Part 3 goes straight into the messiest debate in the hobby right now: card “work” that gets cards into PSA slabs, then quietly back onto the market. A Facebook thread shows collectors openly soaking and pressing Gretzky rookies using Kurt’s Card Care, talking about submitting to PSA, and selling afterward. We walk through why that should scare buyers, even when the card ends up in a straight numeric holder.

Then we address a comment that tried to lump Mr Minty into the same bucket. We draw a hard line between inspection tools that help you see a card more clearly and products or processes that change the card itself. The distinction matters, and confusing it muddies the conversation.

The real core of this segment is the question behind the episode title: are all PSA cards truly the same if the label says the same number? We debate grade worship vs card worship, provenance, disclosure, whether experienced collectors can spot things graders miss, and what happens when the “fix” literally does not last.

Where’s your line? Microfiber wipe is fine, but what crosses it for you?

Would you pay less for a slabbed card if you knew it was soaked or pressed, even if it is a “9”?

If PSA offered a clearly labeled “altered” holder, would you want that market to exist or be banned outright?

Subscribe for Part 4 and Part 5 as Episode 300 keeps building.

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