Time to come clean!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Posted By: Bob

I have not alluded to the Wagner card previously as I have no first hand knowledge of its alteration (or alleged alteration), but I can speak to the issue of prewar card alteration. I have seen, first hand, caramel cards and tobacco cards which other owners have had pressed, soaked, etc to remove wrinkles and creases and have the corners "mintied" up. Some of these individuals have even confided in me what they had done, some openly boasted. I was struck by the fact, Daniel, that you need to get a hold of VCBC #7, as Barry mentioned also, to see what can be done with cards. I can tell you that all I have ever done is with a group of T206s about 10-12 years ago, soaking them to remove notebook paper from the backs, then drying them and pressing them. They were all around EX to begin with (about 25-30 cards) except for that paper on the back. They came out looking like exmt cards and are in my T206 set now, I never offered them for sale. If I could do this with so little know-how, I know card doctors with expertise and paper restorationists can do miracles.
I will also tell you that in the early '80's I went to a show in Kansas City which at that time was one of the major shows in the country. The best T206s offered, and there were a lot of them which I saw, were ex, ex+ and exmt. None I would call higher than exmt. I remember buying one of the best cards I had ever seen, a Joe Tinker bat on, from Bill Mastro, and it was exmt. There is no way it would ever get a 7, 8 or 9.
I eyeballed a lot of tobacco cards in the mid and late 80's and early and mid 90's and the blazers just weren't around, especially in caramel cards. The proliferation of high grade caramel cards is puzzling to me. There haven't been that many finds and there are too many to be purchased from estate sales or from deceased owners. Too many. I can also tell you that caramel cards rarely were found in better than vg or vgex because of the way they were acquired, by kids in candy packages, not by mail, not neatly packed in tobacco packs which were purchased by adults. In my humble opinion there are too many high grade prewar caramel cards in great shape to have been the result of anything other than alterations and visits to the card docs.