Article about Collecting and Fraud in the Hobby

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Snowman

If this is indeed the standard, then some remarkably large percentage of collectors who submit cards for grading are guilty of criminal activity because massive numbers of ultra-modern collectors are polishing out surface scratches on modern chrome cards or at the very least sending them off to a submitter who does this for a fee on their behalf, referring to it as "prepping the cards for grading". I believe the TPGs say it's a no-no, but it's very much so the standard operating procedure for probably nearly half of the hobby, and the only reason the other half doesn't do it is because they simply don't know it's a thing.

So is this the modern equivalent of rubbing out a light gum stain or is it more nefarious? It sounds somewhat at a lower level of evil to me than trimming, but I don't have that much modern.

[G1911]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

So is this the modern equivalent of rubbing out a light gum stain or is it more nefarious? It sounds somewhat at a lower level of evil to me than trimming, but I don't have that much modern.

It's the modern version of that, and openly admitted to by almost all when done with water and a microfiber cloth. Some object to using car wax or polish. As an emerging thing, standards are not really set and known, like trimming has been for decades.