Card Doctors

[Brian-Chidester]

I'm curious, has any major story ever broken about a seller regularly working with card doctors on high-end vinage cards? In other words, has someone been caught and perhaps taken to court and been exiled from the industry?

Does an example of someone so egregious exist? And how does this person express himself/herself today about the sports memorabilia industry?

[barrysloate]

Brian- there are many card doctors who do amazing work, and do it well enough to often fool the graders. They live and work well below the radar. One was profiled in VCBC #7, one in an early issue of The Old Judge, and there are many others too. As far as any of them going to trial I have no idea, I haven't heard anything.

[Matt]

Do a forum search for "Susor."

[Jim VB]

Brian,

Keep in mind that what "card doctors" do, may not be illegal, per se. There are no laws against, trimming, re-coloring, crease removal, etc.

They only break the law when they attempt to defraud someone. Many avoid this by not becoming card sellers. They just perform a service, for a fee, for other people. Unless they are aware that their customer is engaged in a fraud (buying, repairing, and reselling), it's hard to pin any crime on them.


The guy Matt mentioned did both, doctoring and sales, and got in trouble for it.

[drc]

If you're paying someone else to do it, it's legally the same as if you did it yourself.

As Jim noted, it's how the known altered card is described at sale that is the legal issue. You can do, or have done, whatever you want to card, but you have to disclose known alterations at sale.

[Jim VB]

If you're paying someone else to do it, it's legally the same as if you did it yourself.


What I was trying to say was that, in this case, the fraud is on the card owner, not the doctor.

Thanks for helping clarify that, David.

[barrysloate]

The card doctor may not be legally responsible, however: paper restorers, as well as antique restorers of all types, have an ethical responsibility to disclose their work. And one is obligated to include a condition report when he returns a finished item to its owner.

But there are also restorers who have no intention at all of disclosing what they do. In fact, they work solely to make a large profit by taking a damaged piece and making it appear pristine. Those guys are dangerous, and they have been restoring baseball cards for many years without collectors being able to detect their work. I would say these reprobates have crossed the ethical and legal line, even if they did not do the selling themselves.

[drc]

One other note I have is if you were given 50 1990 Leaf Frank Thomas and 75 1987 Donrus Greg Madduxes to slightly trim, I'm confident many judges will say you knew what exactly was going on. A judge doesn’t need filmed conversations and a notarized letter from Jesus, when all that is required is common sense.

[Brian-Chidester]

Thanks guys. I was asking about re-sellers. Someone whose reputation was so tarnished that they have been exiled from prime markets, and maybe operate on the friges, if at all, now. Sometimes these guys are the most interesting interviews, because they knew the market so well that they got greedy and decided to manipulate it.

A foul stench comes from their dwelling places, albeit interesting for those following the crazy growth of the hobby itself. T206 might be "The Monster" for its sheer size and scarity towards the end of completion, but sometimes I think the hobby itself is the Frankenstein that we all created and now have to live with.

[Brian-Chidester]

I'm certain this is what you were referring to:

http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=115212&page=3

What a great report and following thread.