Wagner T206 Auctioned in 1981

[benjulmag]

What this conversation reinforces to me is the absolute absurdity of pinning precise numbers to grades, down to half a grade, and having a card's value change by multiples based on the most minor of grade shifts, which in and of themselves are entirely subjective. To me the only value of grading is to opine whether a card is authentic and unaltered. After that, good images of the front and verso are all that I need.

As has been discussed a number of times, the absurdity of TPG reaches its zenith with blank-backed photographic cards (e.g., N172s), where photo quality is not factored in but blemishes on the versos are. Without exaggeration I can state that there are 1s I would prefer over 8s.

Technically this Wagner might be a 3.5. But if one has it in hand, as I have, it is gorgeous and IMO has significantly greater eye appeal than all the other vg-exs I have seen. Yes, when one blows up the corners, one can see the paper loss and other defects. But when you see it in person, those defects don't stand out.

For my taste, the two things that detract the most are its size and the stain in the upper left portion of the orange background. I've always found it interesting how collectors put a premium on oversize cards, which, to me being off size, conceptually are no different than undersized cards, which many collectors frown upon. Of course I recognize that the more oversized the card, the less likely it was trimmed. But if one has a card with a pedigree that makes one reasonably confident it was not altered, I would prefer the regular sized card.