[Exhibitman]

The initial TPG marketing (PSA) was to detect altered cards and avoid card doctors. That was the scary advertising PSA used. The SMR was created to boost PSA card prices and market the service in the guise of price guide; I wrote an article on the fake pricing and false marketing in the SMR; VCBC ran it. Fun to write but no impact.

Fast-Forward to the creation of the Registry and the TPG idea has morphed into a pee-pee measuring mechanism: the higher the grade, the bigger the wiener. Or so I've been told (I judge myself against other collectors by height). With great power comes great responsibility. But not in PSA's case. With great power comes great disclaimers. PSA says: "PSA guarantees that all cards submitted to it shall be graded in accordance with PSA grading standards and under the procedures of PSA." It is circular: PSA guarantees it will apply its own procedures and standards, which are basically, it will look at the card and opine on it. It is a popcorn fart. Now we learn that PSA graders really aren't that good at their first job of detecting alterations. Like airport security, PSA is aimed at stopping stupid, lazy, sloppy amateur wannabes while giving the illusion of safety to the masses. Just like no security can stop a well planned attack, the fact is that no TPG can detect properly done removals and now we are seeing that they also aren't much at detecting really good work. So we must have a remedy with PSA, right? The buy-back remedy PSA offers applies: "If PSA, in fact, concludes that the card in question no longer merits the PSA grade assigned or fails PSA’s authenticity standards". Another popcorn fart: you disagree with PSA? Tough, unless you have a Mastro style confession or photographic evidence of the alterations. But at least there is a shot there. Not so with PWCC.

The PWCC case is more interesting because it shows some underlying assumptions of collectors that are not merited. What exactly is PWCC selling when they sell a PSA 8 Joe DiMaggio card? The assumption here is that they are selling a guarantee that the card is an unaltered one and that when someone demonstrates that PSA screwed the pooch, PWCC is liable. For what, exactly? The reality is that PWCC is selling precisely what it delivers: the DiMaggio card that is in a PSA 8 slab. The meaning of that designation is based on the reputation of PSA for detecting alterations: see above. Now, the best remedy any PWCC buyer of one of these shady cards has is to make a quick return via eBay or PayPal for item not as described. But beyond that, except for the cards that have been successfully traced, you are dealing with opinions layered on assumptions. I wouldn't want that case on a contingency fee.