Restoration is frowned on for stamps too. It happens on occasion if something is rare enough and in truly horrible condition. But the certs take a while to get, and they nearly always catch and mention repairs. One of the companies had a display at the 2006 international show in DC that was entirely repaired and faked items. I couldn't spot the work done on probably 85% of the stuff shown.
I think that fields where restoration is allowed it has a lot to do with preservation and display. I have some old newspapers that are pretty much disintegrating. If they had any real value either historically or as displays I'd have them deacidified and stabilized. If that work is done right it helps the item survive and is reversible.
Art, cars, furniture, movie posters, all have a good deal of practical/display value. And restoration makes them useful for that for a good long time.
Cards as much as we display them aren't usually in the same sort of category as larger art. So the focus is on originality.
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