We used to just call that laminated

[bn2cardz]

It looks like it could very well just be shrink wrap as mentioned. You can even see the heat closure at the bottom (though hard to tell through the card sleeve). If it is then there is no damage done to the card. As a teen I had access to shrink wrap all the time and would shrink wrap anything and everything when I had the chance.

Eventually it all came back out without any issue.

[bh3443]

One time at the early Willow Grove shows, a guy asked Ted Taylor & Bob Schmier about laminating their cards. The response by them was that it was paramount to setting their cards on fire!
I still laugh when I recall this incident!
Bill Hedin

[Jaybird]

If it's laminated, it's ruined for anything other than a purely aesthetic piece. I wouldn't think it has any value that relates to the card that it once was.

[canjond]

I think the value of a laminated card is all relative to the card, itself. For the above pictured card, yes - little value at all (like Jay notes). An riginal Wagner laminated - I bet it still sells for $75k+.

[jcmtiger]

Doesn't look laminated. I think it is shring wrapped or saran rap around the card.

[usernamealreadytaken]

Isn't this really what third-party graders do?

Now I understand slabs can be cracked and the cards aren't altered in the slabbing process. But for all intents and purposes once a card is slabbed it will be forever entombed.

[drc]

A wholesale dealer told me that a collector had a house fire that melted all his graded cards into one lucite thing. The cards themselves were okay, but they would always be connected together.

The same dealer had for sale a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle eternally glued with a pin to the bottom of a glass ashtray. You could see Mickey but only through the ashtray. He auctioned it and it sold pretty well, just because it was a affordable 52T Mantle.

I assume the problem with laminated is some don't want it and some might want it but are wary of it ('What will it look like in 10 years?') which lowers demand. If it's an inexpensive item, I might buy it. We've all bought cards with major back damage or ink stains. It's kind of on that order. In fact, I'd prefer laminated to ink stains on front.