Hello Bruce A question for you:
A lobby card that has a tear in the margin, and was reinforced in the back with an archival tape in order to prevent further damage. Would you consider such a card as having had restoration work done to it? Zeev ----- Original Message ----- From: Bruce Hershenson To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, January 09, 2008 11:14 AM Subject: [MOPO] FA: Should all sellers of lobby cards identify if they have ANY restoration at all? Given that "slabbing" of lobby cards is "just around the corner" (actually, I have heard it is here, but have not seen any), shouldn't all sellers of lobby cards identify if they have ANY restoration at all? After all, in baseball cards, grading companies won't even grade a restored baseball card AT ALL (unless it is a Honus Wagner T-206 card bought by Wayne Gretsky, but that's another story for another time!). Isn't it quite possible that the same standards will come to apply to lobby cards (given that, like baseball cards, many examples of most survive, so condition is far more important as a way to distinguish between them)? If so, collectors will be frantically checking their cards for the slightest restoration, knowing that a tiny border repair might slash its value (don't laugh at that idea, because it IS true in baseball cards). What is "slabbing"? Slabbing is encasing items in a hard plastic sleeve with a seal that can't be broken, and then the items are professionally graded. ANY restoration of any kind, as well as a detailed condition description is noted on the back of the sleeve. Proponents of slabbing say that it takes all the guesswork out of grading items, and it brings lots of new collectors into a hobby, who are no longer afraid of buying an over-graded item, or one with hidden restoration. It is indisputable that slabbing attracts a lot of "investors" into a hobby, and almost always slabbing of items is followed by a sharp rise in the price of "high grade" UNRESTORED items. If the people who currently "slab" other collectibles begin to do so with lobby cards, then it is very likely prices will rise on them as well, but prices will likely fall on cards with any restoration. IN EVERY CASE in our current 800 auctions of lobby cards, we have described which of them have ever had ANY sort of restoration (even a small piece of tape on the reverse), and which ones have NEVER been restored at all, and EVERY SINGLE ONE of the cards that we say has never had any restoration of any kind, has never had a single piece of tape, and there is no restoration to the BACK of any of those cards. Amazingly, approximately 70% of these cards have never had ANY restoration at all, and 15% of the 800 cards are in our "fine" condition (far more harsh than most dealers' "near mint"!), and many of those look like they might have just been printed (but we assure you they have not!). What do YOU all (y'all, for Allen Day) think? Bruce Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content. Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com ___________________________________________________________________ How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
