A tale of ruined vintage............................

RonBurgundy

I walk into my favorite card shop this weekend just to pick up some supplies and ask the owner if he's picked up any good vintage lately (from time to time he does). He says yes, '56 Topps. Well well well, could be my lucky day. He points me to a showcase and I spot what look to be blazing '56 Ted Williams, Koufax, and Jackie Robinson cards. I start looking at them and the Teddy and the Jackie are PSA 8 possibilities. They're priced about $50 below high Beckett, so I ask for him to take them out of the screwdowns so I can loupe 'em. (He does not sell graded, btw, he's old school).

The Williams is beautiful. Dead centered, 2 corners that are 8, one that is 7, and one somewhere in between. White back. No creases. Beautiful edges. I'm going to buy this card..............

And then I spot it. A $%#@! roller mark (or raised cardboard, whatever you want to call it) on the bottom of the front of the card just near Ted's collar. Almost like someone stuck a knife in the cardboard to create an uneven surface. Not a crease or a wrinkle. Forget it, not taking the chance.

So I look at the Koufax. Nice solid card, but probably not an 8 and overpriced for a 7.

The Robinson. Just gorgeous. 50-50 centered, great gloss, better corners than the Williams, measures correctly........and then I spot the crease on the back. Then I find the same one on the front. Why was this crease there? Because some numbnut jammed the card into a sleeve that was too small. Unbelievable. I just know that's what caused this crease. I don't understand people who will $%#@! ruin vintage cards like this. AAAARRRGGGHHH.

BTW, the card shop guy didn't do that. He knows better.

The silver lining is he had plenty of minor stars and commons I bought that were very nice. But to see these 2 cards, one with a factory flaw and one that someone ruined, is frustrating!



Stay classy,


Ron

stormsurge

shagrotn77

Maybe the crease in the Robinson can be pressed out or removed some other way. Making wrinkles and creases disappear seems to be an accepted practice today, as many of those cards go on to get slabbed. Don't get me wrong. I'm 100% against trimming, coloring, etc. But crease and wrinkle removal I don't see as that bad.

eyebone

That is a shame. They still sound like nice cards in any case. Perhaps the owner--once made aware of the flaws--will sell them at a markedly reduced rate....

Eyebone

Stone193

Hi Ron

Glad to hear you got some nice cards tho. I have purchased cards many times and missed a slight wrinkle on the back of the card. Lucky they're not expensive cards.

Here's a 56T I picked up at a local shop - he charged me Nm from the catalog - I think it was like 11 bucks? - which was OK with me.
It was the only one I liked - so there's no bargaining with just one card.

It came back an 8 - so I did good.



mike

Boopotts

I had that exact thing happen with a drop-dead mint 1963 Bobby Hull about a year ago. You could have shaved with this card, it was that sharp-- but there was a small surface wrinkle on the right side. Otherwise it would have been a lock 9, and maybe even better. To date it's the best looking pre-1970 sportscard I've ever seen that wasn't in a slab or trimmed.

RonBurgundy

Mike, that's an awesome looking Zimmer card and one of my favorite cards in the set.

I was salivating over the possibility of paying less than Beckett for the Williams and converting it into a PSA 8. I'll do that any day of the week. Oh well...............



Stay classy,


Ron