Altered? Who cares? 52T REA Mantle AUTH ALT

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Trimmed, color added, and creases pressed out, and someone is going to grade it on resubmission??

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

And who do you think is corrupt enough to grade it?

Probably the same company as they have to have by far the most altered/counterfeit/reprints with number grades. Don't worry because their slabs get the most money. Also at least that Mantle is graded correctly unlike the majority of them. Most have had work done to them and got a number grade. More than one of the bigger card doctors have openly admitted they personally have worked on hundreds of 52 Topps Mantle cards.

[raulus]

It does seem like one of the major questions is whether all this doctoring increased the value of the card, or whether the card would have been worth more if it remained in its original state.

I suspect the whole crux of the matter is financial incentives. If I can take a card that might otherwise sell for $25k, and turn it into $50k with $1k in restoration, even if the restoration is disclosed, known, and understood, then it seems like you're looking at some pretty serious incentives for a large swath of cards to suddenly move into the restoration phase, and open wide the floodgates for some now-honest profiteering from the hobby's card doctors/restoration groups. (Since it's disclosed, it's honest, natch).

Of course, this pricing dynamic may be unique to cardboard where the supply dramatically overwhelms demand, such as with the T206 Wagner, or the 311 Mantle. Would the same economics apply to a heretofore beat up and newly restored 1966T common, or even a 1966T from a major HOFer? Probably not, simply because I can probably get a very nice one (ostensibly that hasn't gone under the knife) for less than the cost of the restoration.