Thoughts on grading this '65 Mantle?

[JollyElm]

Originally Posted by Eric72

Darren, please know I'm not taking a swipe at you here. I just can't get behind ironing a baseball card. It reminds me of the trend in comic book collecting in which people "press" their books. Among the many things I don't like about this practice is the fact that most of the defects reappear over time.

Regarding cards:

If I'm not mistaken, removing moisture will exaggerate the type of bowing the '65 Mantle exhibits. The card is basically made of two parts:

• The untreated card stock (back of the card)
• The treated, slightly glossy layer with the photo (card front)

When stored in a low humidity environment, such as a home with forced air heat, the card stock will lose moisture. This causes the card to curl/bow towards the back. I have first hand experience with this...unfortunately.

In theory, high humidity environments should cause the card to bow in the opposite direction.

Another theory, which I haven't tested, is that a humidor or similar contraption would gradually bring a bowed card back to being flat. The trick would be finding the right humidity level. Since (likely) nobody knows what the humidity level was in the room where '65 Topps was printed, it would (again, hypothetically) take a bit of trial and error to find the right number.

Oh, I wasn't thinking of it as a swipe, I was just clarifying my method in case anyone cared, because having some really bowed old cards, I employed the towel ironing technique as more or less of a test to see if it would make them flat again. It did work and they stayed that way, because I would pull them out of the toploaders and let them sit overnight in the open air, and the next morning they still held (basically the same) flatness. Your mileage may vary.