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Posted By: Shane Hardie

You guys are the experts. I would like to have your opinions on this Mantle. I just acquired this, and I plan on sending it to PSA in the near future. As you can see, the background on this Mantle has been recolored, probably by some kid in the 1950's. It looks like some sort of paint substance. I have no doubt that this card is genuine. It passes the flashlight test, the pixels are identical to the other 1952 Topps cards, the black ink on the borders and Mantle's name and signature are solid and not pixelated.

I have contacted Joe Orlando at PSA. He said that they would holder it as "authentic" and altered, which is fine. I knew that they would not give it a numerical grade. Even with it being recolored, I think it still has decent eye appeal because of the centering. I have seen far worse.

My question - would I benefit from having this card professionally restored? I realize that professionally restoring a card in order to be deceptive is taboo. That is not my intent. My intent would be to still get it into a PSA "Authentic" holder, but with better eye appeal. I saw in Robert Edward's Spring Auction where a perfectly centered SGC "Authentic" sold for $7,500, just because it had tremendous eye appeal.

So, would it be beneficial to look into it? Should I leave it alone? What are the risks if I decide to do it? Who should I get to restore it (if I should get it restore at all)? Can it even be restored? Can it be restored TOO MUCH to get into an "authentic" holder?

Here are some scans.











Here is a closeup to show the pixels and the black ink.