Reglossed cards by Kevin Saucier

Reglossed


Anything that a typical card shows in its unaltered condition can
also be replicated, that includes the gloss surface. Doctored cards can
have their original gloss removed depending on the type of alterations
performed. Just the same, a typical card that has not been altered in
any way can loose all or part of its natural gloss, assuming it was
there in the first place, by normal wear and tear. Gloss can be added
to hide other alterations, correct damage done or to make an old card
look better. This is where it helps to know a little about the card, to
include the year, cardstock and its normal appearance. Reglossing is
usually accomplished by applying a solution or other coating to the
surface of a card in order to revitalize the nice shiny look.


A quick glance under normal lighting or a halogen should let you
know right away if the card seems to have extra gloss or be a little
shinier than normal. Again, use your nose and give it a sniff test.
Anything applied to the card surface may give off an abnormal odor. Rub
you finger gently across the surface of the card and feel if it is too
slick or slightly sticky. Your finger should not be hindered in its
movement or, in other words, skip across as if being dragged. Also run
your finger gently down each edge feeling for the same sticky or
sliding movement.


Place the card under a halogen light and look at the angled card
surface for any high/low flaws, overly glossed areas or a thick film.
With your loupe, inspect the outer borders of the card and the edges.
You are looking for areas by the edge where the card doctor may have
missed. It will show as a gloss and then abruptly stop to a dull
section. Check the edges in cases the person who was reglossing got a
little carried away and went over the sides. This will show as a
glossed edge, which is usually abnormal.


It's not that easy to perfectly regloss a card without stopping
just short of an edge (could be as little as 1/64" or less) or going
over.







As you can see this card has been reglossed right down the
middle...it was also bleached and a stain removed. Extra gloss was
added to exaggerate the effect for display purposes. When done very
subtly it can add an almost perfect natural factory gloss to a card.
Sorry it's so dark, to get a clean picture I needed to turn off the
flash, as the glossed surface was causing a huge reflection.



As with most alterations, this type has also tested the
system...over the limit. I once piled the gloss and made a 1987 Topps
McGwire card into a glossed Tiffany. It got a standard grade (9 I
think) and was cracked out. I lost the pics of this and some others
when my computer crashed.

Here is a 1955 Bowman card which normally has a bright gloss. The first
shot shows how the card looks with half of the gloss stripped off. As
you can see in the next picture the card has been reglossed and has a
new look. I created small border chips on the right side to show this
was altered from the original first picture.


On this particular card the edges would be the key as the regloss
process also made the dull edges somewhat shiny in many spots. In a
case such as this it would probably be a number of small objective
findings that would be used to make an overall opinion that the card
has been altered.





This is added by me and confirmed by others including Kevin:


There have been a large number of altered high grade 1955 Bowmans
that got past teh graders GAI. So be cautious when buying high grade 55
Bowmans from GAI.