Altered? Who cares? 52T REA Mantle AUTH ALT

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by vintagerookies51

What an interesting obsession people have on here with hating on altered cards... What I care about is authenticity, eye appeal and cost. If the card came from a pack in 1952 and has 0.01% of its border trimmed and maybe some color added, I could not care less since I'm getting something with the eye appeal of a 6 for a fraction of the price.

Having your own preference is one thing, but to call people idiots for their preference is just weird behavior.

I think there is definitely an age-related factor at play as to who is more accepting of restoration. That, and people whose main motive is buying an iconic card for bragging rights to impress non-collector friends who are familiar with the card but wouldn't have a clue about alteration. To the unschooled eye, a restored card would appear more incredible than one that wasn't restored.

"Hey, non-collector buddy! Check out what I can afford to buy! It's a Mantle rookie! Gem mint! I'm successful!" *Covers flip with thumb when showing it*

[Touch'EmAll]

What is the motive when altering/doctoring a card ?

Is it to simply up the aesthetic eye appeal so the current owner (doctor) will be more pleased with their card when looking at it ?

Or is the motive to garner a higher price upon the sale, most often at the expense of an unknowing potential buyer ?

Or is the motive to do an honest public service to increase the eye appeal and to better preserve the card for future owner(s) of the card ?

How does the coin collecting community generally feel about a rare coin being altered ? I would think there are similar opinions on what is acceptable.

Or are "The Times They Are A-Changin" - and the new crowd prefers an altered/doctored card to buy with their hard earned money because it looks better in spite of the fact it has been tampered with ?

Just my rambling rhetorical questions to ponder.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by Touch'EmAll

Or are "The Times They Are A-Changin" - and the new crowd prefers an altered/doctored card to buy with their hard earned money because it looks better in spite of the fact it has been tampered with ?

This is a big one in my mind. We have all kinds of new collectors entering the market, none of whom have been "tainted" (terrible choice of wording) by how restoration has classically been frowned upon in this hobby. Several of these newbies are crossing over from other hobbies such as comic books, where restoration is considered wholly acceptable.

Remember, to the previously uninitiated, the general idea of restoration is seen as a good thing. We hear about it all the time: as someone else mentioned, with classic cars. Also, the fine art world, comic books, furniture, architecture. Restoration is everywhere and the word has very positive connotations when associated with practically anything else.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

This is a big one in my mind. We have all kinds of new collectors entering the market, none of whom have been "tainted" (terrible choice of wording) by how restoration has classically been frowned upon in this hobby. Several of these newbies are crossing over from other hobbies such as comic books, where restoration is considered wholly acceptable.

Remember, to the previously uninitiated, the general idea of restoration is seen as a good thing. We hear about it all the time: as someone else mentioned, with classic cars. Also, the fine art world, comic books, furniture, architecture. Restoration is everywhere and the word has very positive connotations when associated with practically anything else.

Sure, when it's disclosed, it's fine. When it's concealed and done to deceive, it's not. Our beloved card doctors and their enablers at all levels of the hobby have made millions from blatant fraudulent deception.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Sure, when it's disclosed, it's fine. When it's concealed and done to deceive, it's not. Our beloved card doctors have made millions from blatant fraudulent deception.

Oh, I agree. I should have added similar verbiage to my last post just to be clear about that. Thanks.

[Touch'EmAll]

If someone wants to doctor a card they own, then that's their perogative. If they can get it to where it looks like a EX/NM copy then that's ok ... so long as the grading company they send it to appropriately slabs it as "authentic altered". Then anyone who buys cards for eye appeal and could care less about doctoring should be able to both get a nice looking card and at a more affordable price. But in no way should a grading company give the card a numerical grade - then we get into a whole mess of nastiness.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

I would quibble with the title of the thread.

Obviously people DO care, to the tune of about $100,000 give or take, which is the difference between what the card made with good disclosure despite it's EX/MT appearance and what an actual EX/MT example would likely go for.

[jayshum]

Originally Posted by BillyCoxDodgers3B

This is a big one in my mind. We have all kinds of new collectors entering the market, none of whom have been "tainted" (terrible choice of wording) by how restoration has classically been frowned upon in this hobby. Several of these newbies are crossing over from other hobbies such as comic books, where restoration is considered wholly acceptable.

Remember, to the previously uninitiated, the general idea of restoration is seen as a good thing. We hear about it all the time: as someone else mentioned, with classic cars. Also, the fine art world, comic books, furniture, architecture. Restoration is everywhere and the word has very positive connotations when associated with practically anything else.

Just saw this today about comic book restoration. Big money awarded to the restores.

https://www.cllct.com/sports-collect...ion-in-damages

[vintagerookies51]

Originally Posted by Touch'EmAll

What is the motive when altering/doctoring a card ?

Is it to simply up the aesthetic eye appeal so the current owner (doctor) will be more pleased with their card when looking at it ?

Or is the motive to garner a higher price upon the sale, most often at the expense of an unknowing potential buyer ?

Or is the motive to do an honest public service to increase the eye appeal and to better preserve the card for future owner(s) of the card ?

How does the coin collecting community generally feel about a rare coin being altered ? I would think there are similar opinions on what is acceptable.

Or are "The Times They Are A-Changin" - and the new crowd prefers an altered/doctored card to buy with their hard earned money because it looks better in spite of the fact it has been tampered with ?

Just my rambling rhetorical questions to ponder.

This thread is about a card that is already slabbed as Authentic Altered with a detailed description of what those alterations were. I don't think anyone is condoning trying to hide alterations on a card for profit... some people prefer buying these and saving a lot of money for other cards, and some people would rather have a PSA 6. Both are OK