James D. Vance

I think we should ,first of all, dismiss the occasional argument that any restoration or conservation is terrible, or even bad. In grading there are degrees of everything., whether restored, conserved, or unrestored. If I have a 4.0 unrestored blue label with tape or color touches, still slabbed unrestored ,this clearly shouldn't be better, or more valuable than a 4.0 professionally conserved, no aesthetic improvements, no tape, and in a better state of preservation by far. There are many levels of destruction and preservation, and in grading ,all things need an open mind. A respected hobby needs discretion, not discrimination, any judgemental immaturity needs to give way to simple open minded evaluation before this hobby finds the stability it deserves.