Question about hand-cut cards and/or cut outs

[steve B]

To me it depends on the card.

A very uncommon card that's handcut should probably be left as-is, especially if the cut is sloppy and shows part of the rest of the package or a neighboring card. The same goes for cards with tabs. A zeenut with the tab roughly torn off but showing the line and some space below it would be more interesting left alone.

Older cards that aren't hard to find - Yeah, if it's really a mess some tidying might be ok. I wouldn't, but I wouldn't have a problem with a bit of recutting. Like If a common strip card had a crooked or ragged edge so a bit of it stuck out oddly, sure, trim the excess back to the border.

Massive recutting to give four straight edges and sharp corners would -To me - be less attractive. The original state of preservation or decay or damage has been hidden. Not much better than trimming a factory cut card. Not that I'd pass it up for the right price, just that I'd be thinking more the "A" price than the "92" price.

Modern stuff I don't have much problem with recutting. If the Hostess card was hacked badly and part of another card shows, and all the borders are there, trim away. There are enough full panels and even complete boxes it doesn't really matter.
Hacking down a complete box or panel for singles or cutting the extra off one issued as a single is another story....

Steve B