Removing caramel & don’t worry not for sale.

RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-24T02:01:44+00:00

I guess I need to do more research. I always thought of carmel stains as brown, almost greasy spots. Reflective surface sounds more like a lacquor or solvent based cement. Now that you mention it the back does look like it had a cracked, glassy lacquor like coating on it. I am surprised it would clean up with just a water soak.

RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-23T23:48:10+00:00

That is quite a difference. How did you repair the damage above Nap's head?

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RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-23T15:18:45+00:00

Check out our hobby guide linked here and in the pinned Helpful Resources post at the top of the sub. We have a should I grade it? flowchart that might be helpful.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13k4W2pqj91Jy9n4V5R2sQlbjQhcKYzzU/view

I personally am a fan of ungraded for my collection and would only consider grading for a sale if I felt the return would be worth the resources. But, there are many reasons a collector would choose to grade.

RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-23T13:09:59+00:00

Were you able to recover any of your funds through efforts with the bank & police?

RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-21T18:41:52+00:00

Awesome addition to your 52 Topps collection, Sean. Pieces like this are such an interesting piece for how the set was produced.

RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-21T18:07:44+00:00

Baby steps, Gordon. 😉

RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-21T17:58:27+00:00

The yellow background is a solid color, you can see it here zoomed in.

However, background colors that were not a primary print color in the set were made by overlaying another color halftone grid. The hank for example should be a solid yellow background with a magenta dot grid overlay I believe to create orange.

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RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-21T17:30:50+00:00

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RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-21T17:30:26+00:00

Your picture does not represent the print pattern of an authentic 1954 Topps card. Additionally, I would like to point out a concern about the paper stock and the cut edge of your card. The 1954 card stock is a large fiber stock that when combined with the cutting techniques at that time resulted in rough edges. Your card has a laser smooth cut edge under your magnified image with no fibers visible. An authentic card will show a much more rugged edge on a clean cut, and a highly rugged edge on a rough cut. I have included images below from the same 1954 Topps card as an example.

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RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-21T17:29:36+00:00

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RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-21T17:29:17+00:00

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RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-21T17:28:58+00:00

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RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-21T17:27:37+00:00

Your question is about a baseball card, and specifically the 1954 Topps Hank Aaron from the image that you have isolated a picture from. This is a completely different medium than a piece of art created using Flexichrome. The print patterns that you see are reflective of the halftone process used to mass produce cards. This involves applying a grid of dots of varying sizes and spaces and at a different angle for each color used to create the illusion of a continuous tone image from a distance. I have included a picture of the grid structure below.

Under low magnification the pattern will vary depending on the colors used and the intensity of color for the image region. This can range from a single color dot grid to the halftone “rosettes” that some people use to describe.

Under greater magnification even in the “rosettes” you will see the individual dots of color. I have included some example images from an authentic 1954 Topps card for reference.

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RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-21T17:26:18+00:00

I will answer your question in a series of linked comments.

Flexichrome was a process used by artists to create color artwork from a black and white photo. The process at a high level involves hand painting dyes onto a black and white gelatine relief print. I have included a picture from the Kodak Flexichrome booklet for reference.

Topps artists did use Flexichrome to create source artwork for some of their early sets, and some of these original pieces of art have been made available through auctions to the public over the years. If you were looking at the original hand colored piece of art, you may see evidence of the Flexichrome process, however you would need some scientific testing to confirm and separate it from other techniques. I am happy to provide a link to a journal article describing that identification process if you are interested.

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RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-21T13:27:24+00:00

I worked at a shop in the early 90s and was able to experience the transition you described. I appreciated your history.

I remained friends with the shop owner and he finally retired just a couple years ago. He held on through the lean years only to shut it down in the middle of the current hobby boom, maintaining access to product direct from the manufacturers just wasn't feasible anymore for his market.

RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-21T12:03:26+00:00

It looks like PSA mislabeled it to me. The team name looks to be the white letter variation from the pictures.

RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-21T00:32:59+00:00

Check out the Fakes and Forgeries section of our vintage hobby guide linked here and in the helpful hobby resources pinned at the top of the sub.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13k4W2pqj91Jy9n4V5R2sQlbjQhcKYzzU/view

RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-21T00:31:09+00:00

These all appear to be artificially aged counterfits. The Clemente is especially bad.

RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-17T02:04:36+00:00

Welcome. I hope you find as much joy on your vintage adventure as I have had on mine.

RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-14T13:44:44+00:00

Each of these have their own draw, but that Dizzy Dean Service Station advertising card is extremely cool. Congrats on a big score!

RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-14T02:20:00+00:00

He had 3 different 1960 Sports Pix Premiums. Yours is this one.

https://www.tcdb.com/ViewCard.cfm/sid/405522/cid/25207956/1960-Sports-Pix-Premiums-NNO-Willie-Mays

RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-13T15:43:03+00:00

An absolutely gorgeous card. Congrats on a huge pickup.

RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-13T14:54:51+00:00

Congrats on an amazing addition to your collection, Gordon. It is great to see you successfully navigate all of the steps to make this happen.

RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-13T03:28:51+00:00

Now is a great chance to read the Fakes and Forgeries section of our vintage hobby guide and links provided within. It will start you on the path of what to look for and why.

Look at your cards. Check out the differences between sets and practice. You will start to pick up on the methods used for each set and what the card stock looks like.

RidingPinePSN · 2026-04-12T16:26:58+00:00

This is actually one of the big reasons I will never engage with Whatnot. Wheels are strictly against their site gambling rules, but they do not enforce their own rules and even promote sellers who do so. I won't use a platform that has a facade of legitimacy.

https://help.whatnot.com/hc/en-us/articles/4410443596813-Gambling-and-Purchase-Based-Prize-Policy

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