How to crack a $50,000 to $100,000 card.....

[Jeffrompa]

Doing the right thing . Should be on the front page of the New York Times .

[pclpads]

For future ref - that is an industrial strength sd and way to big for the project. It invites disaster to the card and your other hand / wrist if it slips. I have always successfully used about a 4" sd which has a much thinner blade on SGC slabs, and so, much easier to pop a top corner seam. Then gradually work a slightly larger sd along the top seam, leaving the first sd in place. Never have had to use snips on SGC slabs, since, like the older PSA slabs, they are fairly easy to open.

[steve B]

I'm assuming they wanted it unslabbed to save space?

Steve B

[mybuddyinc]

Originally Posted by steve B

I'm assuming they wanted it unslabbed to save space?

Steve B

Could also save on mailing cost ---- penny sleeve and a 50 cent stamp

[RaidonCollects]

Wow, that card is spectacular, I wondered why the card wasn't listed online when your auction started.

But, that is extremely kind of you Leon. I just read about how it was stolen, and sold on by Mastro (good ol' Mastro ), but you deserve a medal for being so generous, and I think Al Spalding would be proud of you.

Best Wishes,

~Owen

[kmac32]

I would have left it slabbed just to protect the card from the elements. As surgeon, I always error on the side of safety

[Leon]

Originally Posted by kmac32

I would have left it slabbed just to protect the card from the elements. As surgeon, I always error on the side of safety

There were multiple reasons for not leaving it in the slab. It was graded around 15 yrs ago when grading (especially of these) was more subjective. It didn't belong in a 50 holder by today's standards. Rest assured it is currently in an archival sleeve in an archival top loader, cushioned against one piece of a 3 inch thick screwdown holder and inside not 1 but 2 individually sealed, very heavy duty, water tight baggies. It is being hand delivered. I am not sure how it could be more safe.

As for cracking it, I had multipe devices handy but chose the one that I felt was the most steady for me to use. The picture where the screwdriver is above the card, makes it seem it could be touching it, but it isn't. The card is lower and rests inside and slightly below the gasket. From that point the srcrewdriver went backwards and out of the holder. Then I just flipped the edges and it popped exremely easily. No harm done and the card was never touched (as far as I could tell).

[travrosty]

Originally Posted by RaidonCollects

Wow, that card is spectacular, I wondered why the card wasn't listed online when your auction started.

But, that is extremely kind of you Leon. I just read about how it was stolen, and sold on by Mastro (good ol' Mastro ), but you deserve a medal for being so generous, and I think Al Spalding would be proud of you.

Best Wishes,

~Owen

this is rewriting history.

[travrosty]

too funny.

[glchen]

Originally Posted by Jeffrompa

Doing the right thing . Should be on the front page of the New York Times .

+1, I don't think a lot of people would have the gumption to do this for such a high dollar card. If this were me, to be honest, I'd probably see if it were possible for me to legally wriggle out of this since the buyer didn't know it was stolen when purchased. Definitely huge kudos.

[travrosty]

Originally Posted by glchen

+1, I don't think a lot of people would have the gumption to do this for such a high dollar card. If this were me, to be honest, I'd probably see if it were possible for me to legally wriggle out of this since the buyer didn't know it was stolen when purchased. Definitely huge kudos.

gary, he did, but came to the conclusion that it would be best to return it, only after negotiating with sgc to have it re-holdered from a 4 to a 2 holder, leon did sgc pay the difference under their guarantee? Otherwise, why bother negotiating having it re-graded and why even bother cracking it out of the holder at all. you would just send it in, in the holder it was in already.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by travrosty

gary, he did, but came to the conclusion that it would be best to return it, only after negotiating with sgc to have it re-holdered from a 4 to a 2 holder, leon did sgc pay the difference under their guarantee? Otherwise, why bother negotiating having it re-graded and why even bother cracking it out of the holder at all. you would just send it in, in the holder it was in already.

It will be given to the NYPL raw as stated above, well secured and protected.

[xplainer]

Well done Leon.
Very glad to hear this story end this way.

[mark evans]

Leon...a real mensch.

Mark

[pokerplyr80]

Originally Posted by travrosty

gary, he did, but came to the conclusion that it would be best to return it, only after negotiating with sgc to have it re-holdered from a 4 to a 2 holder, leon did sgc pay the difference under their guarantee? Otherwise, why bother negotiating having it re-graded and why even bother cracking it out of the holder at all. you would just send it in, in the holder it was in already.

Travis I'm sure that's the case and a fair resolution. Hopefully Leon got his original investment back, and perhaps a little extra. The card is out of a holder it didn't belong in, and the library has their stolen property back.

Hopefully all who were so vocal in the previous thread will see that Leon simply needed some time to make a difficult decision and ultimately made the correct one.

[Luke]

You just need a butter knife for SGC cases. Stick it in the indent and wiggle back and forth until the case opens. Do it on all sides and take the top and bottom halves apart with your hands. Takes like 5 seconds once you get used to it, and more importantly, is very safe.

[bnorth]

Originally Posted by LukeLyon

You just need a butter knife for SGC cases. Stick it in the indent and wiggle back and forth until the case opens. Do it on all sides and take the top and bottom halves apart with your hands. Takes like 5 seconds once you get used to it, and more importantly, is very safe.

+1 I use a vegetable knife and it takes about 5 seconds at the most.

[travrosty]

Originally Posted by pokerplyr80

Travis I'm sure that's the case and a fair resolution. Hopefully Leon got his original investment back, and perhaps a little extra. The card is out of a holder it didn't belong in, and the library has their stolen property back.

Hopefully all who were so vocal in the previous thread will see that Leon simply needed some time to make a difficult decision and ultimately made the correct one.

only if he was going to get paid for it,

why was the card put in the heritage auction at the sgc grade it was in, a 4, wasnt the ink marks on the back obvious?

why not reholder it in its correct grade BEFORE trying to auction it off?

wouldnt that be the right thing to do as well?

I am hard pressed to believe Leon doesn't know the difference in card grades and what constitutes ink mark and the consequences of ink marks on the back as pertaining to the grade?

The library doesnt care what holder the card is in. The decision wasnt difficult, it was easy,

Getting paid for the card was the difficult part. if only all the people that had to make difficult (but the right) decisions but werent paid for them could be so lucky.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by pokerplyr80

Travis I'm sure that's the case and a fair resolution. Hopefully Leon got his original investment back, and perhaps a little extra. The card is out of a holder it didn't belong in, and the library has their stolen property back.

Hopefully all who were so vocal in the previous thread will see that Leon simply needed some time to make a difficult decision and ultimately made the correct one.

You are "sure that's the case" based on what?? Leon did not buy the card as a 50, he bought it raw and submitted it. So there is no question here of SGC compensating him.

[pokerplyr80]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

You are "sure that's the case" based on what?? Leon did not buy the card as a 50, he bought it raw and submitted it. So there is no question here of SGC compensating him.

I assumed he was being compensated by SGC, otherwise why remove it from the holder? "I'm sure that's the case" was more a figure of speech rather than a declaration of 100% certainty, although I will still assume it's true until proven otherwise.

I did not realize he purchased the card raw.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by pokerplyr80

I assumed he was being compensated by SGC, otherwise why remove it from the holder? "I'm sure that's the case" was more a figure of speech rather than a declaration of 100% certainty, although I will still assume it's true until proven otherwise.

I did not realize he purchased the card raw.

You have no knowledge of the circumstances here. Enough said.

[travrosty]

It is in his best interest to put it at auction as a 4 when it can make him the most money, then when that option was dashed, it makes him the most money for him to drop it down to a 2, because I am sure he was outraged that sgc overgraded it and he demands satisfaction? this is what people dont like about the hobby. What say you leon?

[mrkrab]

chea

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by mrkrab

chea

Why do so many people edit out complete posts? Why not stand behind what you wrote?