My enthusiasm was fueled by the expectation or at least hope that something finally was going to be done against some bad players. At some point playing Don Quixote is stupid lol.

Again, the whole thing just smacks so much of moot point to me. Even after a major scandal amongst graders / PWCC in 2020-21, we are back to business as usual. Stuff trumps all for the most part, assuming it's in a nice slab with a number grade. The graders aren't going after card doctors. The auction houses aren't going after card doctors. Those who would mobilize the wherewithal to go after them in the hobby simply don't exist in significant number. And whether or not what these folks are doing extends to "illegal" over and above just "immoral", the FBI and the federal government don't appear to be going after them either.

Seems the most we can do is talk about how bad / frustrating it all is. Repetitively.

One thing no one seems to be talking about is that within our lifetimes, many of our cards will deteriorate to the point of no return unless they are properly conserved. That means de-acidified, cleaned of foreign materials, and stabilized. Most of our stuff was made using wood-based pulp that is rife with lignin and acids. Many 100-year-old strip cards, postcards and Exhibit cards are already quite brittle, and many prewar newsprint items are falling apart. I have boxing pieces that are nearly 200 years old and are fine because they were made with cotton rag paper, and I have thrown away wood-pulp based items that are falling apart after 100 years.

Is it going to be 'doctoring' if a collector takes steps to address these conditions with proper conservation techniques? Because if the answer is "yes", you better get ready to say goodbye to a lot of W cards, premiums and memorabilia.

To me doctoring is something done but not disclosed in order to deceive.

Adam -

Curious about what the solution is to preserve these items. I'm certainly not against preservation, especially preservation that is obvious and known to everyone, rather than performed to deceive.

But I'm also completely ignorant about what that would entail. How do you properly conserve that card without the cure being worse than the disease?

Lots to say
 

everybody is entitled to their own opinion.

Please explain more
 

Just out of curiosity since you know our business and how we do things how is it that we're removing cards from scrapbooks can you shed some light on our process and what we use if we're not using water? Since you supposedly have the answer already why don't you share to the world what you know.

*grabs popcorn

Truth, always a fan of your Dad!

Hatters gonna hat, and you do you.

We have all types of people on this forum, but remember, they will boot you if they want to, or feel you are advertising without paying.

I am sure your firm has used water to soak an item out. What I am saying is that this is not all you do - using an example of something which is and has been considered benign by the general hobby for a very long time. Your own website, advertising and testimonials makes it extremely clear you are doing far more; that's what you are openly selling.

I stand by what I said. You cannot possibly not know that most of these cards are being worked on to get past graders and then sold without disclosure of the work done. This is the problem and criticism I am making (well, made, you are rather late). The wink and the nod is that your family doesn't commit the fraud, but provides the enabling the service. I have yet to see people selling cards with open and honest disclosure of your alterations and work, for some mysterious reason the minority popcorn gallery here consistently refuses to address.

I’m guessing that you’re new(ish), based on the small number of posts you’ve made to date. So welcome to the fun house!

If you’re looking for adventure, there’s a thread on the main page about how every slabbed card has a story, with a link to some videos showing how various cards have been treated to improve their appearance. I’m sure the group would love to hear your thoughts about the posts in that thread.

I am very interested in the debate and the opinions and conversations. For clarity, I haven't even removed wax stains with panty hose. Pushing a corner down with my finger is the only thing I have ever personally done with a card.

By all means can you please educate us all and tell us exactly what it is that you think we use for removing cards from scrapbooks?

So Rocky since you know so much about gone with the stain And what we supposedly do I would like you to educate us and the baseball card world exactly what it is that you think we do!?

You already did this lol. See post 60.