Hitler cards graded by PSA

[steve B]

I think it's a bad precedent to not grade a card because of the subject, with a few exceptions.

You can't really have a 36 Olympic set with out Hitler. So if you won't grade one card from the set, it's a short trip to not grading the set. Which of course is also incomplete without Jesse Owens, and it's silly to not grade his card.

The alternative is only grading cards of players, public figures you like... Which would lead to some pretty epic arguments when it comes to sets of presidents cards, or the Desert shield cards (Or the non-sports related sets) or....

How many cards in say a 2000 Topps set would you not grade.
Schilling - because his politics are unpopular and he was a lousy videogame ceo?
Bonds - Because... he's Bonds?
Clemens- for similar reasons?
Whatsis name, the guy that hit his wife with a telephone?

Where do you draw that line?

Heck, we don't catalog or grade cards that are believed to be unlicensed. Unless it's Wagner.....

The exception I'd make would be for sets like the one from the early 90's that was all serial killers. When None of the subjects are worthy in any way, it does make some sense.

[JollyElm]

The cards were issued, so you have to grade them and turn a blind eye, because their job isn't to assess the worthiness of the grading subject, but to give the quality of the card a numbered designation.

The real question is, how do you feel about a person wanting to have their Hitlers graded, or 'showing off' their Nazi cards? Probably not a person I'd have a beer with.

[riggs336]

You're a coin collector. Do you pass up a Roman coin featuring Caligula because he wasn't your kind of emperor? The most expensive cards in the Horrors of War set are the Hitler cards. Do you search for "Complete Set Minus Hitler"? I collect exhibit cards. The Exhibit Supply set completely devoted to Mussolini has been on my want list for decades.

My point is if you ONLY collect images of Caligula, Hitler and Mussolini, I'm going to steer clear of you. But that's not the same thing as having a hobby devoted to completing sets of diverse images.

[egri]

I vote yes; it’s a card with historical value and covers a lot of ground for a cigarette card: the intersection of sports and politics, how Hitler used ceremony and spectacle to increase his popularity and cement his hold on power relatively quickly, and it would be the last Olympics until 1948.

I briefly considered something similar when I was working on my project and a Dixie Walker popped up. Based on his history with Jackie Robinson, I wasn’t sure if I wanted him in my collection, but in the end I figured he’s a part of the set and part of the game’s history, and warranted including.

[RedsFan1941]

yes. not even a question.

[Casey2296]

As long as we're outlawing cards my vote is to stop grading all LA Dodger cards.

Signed,
A Giants Fan

[drcy]

They are authenticators and graders of historical artifacts for historical artifacts collectors. What do you think history is made up of, only Mister Rogers and the birth of Lassie?

I worked at a Holocaust Museum, and they owned, displayed and had authenticated Nazi items, including a couple of Hitler trading cards and a Nazi flag. Can a Holocaust Museum exist without displaying Nazi items?

I once asked the head archivist, a 70-something Jewish woman, what she felt about her carefully restoring and cleaning a Nazi flag. She said she saw the irony in it.