Cracking open a PSA slab?

[dgo71]

I have my eye on a really nice vintage 3x5 that is PSA slabbed. The only caviat is that I would much prefer to matte the 3x5 into a nicer piece with a photo. I guess I have a two-pronged question.

1) Would there be an option of matting the item and leaving the slab intact? I guess a shallow shadowbox might work, but I have very little matting experience and don't know if such a thing is possible.

And more to the point of this post:
2) What is the general opinion of just breaking open the slab? Is that considered "taboo?"

I should note that I have no intentions of reselling the item, and I imagine if I did break it out and decided later to resell I could always pay to have it re-certed. Just looking for opinions from some of the more advanced collectors who deal with vintage stuff more often than I do.

Any insight is much appreciated!

[Scott Garner]

I'm sure that you will get many different opinions on this topic if people check in.

I have no problem with cracking open PSA slabs, as I am personally not a big fan of them. My bias is that I have never personally submitted a signature to PSA or JSA, nor do I like the way that they look as far as displaying them in my collection. That being said, it's only my opinion.

If I do purchase an autograph that's already in a slab, I usually make a color copy of the sig in the holder before cracking it open. I also keep a "morgue" of the PSA labels should I ever want to resurrect them to make selling the sig easier for those that are PSA true believers down the line.

Either way, there is no right or wrong answer...

[mschwade]

If it's a valuable vintage 3x5, I would send it to PSA and pay for them to remove it and issue a Full LOA with it.

I've talked to PSA customer service previously about doing this, but have never went forward with it.

[dgo71]

Thank you both, I completely agree with your assessment Scott, nice to know I'm not out of my mind for thinking that way. And mschwade, that is a very good idea as well, I didn't realize that allowing PSA to handle it themselves was even an option. Many thanks!

[mighty bombjack]

Cracking slabs is fun. I have only done it with cards, but I'm fully prepared to do it with all of my autos when the currently-favored alphabets go the way of GAI.

[travrosty]

just bust it out of there, its no problem. you dont need psa's permission to own an autograph.

[dgo71]

Ha! Excellent answers, and mighty, I cannot WAIT for that day. I'd take the opinion of nearly any one person on this forum over a stable of PSA "experts" anyway.
Thanks!