Removiing PSA/DNA sticker on back of old photos
 

I recent won this very nice Babe Ruth snapshot. I realize it had the PSA/DNA on the back before I bid on it and for some reason it bothers me that it's on there.To me it takes away from the photo even though it's on the back and I'm not sure if it hurts the value. Are these easy to remove?It looks like it could be easy to remove with probably no damage. I'm not sure why for something like this they would place the sticker on the photo, instead of the PSA/DNA letter :confused: :( Anyone have any experience removing the sticker?


http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...ps4eb2211f.jpg
http://i97.photobucket.com/albums/l2...pse594a176.jpg

Personally, when it's on the back I don't care, but I understand it does to some. I have heard that using a hairdryer to heat up the glue works to make it easier to remove fully, but I have no personal experience doing it.
Good Luck Gary.
Nice photo.

Hey Gary, I totally agree. I wouldn't want that sticker on the back if it was my photo. It messes with the vintage aesthetics of the piece.

Atleast its on the back. I won something from Iconic (a old 51-ish Mantle photo). At the time was not certified. I made clearly to put the sticker on the back--but lord and behold they put it on the FRONT!!!.
So when i received, i notified them and returned it and got my money back.

As for the sticker, not sure about removing it, but i read once removed the sticker changes, so people know if its be transferred to something else.
And i didnt get any letter of Authenticity as i would of thought.

To me putting a sticker on these items is like putting a sticker on the baseball cards they grade that have the card grade on it. It just doesn't make sense.

At least the sticker has some significance to someone outside the company that applied it. I can't tell you how many photos I've had where the seller put their inventory sticker on the back of the photo which has zero significance to anyone outside the company. Some are semi-professional looking and/or easy to peel off. Others are neither.

Then there are the stickers that simply identify what archive the photo came from. Perhaps mildly useful in some instances, but I've seen a number of cases where important stamps or markings were partially or totally obscured because their location happened to coincide with where the company typically applied their own identifying sticker. Seriously? You can't shift it over an inch? "Screw that Burke guy, this photo came from MY archive, and this is where people expect to see my sticker."

If they're going to sell these photos as collectibles, they need to treat them as such, and have a little respect for their customers. Don't slap stickers on them like bananas or soup cans or any other cheap commodity. There's a reason why these "how do I remove this label" threads pop up regularly, yet you've never seen a thread with a collector asking where to get some randomly bar-coded labels printed up so he can apply them to his photos...

I don't think any of the 'worthless to collector' sticker guys have ever posted here. Once identified, their credibility in the photo-collecting world is zero.

I'm surprised to hear that PSA/DNA stickers can be removed without damage - does anyone have first-hand knowledge of this? meaning - have you done it and seen the undamaged sticker? How about the MLB ones? I really liked the idea that they disintegrate, and hope it's still true.

Just FYI - the stickers on the back of the Historic Images / NEA photos are removable and will not damage the photo. This is for everything numbered NEA 2501 and higher. They are strictly used for inventory management purposes and were never intended to become a permanent part of the photo. I assure you that we spend a premium to get the "removable" stickers.

I am a photo collector myself and am not a fan of modern additions to vintage photos, however, to have them shipped in a timely manner the bar codes are a necessary evil.

Hope this helps...

I have to agree with Chris. I have purchased quite a few photos from the Historic Images group and I have had no problem removing their inventory stickers from the back of any photo. Plus, I like the occasional specials they run like the bogo that ends on New Years Eve.

I also have no problem with Culver Pictures and what they did. They were/are a photo archive service that provides photos for use with the provision they be returned. They are not concerned with who took the photo. It is not germaine to their operation.

I do have a problem with the stickers that Jay Parrino uses on his JP- The Mint or MMG archives photos. They have a very strong adhesive and even with a hairdryer there are still challenges in removing the sticker. It is very annoying to have a pure backed Bain, Thompson, Bushnell or other pre 1920's contact print disfigured by a sticker. By pure backed I mean it has the photographer or news service stamp and a few pencil notations and maybe a caption sheet.

Thanks Chris.

I would presume that by placing the numbered sticker on the photo, it identifies that specific photograph as the one to which the certificate refers to.

In the context of certifying authenticity, "It is my opinion that the photo of Babe Ruth holding a young child, to which our sticker numbered H50636 has been affixed, is authentic" is more re-assuring than a simple boilerplate certificate, "We declare the following item authentic - Babe Ruth photo with child" with no other identifying information.

Yeah, it's tougher with photos - with other items they sometimes include a picture of the item on the COA. Personally I think a photo of a photo on the COA would be fine, but photos are easier to duplicate than items such as autographs.

I agree with Scott..that just the photo on the COA would be fine. I understand the sticker more so with autographs then original photos.

Then I just wonder with a photo that is an "original type I" why not just slab it instead of placing the sticker? :rolleyes::(

I haven't done anything with the photo yet and just holding off for now until I gather more research.I do love the snapshot and it will be my HOF snapshot for some time with zero plans to trade/resell. :) I guess it more or less surprise me, how much it bother me once I got it...even though I knew it was on there,lol.

I would leave on the sticker. But that's just my opinion.

The PSA stickers are intricately die cut, so they don't come off in one piece. I think it could end up worse if you tried to remove it.

Maybe you can get hypnosis sessions until you like it.