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MVSNYCwow guys, you have been busy this weekend...let me first say that i respect Mastro's and have bought several high-end PSA graded T206 cards from them...here is what i think, for what it's worth...
maybe i have been naive, but i never expected or thought that collectors, dealers, or auction houses "prepared" cards for grading...i know that there are crooked people out there who "doctor" cards, but never would think people would "do work" on cards prior to submitting them to a grading company, in hopes of getting a higher grade, or slipping one past the graders. i have submitted 100's of cards to PSA over the years and the only "preparing" i have done is to carefully put the card into a "card saver" plastic sleeve...i never, ever touched a card in a manner of trying to make it "better"...this goes for anything: erasing pencil marks, removing blemishes, wax, wrinkles, creases, or "fixing" inferior corners...to me, any of this is altering/doctoring a card...IMO, and interferes with the purity of the story and history of how the card arrived in your hands. there is something special about the fact that the card survived many decades, world wars, paper drives, mothers throwing cards-out, spokes, rubber bands, etc, etc...i have always felt that, once you acquire the card, it should remain exactly as you have gotten it, anything else "taints" the purity of the nostalgia of the piece...
besides collecting T206, i recently got into world series ticket stubs...talk about history, 1919, 1927, ruth's called shot...these items have seen some of the holyest (barry-sp?) events in our hobby...and they have survived to this point unaltered, or "assisted"...same goes for cards, bats, gloves...the beauty of the hobby (the honest part of the hobby), is when you have an object in your hands that has made it to this point...any imperfection or "defect" only makes it more special...like i said, maybe i have been naive, but the thought of "preparing" a card for grading, never, ever crossed my mind. i don't like the sound of it...and if PSA stands by their grading standards, i don't think they would like it very much either...i am only 32, but i am very old school.
Michael Sarno
New York City