Final UPDATE. PSA Guarantee on a doctored card - Actual good news this time

[steve B]

Originally Posted by tjisonline

Yes, it 100% can. For people trying to avoid buying cleaned cards, I highly recommend watching online content to see how it’s done or better yet, simply buy a few old vintage common cards to try it yourself. That’s how I learned to help avoid buying cleaned cards at shows & in auctions. I taught myself how to help spot cleaned cards (not perfect but helps). Dr Beckett talked many times on his podcast about the vast majority of vintage cards looking unnatural. That is why I think over 50% of mid to high end vintage cards have been cleaned at some point. I remember dealers taking about soaking cards during the 1980s as a kid. That’s why many of us have cleaned cards in our vintage collections whether we are aware of not. It’s up to you to believe it or remain ignorant

E.g. I work in IT Security & Integration Program Mgt. How do you think we learn to continuously protect our systems? Like the FBI, other companies, etc… we hire, attend lectures , & study former hackers to teach ourselves. We just don’t guess or reuse online posts. Like most things in life, need to study the opposition to learn.

I agree on cleaned cards, and regular stains. It happens all the time, and sometimes isn't a bad thing.

That sort of water stain though usually has had the paper damp enough that the sizing has slightly broken down letting the fibers expand. It's possible soaking and pressing would fix that issue, but the discoloration is also usually very deep into the cardboard. I have doubts that just water would fix that sort of stain.

I may do some experimenting, and see if I can cause then fix that sort of stain.