does this to cards. So I wouldn't expect you to take my side. Shame that Gherig wasn't an easy Kcc job and just had a little stain that you could've soaked chemically and turned into a 3 and resold it for $2000 more without saying anything. Edit: seeing you said you'd never sell it on the other thread. We all know every collection goes to the grave! Lol.
__________________
My Red Schoendienst collection- https://imageevent.com/lucas00/redsc...enstcollection My Baseball Snapshot Photo collection- https://imageevent.com/lucas00/snapshotcollection Original Type 1/Press photos etc for sale- https://imageevent.com/lucas00/photosforsale Last edited by Lucas00; 04-17-2024 at 10:58 AM. |
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If it's not perfectly centered, I probably don't want it. |
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