I'm neutral as to the TPG services. Don't send cards to them but, understand their purpose and place in the hobby. I had not heard this either about PSA refusing to grade these Nodgrass cards from now on. if this is correct, it could be a big turning point in how TPGs are perceived and used by the hobby in the future.
People have posted asking why they don't just give the cards an "A" grade for Authentic. Well, I can see PSA's lawyers having a hand in that decision. PSA has over the years worked to gain their reputation as a reputable TPG grading service, upon whom buyers can rely. On occasion, when there have been errors and people have suffered economic losses due to errors on their part, I also believe they have given compensation to injured parties in some instances. Its a good PR move and probably saved them some money from potential lawsuits and related costs. If they did give a Nodgrass card they can't prove or disprove was altered an "A" grade, how would a potential buyer know the grade wasn't because the card was trimmed or recolored or something other than having the "S" professionally removed? Someone working on the T206 set might just take that "A" grade to mean it is still a legitimate Nodgrass variation, and buy it to complete their set. And they'd probably pay some pretty good money for it also since they believed it to be a true Nodgraa variation/error. If they somehow later found out that the card was not in fact a true Nodgrass variation, I could see it getting back to PSA and them possibly being held liable for someone's potential losses from such a misleading card grade.
So now someone will probably say they can easily fix that problem by just putting the reason for the "A" grade on the flip. If I was PSA, I'd never do that either because that would be tantamount to stating you can't properly grade this card, and now you've put it on your product which is out in public for everyone to see and talk about. People may hear a rumor about something but, with no concrete evidence out there to support it, they often don't follow-through and do the research and things die down after a while. If PSA puts cards out there that state they can't tell if the card is legit or not, that creates damage to their reputation that is real, legitmate and out there for everyone to see. And think about this. If PSA truly can't tell if a card has has a letter removed from a person's name, and then puts an Authentic grade on it and explains that the reason for the grade is that they just don't know if it is one card or its variation, what difference is that really from all those Ebay auctions where the seller states the card was found in Grandpa's attic, it looks really old and it doesn't say Reprint on it anywhere? I can understand why PSA may not want to do anything with these cards going forward.
If there truly is a way for someone to alter cards like that and have it be virtually undetectable, what stops them from doing it with other such variations, like the 1957 Gene Baker error, the 1958 Pancho Herrara error or 1959 Spahn obscured date error cards?
I'm going out on a limb and guessing that if this alteration is possible and also virtually undetectable, I wouldn't be surprised if they are doing it with a laser somehow and actually burning off the print they don't want. Technology is always getting better and who knows what else they will come up with in the future to take advantage of people. And if that is the case, it spells even more issues for the hobby as people's confidence wanes and we lose folks that would otherwise be interested and help the hobby continue and grow. That is why I said that if true, this story could be the beginning of a bad turn of events for TPGs and the hobby in general.
Bob
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