Posted By:
Andy BaranHal,
Restoring a card is very easy. You just take it to a paper restoration company (the baseball card restorers are hacks), tell them what you want, they give you an estimate, then you write them a check. Very easy.
Remember, they are combining 2 cards to make 1. I'm would hope that any of the grading companies, any knowledgeable collector, and any collector willing to spend the kind of money it would take to get the card, would all be able to tell that the card was restored (on close inspection). I am hoping that one of the grading companies will ultimately be willing to slab the card as authentic (which it most certainly is) - for the long term protection of the card. I'm not trying to fool anyone, or I wouldn't be so open about it here. However, my main purpose is to make the card look as nice as possible, which is why I am not willing to do anything to it to make it look obviously restored. Restoration ain't cheap if you want it done correctly.