Opinions on Soaking/Pressing

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Posted By: Anonymous

Thought I would take a few minutes to clear up some obvious confusion, misinformation and misconceptions presented. Not sure if this information will be appreciated or not welcomed at all. Just the facts, Ma’am. Like it or not this is the state of the hobby and has been for sometime. Thought you should know this so you can remove all doubt and stop with the supposition. For some of you this will be a nightmare come true, others it will merely corroborate what you already knew but did not want to truly accept. The grading companies are well aware of it as you should be since you are buying the stuff they grade.

Card “restoration” is commonplace among most dealers and even many advanced collectors. Whether they pay for the service from a known restorer or do it themselves, a shocking number of high profile hobbyists are engaging in it as well. It is pandemic. I am surprised more of you have not overheard dealers casually talking about this at shows while they compare work done. Dealers do it to increase their PROFIT and collectors do it to improve the appearance and VALUE of their collections. True purists (those who prefer untouched cards) are very much in the minority.

Unless you are buying a collection directly from the original owner, you can assume the cards have undergone some form of “restoration.” It can be as innocent as a drop of water added to remove foreign debris or more deceitful, such as trimming and adding color. All condition cards are affected by this fact; it is not just a high grade phenomenon. Even the VG cards you all feel have been safe may suffer this affliction. This is just the undeniable business aspect of card collecting.

No cosmetic problems are beyond some form of paper surgery. A few are difficult to resolve while others are very easy. Soaking, strictly for purposes of crease removal, is standard practice for everything from 19th century issues through Topps issues from the 70s. Yes, this means T204s, Cracker Jacks and even other issues that do not have smooth surfaces are fair game. The exception would be Cabinets. Crease removal can raise a card’s grade by 3 to 5 grades. If done right the creases will not reappear. Nevertheless, I have seen plenty of hack jobs that left me wondering 1) how they got through grading and 2) at what point those creases will reappear—because they do.

Some here have referred to a process called “pressing.” It is a method that involves soaking and stretching in order to trim a card’s outer edges. While this can be done on many cards, it is unusual for thinner cards, like T206s, T205s and Caramel issues. The cards just aren’t thick enough to press and stretch. Thicker issues (Goudeys, post-war Topps, N172, N162, N28 and N29s) can and often do undergo this process. Getting the extra length is the easy part. Mimicking the original cut is the more difficult aspect and the true test of a card doctor’s skill. That is what separates the doctors from the EMT’s. In many of the pre-war issues there is great variance in size so sometimes it is possible to take off a little without compromising the size requirement for grading.

Removing stains is another prevalent practice in the hobby. Some stains require the use of chemicals while others can vanish in water. There are very few stains which cannot be removed. The major considerations are the stain’s location and whether or not text is affected. However, stain removal is costly! Unless the stains are ordinary like pencil marks, wax and gum, this arena is usually left to professional conservationists.

For the obvious reasons I am choosing to post this anonymously. Hope that will not diminish the importance of what I have written. I have been associated/involved in this hobby for many years so this information comes with a great deal of experience and knowledge. Sorry to be the messenger of bad news but somebody had to tell you.