The PSA8 Wagner... I don't get it.

[sylbry]

Good Friday to you all. This thought has been on my mind and at the moment I have nothing better to do so please allow me to share it.

With the PSA5 Wagner up for sale there has been talk how this is a better card than the Gretzky PSA8 Wagner. I don’t get it. And here is why.

The production process of the T206 card ended after the sheet is cut into individual cards. The PSA8 Wagner left the factory without being cut. Therefore it technically was an unfinished product. Somewhere down the road the card became a finished product when it was finally cut into an individual card at the correct dimensions as would have been if factory cut. Does it really matter that the card was not completed inside the factory?

Compare this to other collectibles. Say a Shelby Cobra left the factory without an interior. No one in their right mind would say the car is better off not having an interior than if someone installed an interior at a later date. Or say Antonio Stradivari sold a violin without string. No one would be scolded for putting strings on something that originally didn’t. Point is other collectibles have more value in their intended final form, regardless of who does it.

This card differs from other trimmed cards being that it was only cut once, as intended in the card’s production process (albeit at a later date). Trimmed cards are cut twice. The 2nd cut would be beyond the original production process for that card. Therefore the card has been altered from its final production form. The PSA8 was never completed, so how can it be altered?

The PSA8 Wagner to most in the vintage card hobby is the poster child for altered cards. But as I stated above, is it really an altered card? To me the poster child should be all of the near perfect Goudey Ruth’s and Goudey Lajoie’s. Funny how those cards have slightly smaller dimensions than other Goudey cards in a lesser condition. Further, do you really think Mastro and other card doctors only cut one card? That would be foolish to think so. And we know uncut Goudey sheets exist. Or at least existed. But no one ever speaks ill of high grade Goudey cards with slightly smaller dimensions. At least not publicly. Is it just understood that if you buy a high grade Ruth or Lajoie that doesn't quite fill out the holder it is probably trimmed?

The problem I see with the PSA8 card is that it was an insult to collector’s intelligence. For years Mastro lied, telling people it wasn't cut when everyone with knowledge of the hobby and common sense knew better. The card is sort of the Barry Bonds of the card hobby. Bonds’ is the home run king (the PSA8 Wagner is the best card in the market). Many hate Bonds not because he gained an advantage (PSA8 had the advantage of protected borders from not being cut at the factory), it is that he insulted our intelligence through the constant denials of what we all knew was true.

And there you have it. I have no real intentions for this post. Just felt like writing it.

Thank you for taking the time to read it.