Folding a baseball card in half is considered one of the grave sins of destruction. Collectors turn their nose on a cease mark. Take a 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle card in mint condition (GSA rating 8.5). In 2010 one sold for $130,000.
If you folded that card in half, it drops the condition down to “Very Good” GSA rating of 3.0, making it worth $6,600. That simple fold decreases the card’s value by $123,400.
That’s just too bad. Creases should add value to a card–especially if the crease has a fine art to it.
Take this LA Dodgers card from the 1960 Topps set. I acquired it, along with two other cards for a buck on eBay. The crease mark dances down the center of the card across the seated players and through one of their faces. The subtle movements of this foldmark are like a river, flowing through the lanscape of the card.
Creases across baseball cards are like lightning bolts on cardboard. Starting in the sky, meandering down to the ground, whatever comes across the path of the lightning bolt gets electrified. Crease marks have an excitement about them. I would love for collectors to get more excited about artful crease marks on baseball cards.
If anyone has a creased baseball card, please send me a photo! I’d love to see it.
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