I recently got back into collecting Pokémon cards. I remember the nostalgia and fun of collecting and thought it'd be fun to do it with my sons. So, I got them started. I also picked up an Ancient Mew card that was given out when the Pokémon Movie came out in 2000.

The only problem with it is pictures are deceiving. When I received it, the card had a noticeable bulge and a dent.

https://ecency.com/@bulliontools/ancient-mew-card-has-issues

I wasn't thrilled, but the prices of even better specimens were just ridiculous. Then, I started looking online snd found out there's a whole line of products dedicated to card restoration. Nice! That didn't exist back when I first was collecting, so maybe there was hope.

I ran through two separate rounds of using humidity to try and get out the blemishes. No luck. I realized with this card is both the front and back are holographic, so I needed heat and pressure. I wasn't going to spend $100 on a heat press, so I got a restoration kit.

I started by heating up water and dipping the tip of this dent/bulge removal tool into the water. I then put a penny sleeve over the card, put the card down on a flat acrylic plate that came with the kit and went to town from both the front and the back.

I made some progress and decided to do one last pass. I heated up a small glass dish of water. I put the card between the two acrylic plates that came in the restoration kit. I clamped the card down and then placed the hot dish of water on top. I had to balaned it on a card shuffler I had lying around, so the weight of the dish on the center didn't push the clamps down and relieve some of the pressure on the plate.

I waited for about ten minutes and then removed the plates. Wouldn't you know it, the process actually worked! It's a night and day difference!

I wasn't going to hold my breath with this one, but it actually worked! Now I can put it back in its case, put it back in the binder and enjoy it!

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