Thoughts on cleaning this?
 

I'd love to be able to resubmit this and get a straight grade.

Is that wax residue showing on the left under the Yankee banner? Also in the black triangle between his hands and the logo on his shirt?

If I crack this open, what's the best way to try to clean it?

https://i.imgur.com/dG5keb8h.jpg

Nylon pantyhose apparently is the way to go.

sure looks like a wax stain under the Yankee banner. That other stain looks like a water stain though.
Larry

Once you bust it out, you're taking a gamble.

If it's just a wax stain, then that should be easy enough to resolve. Then it's 8 months of waiting for PSA to grade it and have it sent back.

It looks like it should grade at least a 7 again, however one miscue (drop on the corner or anything) and you could lose a couple hundred bucks (or more) in value or PSA could come back and say - looks trimmed or altered to me and you're in a really crappy position if you're looking at flipping it.

Not sure what was meant by water stain. My eyes didn't catch it.

If you care more about the card than you do the slab, then break it out and hit it with nylon pantyhose, as Mr. Cobb suggested.

If it's all about the piece of plastic, then don't.

Doug

This one stays in my PC. I'm just irritated by the qualifier.

Centering is nice, the corners are nice. If it's going to stay in the PC, then I'd just leave it as is. If you ever decide to sell it and there's only a wax stain, then someone else will probably think the same thing - crack it, clean it, re-submit it. I'd let the next person do it if you decide to sell it.

You may want to look very hard at the back of the card before removing it from the NM ST holder. Cleaning wax from the front won't change PSA opinion if there is a mark on the back. Also, it's my understanding that wax on card backs generally will not clean up with pantyhose. Nice looking card ;)

F*ck the qualifier and enjoy the sweet card man. ;)

Good advice. I'm happy with the card. It's been in the family since '86. Picked up for $25, ungraded. No problems, so why mess with it.

It's the OCD part of me that thinks 'I've read about others removing wax stains. Would that work?'

I could be wrong but I don't think it is possible for a card to have a wax stain on both the front and back. If by mark on the back you are suggesting writing then the card would not have been graded a 7ST to start with.

As for the removal of the wax I would not bother if you are keeping it and not registering it for a set...the ST gets you a 2 grade reduction in GPA. Anyone looking at it can see it is a nice card and would overlook the wax.

If you do crack it out, you don't have to wear the pantyhose while cleaning it. But, I guess that would be up to you. :D

What I would do is bust it out of that non-original-altering plastic, and then, at a calm moment in my life I'd gently use the pantyhose method. Then I'd put the card in a sleeve and a top loader and be done with it.

Since the PSA slab seems to matter to you, I think you should leave well enough alone. It doesn't sound like you're gonna sell the card so it really doesn't matter what kind of slab it's in.

It's a nice looking card.

Don
 

My old man once told me that cleaning things is a feckless waste of time and energy because every time you clean something, it makes something else dirty.

And what is the best way to remove gum stain residue from pantyhose ?

Open flame.

My guess would be an old sportscard.:)

Suggest you try it on a raw common first from same set (or era). In fact, I might try it but I can't fit into my wife's nylons anymore since I've not gone to the gym in 10 months.... lol

I can understand the itch to try to "fix" it, but if you aren't trying to flip the card - it's going to be a huge hassle to pop it, (try to) clean it, and then resub it. That's assuming you are successful. As many times as I've tried to do something like that, I usually end up making the situation worse. Good luck.

I had a nearly identical situation. Bought a PSA 7 ST '68 Mantle, and a year or two later cracked it out and easily wiped away the gunk (yes, with panty hose) and resubmitted it. It came back nicely as a straight 7.

Check out post #1441 in this thread to see before and after scans:
https://www.net54baseball.com/showth...222292&page=19

Thanks really helpful to hear from someone who's actually done it.

I think that's the direction I'm headed, but I'll probably wait until the wait times at PSA improve.

A card from a penny pack can have wax or gum stain on each side

John