mikyle

On 2/8/2022 at 7:23 PM, revat said:

How hard is it to unlaminate your cards? can it be done without too much damage? (obviously don't do it until you get some input from CGC, also there are other grading companies out there).

According to youtube there's different ways, the iron method is the one more accessible to me since I could do it by myself.

I could surely try on the cards I got a double for, it looks very risky though, some of these laminated cards are over 20 years old. I thought about submitting to CGC because I read they accept cards in other languages and it seems CGC is globally recognized. Most of my cards are from the Italian version like the one above, I don't think other companies will grade these cards but I will try writing some email today.

Update: lamination removal attempt failed.

On 2/8/2022 at 6:37 PM, revat said:

For the purpose of grading, I don't disagree with you, I could see an argument where lamination would just be counted as a defect (like pen ink) or an addition similar to glue/extra staples on a comic book, resulting in a lower grade or a restored grade (or both).  That would mean CGC could technically still grade it, assigning possibly a minimum grade of 0.5 and/or a restored label (purple?), depending on how they choose to do it.

HOWEVER (and again I'm not an expert), I could see a potential situation where part of the verification/authentication of whether the card itself is legitimate (as opposed to counterfeit) would be to view the card under a certain light or camera or microscope or spectroscopy machine, and lamination could potentially obfuscate the results making it hard to tell with certainty whether the card itself is legitimate (independent of the grade).  

Add that to the fact that not all laminations are equal (in terms of size, but also other factors), and to me it seems like a stay away. They could end up in a situation where some laminated cards are submittable and others aren't (even from the same submitter), and all the arguments and recriminations that ensue as a result. Again, I'm not a pro and maybe I'm over thinking it, but doesn't seem like a lot of upside.

Indeed I thought about the possibility of people exploiting this to submit fakes, is it really that hard to discern fake holographic cards from legit ones when they're laminated? The salty adjective can't even being to describe the sodium I'm feeling since I found out that I basically zero'ed any remaining worth that my most valued cards could have ever had.

Back then I thought this was a good idea to prevent the cards from getting damaged any further, like this Shining Charizard that was already badly beaten up when I got it laminated: https://files.catbox.moe/n6a4zn.webm

On 2/8/2022 at 4:23 PM, revat said:

In addition to that there may be some other “check/verification/grading” of the card that is done through light or feel that can’t be done through the lamination.  
 

but I’m obviously not a pro card grader, but I could see that being an issue 

Then in this case shouldn't the resulting visual affect of the lamination be considered as pen marks or similar kind of alteration? for example like a card that was completely covered in ink (accidentally like from a broken pen) but is still readable to a certain degree.

Here below there's a few cards of mine, they're all laminated except Azumarill. I got the excess plastic trimmed at the store where I got them laminated back in those years but I can try fixing the borders a bit more if need be. I own a laminator now and if I pass these cards through it, the plastic should become flexible, it should be really easy to fix the uneven borders.

My collection doesn't seem to be anything particularly rare or special but I feel kinda bad for the cards if they don't get any recognition just because of the lamination.

I was looking into this problem too. Is it a matter of thickness? of my 60+ holo Pokémon cards from 2003 and earlier, more than half are laminated but the excess plastic border was trimmed as much as possible.