Why is restoration not accepted in this hobby?

Not that I know much about other hobbies but seemingly restoration is completely acceptable in nearly all of them (if stated).

But with cards? Oh boy, is it frowned upon, big time.

Now, I'm not saying a restored nrmt looking '52 Mantle should sell anywhere remotely close to a psa 7, but if fully disclosed, shouldn't it have a great value?

And of course it should be stated up front that a card is restored.

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I for one would not consider a restored card vintage, authentic or whatever. some hobbyists will tend to resort to restoring simply for flipping it and profitability. If I stumbled upon a T206 Wagner or a 52' Topps Mantle and it looks as if someone or something has chewed on it, I would be perfectly content with it since my purpose of being in the hobby has nothing to do making a profit, I'm in it simply because I love the game, the hobby and everything else that revolves around the sport.

Because it is altering a card from its original form. It wouldn't even get slabbed authentic.

I feel if ur doing it for ur PC, its all right. I guess if u even wanted to re-sell it, as long as u listed it, it would b ok to

What hobbies are restorations NOT frowned upon?

Coins, cards, art, die cast cars, action figures, comic books...can't think of any of these that value restoration

With comics, restoration is not frowned on per se, but the number of people who want a restored book is much smaller, and they seem to be treated more wistfully than with disdain or disgust. Maybe because comics are more complicated items than cards, and because comic restoration has been done for over forty years (and book restoration for centuries), that it's tolerated and just taken for granted that it's part of the hobby. Certain types of resto, like pressing, certainly are frowned upon, though. But it's an interesting thought. Maybe if someone actually did start restoring cards and the grading companies recognized it, like CGC does, low grade vintage might take on a new life.

soaking is not really frowned upon by the tobacco/caramel era guys...

that's restoration to me.

Lancemountain said:

What hobbies are restorations NOT frowned upon?

Coins, cards, art, die cast cars, action figures, comic books...can't think of any of these that value restoration

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You can even add furniture to that list. The restoration greatly reduces the value of the piece and alters the authenticity of the piece.

zach said:

You can even add furniture to that list. The restoration greatly reduces the value of the piece and alters the authenticity of the piece.

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Can also add antique firearms to that list. You always hear about how you don't dare clean an old gun because the value takes a huge hit.

swish54_99 said:

Can also add antique firearms to that list. You always hear about how you don't dare clean an old gun because the value takes a huge hit.

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I learned that the hard way with an 1896 Colt single action Army revolver. Turned a $5000 gun into a $2000 gun in 10 minutes

What about cars? Seems like there are a lot of restored old cars out there.

Fordman

Like other societies, it's just how traditions have grown up and what the ideal is supposed to be. Car collecting/showing is a good point. I enjoy watching those shows about restorations and the Mecum auctions and such, where it seems that while restoration is perfectly acceptable, the goal is to have the best condition car, period, and as close to original factory parts as possible is nice but not 100% necessary. This is taking for granted that cars, meant to be driven, will inevitably get damaged to some degree, have parts replaced and things modified, especially in the old days. A car that has been completely restored down to a molecular level with will usually bring top dollar over one that is completely original but beat up. But I was reading that the market for completely original, unrestored cars, is really hot right now. A car that is in nice if not showroom-floor condition, as long as it's all completely original, will bring a lot more than it used to, but still probably not as much as a restored mint one.

But I think there's a difference between what is acceptable and what is merely going to damage value. The goal of card collecting is to have an original card as it came out of the pack in as nice a condition as possible, rather than just mint condition. A vintage baseball card that has been power-erased, ink touched up, wrinkles pressed out, lost paper or dinged corners built up, extra paper trimmed, etc. is looked at as tampered with, and not desirable at all, so value will be way down because so few people want it. With comics, CGC will grade restored books because that's just something that has been going on in the hobby for a long time. But they get a different flip inside the slab, the dreaded Purple Label of Death (PLOD), with the restoration noted, so it's obvious that a book is not original. These books sell for a lot less, but they do sell, unlike baseball, where I suppose you have to look for a long time before you find someone who will pay a significant percentage of an original card in worse condition.