Originally Posted by Snowman
Serious question. What if the majority of collectors today simply don't care if a card was "restored" or not? What if they only care about how it looks and that it is slabbed and that there is a market/demand for it?
I'm not belittling the opinions of the purists, they're certainly entitled to their preferences, but in nearly every other hobby, "alterations" or "restorations" or whatever else you want to call them are widely accepted. Sometimes it just feels like the purists are attempting to demand their preferences on the masses. But what if it's actually the purists who are outnumbered?
I personally don't care about the majority of the alterations I've seen. Hell, I've even been buying up some pretty big cards in 'authentic' slabs lately (52T mantle, 52T mays, 48 leaf Jackie, 33 Goudey Ruth, an MJ/Lebron RC dual auto card, and more, all in authentic slabs). In many cases I actually prefer the restored card to the "before" pictured cards in a lot of the BODA posts. That 52 Mantle card on Blowhard that started much of this controversy is a prime example. Give me the "restored" version of that card all day long. I'd even pay top dollar for it. Those alterations don't bother me one bit. As long as it's well-centered with good eye appeal, crease free, and measures to size, that's all I care. I don't know what percentage of collectors in this hobby don't care about these alterations, but I guarantee it's a much much higher percentage of people than one would think if their only exposure to the hobby was through the forums. All those BODA threads, while ultimately informative and helpful, are just filled with the same dozen or so voices constantly regurgitating the same arguments over and over and they all just circle jerk together while they play whack-a-mole on anyone with a dissenting opinion. A very small number of people are responsible for well in excess of half the content in those threads, and many are extremely rude, aggressive, and abrasive toward anyone with a different opinion. It pushes people away. It's like the Twittersphere of this hobby. Just a bunch of monkeys throwing shit at each other. I believe if it was a more open discussion with dissenting views being tolerated, we'd see a much more healthy debate and far more people chiming in who aren't bothered by all these altered cards. But posting in those threads is like walking into a landmine field. So people just avoid it altogether.
Don't get me wrong. I still avoid rattlers. I still avoid hideously recolored cards. But it's because they look mangled that I don't want them in my collection. But if I were at a show and the dealer told me that the raw 1954 Topps Al Rosen card in VG-EX condition I'm interested in buying for $5 was previously oversized and stuck out like a sore thumb in a stack so he micro trimmed 1/32" off the bottom and now it measures correctly to size, I honestly couldn't care less as long as it wasn't noticeable, and I would gladly put it in my set to replace an off-centered copy with a crease that hadn't been altered. If a card has been altered, but the alteration is undetectable, then what difference does it make? Honestly? At what point are you guys just yelling at clouds?
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