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Judge DredThe following link pretty much confirms that GAI will encapsulate an authentic card that is trimmed. I give them partial credit because they have assigned it as authentic but I also think that they should have documented the fact that the card is (more than likely, obviously, pretty good chance of it) TRIMMED.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=106178&item=5213265895&rd=1
The asking price for this nice looking T205 Johnson is $975 (BIN) or start bidding at $925. What value does this card actually hold in the eyes of REAL collectors?
I like the idea of grading services providing the AUTHENTIC label but I think they need to be more responsible with the desgination. An unknowing person may be led to believe that since the card didn't meet a certain grade that the submitter wanted it labeled as AUTHENTIC so that a lower grade would not detract from a potential buyers interest.
Four questions:
1) What is the relative value of a trimmed card to it's untrimmed counterpart graded at VG-EX?
2) As collectors do you feel that the AUTHENTIC label might be a little misleading (unless the grading service provides details of any evidence of tampering, restoration, etc?
3) Would you purchase such a card (authentic but trimmed)?
4) Would you pay more to have card labeled as authentic and have the grading service list the details of any evidence of tampering, restoration, etc?
I only wish the seller would have listed it as possibly trimmed rather than "narrow".