Inspecting a card - the basics

 Alteration Overview

 Card Soaking

 Detecting bleached cards

 Detecting trimmed cards

 Card sanding

 Detecting a rebacked card

 Aging and toning

 Detecting recolored cards

Detecting rebuilt corners

 Reglossed cards

 Errors and oddities

 Other alterations

How-to:

  ID an altered flip

 Cleanly crack (open) a slab

There have been several discussions in the hobby on the best way to open a third party graded holder. This is usually referred to as "cracking a slab." Most, if not all, grading companies have a tamper evident holder, in which the card is encapsulated in such a way that when the plastic seal is broken on any edge it causes the clear plastic to become frosted in color. This is how to tell if a holder has been tampered with.

Every grading company has a different holder and various ways of encapsulating. For this section we are focusing on one particular style.

Not all holders are equally secure, some are easier to open then others. One commonly used slab seems to have some security flaws that can potentially have a big impact in the card collecting community. Although, this card holder claims it has a 100% weld and is tamper resistant, it can be cracked on just one side. This can give card doctors the opportunity to switch out cards and scan it behind a white background where it would be hard to notice.

To begin with, any side (top, left, right, bottom) of this holder can be cracked long enough for the card and/or flip (paper describing the card info and grade) to be slipped out. This will, of course, leave signs of tampering or a frosted edge on about half the slab but the other half will still remain perfectly in tact. A thin butter knife or flat head screwdriver can be wedged in between the seams and gently pried until a cracking sound is heard. It is best done on an edge corner and working down until a slight separation can be seen. If too much force is used the plastic will show pry marks. Once this has occurred it is possible to use finger nails to slowly pull the two sides of the slab apart as it slowly cracks along the edge. If a top edge for example is cracked and the two corners can be lifted, a thin wedge (i.e. two poker chips, two plastic knife handles, etc.) can be placed on each corner to hold it open just wide enough for the card to be carefully removed.

Doctored Slabs

A card/slab doctor may also use a different approach, one that can split the two sides of this holder completely in half while leaving very little frosting on the edges;

A cotton swap is dipped in straight or diluted naphtha (lighter fluid) and run quickly along an edge seal. It is then quickly followed by a damp cloth to remove any excess chemical that remains on the edge. This may need to be done several times. The seal on the slab, although seemingly tight, is filled with micro air pockets. The naphtha seeps into those areas and begins to chemically break the seal. It will often affect the card as well, potentially damaging it in the process. For this reason, inexpensive slabbed cards can cracked out and be replaced with another.

Once a corner starts to separate, fingers can be used to gently and delicately apply a little outward pressure while using the naphtha swab and damp towel technique. With practice, timing, the correct pressure and sometimes a little luck the two halves will split cleanly. If light frosting occurs the plastic can be simply buffed out with a two or three stage fingernail buffer, along with time and elbow grease. Naphtha has also been used to dress-up frosted edges.

The end result could be just a portion of the holder opened or two completely clean and matched sides. In almost all cases it will never look perfect…but can be close enough to fool many collectors. A quick smell for chemicals and a good inspection for abnormal tamper marks, frosting, pried plastic and sanded or buffed areas will be needed to identify this type of alteration.

A card holder split in two with little or no frosting

Since the ordinary person does not have a slab sealing machine just sitting around, other creative ways have been used to reseal a holder. Ironically, the same chemical used to break the two sides apart has also been used to reseal them. This is again done with a cotton swab that is lightly rubbed along the inside of the slab at the points that were previously joined. The sloppy approach, that will often leave slight discolorations, is the use of adhesives that don't dry clear.

Quality flips can also be created with the correct tools, software and most importantly the right fonts. This information is used to help collectors identify fake or altered flips.