“Activist” PSA Shareholders Seeking Board Shakeup

[Rhotchkiss]

Appears these “activist” shareholders are more interested in increased profits than having a cleaner, more professional and accurate outfit. But nevertheless, opportunity for change? Or a step in the wrong direction? Thoughts?

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/alta-fox-to-nominate-slate-of-six-highly-qualified-director-candidates-for-election-at-collectors-universes-2020-annual-meeting-301079859.html

[ejharrington]

Appears these “activist” shareholders are more interested in increased profits than having a cleaner, more professional and accurate outfit. But nevertheless, opportunity for change? Or a step in the wrong direction? Thoughts?

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/alta-fox-to-nominate-slate-of-six-highly-qualified-director-candidates-for-election-at-collectors-universes-2020-annual-meeting-301079859.html
More profits and a cleaner, more professional and accurate outfit aren't mutually exclusive. Over the long run, the two go hand in hand. I like the emphasis on adding technology to relieve backlog.

[Rich Klein]

More profits and a cleaner, more professional and accurate outfit aren't mutually exclusive. Over the long run, the two go hand in hand. I like the emphasis on adding technology to relieve backlog.

I just wonder in a labor intensive business, and grading is labor intensive, what steps you can take to make things go faster. Rob Veres of Burbank just did a podcast which he said for any card purchased there is a 12-step process *If I remember that number correctly*. That's for him selling a card from his inventory.

I'd wager any card which comes into PSA (and SGC and BGS/BVG) has to have similar steps from receiving card in mail; processing order; having card graded; having card encapsulated, put into package; shipped (and I know I'm missing a couple here)

As Rob said, speed up ANY of the steps and continue to be accurate and you've just made Burbank a ton of money. The same is probably going to be true for PSA.

So if technology can speed up the process and maintain accuracy, then it's a win for all concerned. I suspect there might be more time on the front end for verification before a grader looks at a card and that would speed up the process.

Sounds counter-intuitive but I bet that's accurate to some extent.

Rich

[phikappapsi]

i remain somewhat amazed that someone with AI/Facial recognition hasn't poured resources into building a database from known exemplars of everything; and totally automated this process.

then every single card in could go through a weight, depth, density, measurement, blue light scan and be digitally graded. Fakes/Trims/rebacks?tea soaks etc - would all be caught in such a process.

[Bigdaddy]

i remain somewhat amazed that someone with AI/Facial recognition hasn't poured resources into building a database from known exemplars of everything; and totally automated this process.

then every single card in could go through a weight, depth, density, measurement, blue light scan and be digitally graded. Fakes/Trims/rebacks?tea soaks etc - would all be caught in such a process.

+1

I think that they are seeing a company with a backlog of orders (not keeping up with demand), sorely lacking in technology and management vision, that could significantly step up it's game and increase shareholder returns.

[Sean1125]

PSA has a backlog of 1,000,000 cards.

[sportscardpete]

I have dealt with numerous activists over the years. This letter is good. Taking the company private would be a good thing - if you don't have to manage the business to hit your quarterly numbers, you can take a longer-term view which is usually the best for the company. It seems like this letter wants them to bolster their business by spending, not the traditional activist route of cutting costs to bolster margins.

[conor912]

PSA has a backlog of 1,000,000 cards.

Not to mention the x million sitting in inventories that would have been sent in had the backlog not been so bad. A six month wait time is completely and utterly unacceptable for any business, regardless of the product. I could have a Tesla built from scratch in less time than i can get a bulk submission back from PSA at this point.

[Jay Wolt]

Not to mention the x million sitting in inventories that would have been sent in had the backlog not been so bad. A six month wait time is completely and utterly unacceptable for any business, regardless of the product. I could have a Tesla built from scratch in less time than i can get a bulk submission back from PSA at this point.
Its not just PSA, SGC & Beckett are having long delays as well

[Exhibitman]

One reason I've not bothered with grading any of my sale inventory is the delay. I'd rather turn over the inventory quickly and move on to the next deal than wait half a year or more on the hope of scoring a money-making grade. If I think something is really, really sharp and might get a high grade, I just set it aside for the time being on the hope (perhaps misplaced) that the TPGs will get their acts together enough to clear some of that backlog. I can always sell a nice card but only if I have it in hand...

[BeanTown]

Maybe we will see a slight premium for cards already in the holder.

[swarmee]

FWIW, Anyone planning a value sub at current prices should send as soon as possible because they just hiked the 2017-current value level from $9 to $12/card with absolutely no forewarning.

And they now require that you DO NOT send your cardsavers with any kind of labels on the outside, after asking the exact opposite the last couple of years. People who submit a lot of the same card for bulk submitters are worried that the cards will now get rearranged accidentally and they may lose track of them. It may be done to reduce the ability of graders to see who submitted the cards (based on prior knowledge of label type).

[swarmee]

Anyone recognize this name from the list: Nathaniel S. Turner V. ?

[taul166]

Hi all, I will let others who either work in the investment field or have knowledge chime in but does an investor with a 5.4% interest in a company.... carry that much weight?
To me, 5.4% is nothing to disregard and nothing you would shrug off. Is there a source or does anyone know who else has a significant interest that exceeds this investor's portfolio percentage?

When you consider the complaints about turnaround from those who use PSA with not much openness from PSA to implement greater technologies, and combine that with the pending lawsuit against PSA, and now a significant investor who is asking for replacement of the Board, things are starting to mount.

[taul166]

Just to continue.....this investor has during the pandemic probably taken a major "hit" with investments with companies where it is going take a long time to recover. They then look at PSA and see continued demand even during the pandemic so they want to maximize their return to offset investments with other companies. So, they are getting impatient with PSA's current progress on innovation, continued backlog, etc.....and they are saying let's get a new Board in there to shake things up.

[todeen]

I read the letter and was shocked they didn't say diddly about cleaning up PSA image of collaborating with known fraud artists. You'd think that a cleaner image would help create investor trust.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[hcv123]

It appears CLCT treats its investment community the same way it treats its customers!! NIce that they are in a position to possibly doing something about it. I didn't see anything about raising prices. In fact I saw a couple of mentions of stepped-up customer service!

Direct quote from their letter:
"Our nominees would work tirelessly with management to fix the bottlenecks in the core
grading business, introduce valuable new digital services, and bring increased transparency to both
investors and customers. "

Wouldn't that be a breath of fresh air!!

[taul166]

Anyone know how long the current Board has been in place. Probably time for a shake up whether it is driven by this investor alone or maybe a combination of investors and stakeholders. The Boards of many companies turnover from time to time, in part just to bring fresh perspectives to issues. No company should stay stagnant.

[Bigdaddy]

I read the letter and was shocked they didn't say diddly about cleaning up PSA image of collaborating with known fraud artists. You'd think that a cleaner image would help create investor trust.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

Umm, not sure that trust in PSA has taken even the slightest hit, looking at their backlog. Continued record prices for top-tier cards, huge backlog of people requesting their services. As much as we think that PSA is tarnished by this latest scandal, it does not seem to be moving the masses. What I do see is a company that can't meet demand for their product. And that is $$ left on the table for investors.

[todeen]

Anyone know how long the current Board has been in place. Probably time for a shake up whether it is driven by this investor alone or maybe a combination of investors and stakeholders. The Boards of many companies turnover from time to time, in part just to bring fresh perspectives to issues. No company should stay stagnant.I think the letter said the average length of board members was 13 years. However, it stated that the board members only owned just over 1% of the company, gotten thru company compensation/benefits rather than thru direct investment. The letter inferred that no direct investment meant the board members had no interest in whether the company could make more money, offer better services, etc. "Board members don't seem to care except for continuing the status quo".... which is a direct quote.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

[pclpads]

Solution is simple: PSA and all TPG's need to train / hire more house monkeys to speed up the grading process. As noted, six month wait time now is just not acceptable. But, TPG's have collectors by the short hairs. Where else are you going to go?

[perezfan]

It appears CLCT treats its investment community the same way it treats its customers!! NIce that they are in a position to possibly doing something about it. I didn't see anything about raising prices. In fact I saw a couple of mentions of stepped-up customer service!

Direct quote from their letter:
"Our nominees would work tirelessly with management to fix the bottlenecks in the core
grading business, introduce valuable new digital services, and bring increased transparency to both
investors and customers. "

Wouldn't that be a breath of fresh air!!

I wonder what percentage of the "Investment Community" even knows that PSA is under investigation by the FBI? I bet it's less than 10%. Same goes for the submitting Sheeple.

[swarmee]

There are some more articles on blowout about this:
https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1387003
And Nat Turner (that I mentioned earlier) is the same one who owns millions of dollars of cards in PSA slabs, including the Jordan Green PMG PSA Altered he bought for $350K last year.

[Goudey77]

i remain somewhat amazed that someone with AI/Facial recognition hasn't poured resources into building a database from known exemplars of everything; and totally automated this process.

then every single card in could go through a weight, depth, density, measurement, blue light scan and be digitally graded. Fakes/Trims/rebacks?tea soaks etc - would all be caught in such a process.

I know a lot of folks on here think cards are very important. But in the grand scheme of things this hobby is still a very old school niche category. Although volume of grading seems high the overall profit margin is probably not enough to justify implementing any sort of next level technology.

It is what it is...in my honest opinion.

[swarmee]

I know a lot of folks on here think cards are very important. But in the grand scheme of things this hobby is still a very old school niche category. Although volume of grading seems high the overall profit margin is probably not enough to justify implementing any sort of next level technology.

It is what it is...in my honest opinion.
It also has tremendous downside risks if everyone with currently graded altered cards then sends them back to PSA under their Grade Guarantee once they have computer/impartial grading.

[Republicaninmass]

I wonder what percentage of the "Investment Community" even knows that PSA is under investigation by the FBI? I bet it's less than 10%. Same goes for the submitting Sheeple.


PSA was under Investigation by the FBI? I thought pwcc was cooperating with the FBI? Must be late to the party. Link?

[Rhotchkiss]

Maybe someone should notify these activist shareholders about PSA’s most recent refusal to acknowledge a clearly altered card that they graded; instead, they double down. Their reserve is useless bc they never admit fault.

https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?p=16066142#post16066142

[perezfan]

Maybe someone should notify these activist shareholders about PSA’s most recent refusal to acknowledge a clearly altered card that they graded; instead, they double down. Their reserve is useless bc they never admit fault.

https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?p=16066142#post16066142

Yes... typical PSA antics, and an excellent demonstration of the corruption that exists between the two entities. And good luck getting any compensation from PSA, despite the conclusive proof of alteration. :mad:

[perezfan]

PSA was under Investigation by the FBI? I thought pwcc was cooperating with the FBI? Must be late to the party. Link?

See just one of many articles below...

https://www.reddit.com/r/mtgfinance/comments/cf32nc/fbi_investigating_doctored_baseball_cards_psa_and/

In addition to PWCC, the investigation includes Card Doctors, TPGs and Dealers. Things have been pretty quiet for a long time now, but the investigation is still in full swing.

[taul166]

Did folks see that within the last 10 days or so, PSA lawyers have moved that the case against PSA be dismissed.....which may be standard legal practice.

[taul166]

Looks as if the investor looking to replace the Board of Directors has a high opinion of Mr. Orlando.

[swarmee]

Did folks see that within the last 10 days or so, PSA lawyers have moved that the case against PSA be dismissed.....which may be standard legal practice.
Yes; auburn35 is following it pretty well over at Blowout. The civil case was really poorly written and will likely get thrown out since it doesn't meet the merits. But rest assured, PWCC took the time to stick it's foot in its mouth by making up more lies, this time for the court record.

https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1352880&page=33&highlight=savoy
Read back a few pages to get some more analysis.