Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>JimCrandell</b><p>No games--I want both to succeed--down 55% with 4 quarterly losses isn't good but not an indication of pending disaster either.

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Alan U</b><p>Their balance sheet actually looks pretty good, with plenty of cash on hand.<br /><br />Either SGC or PSA without major competition would be a bad thing.<br /><br />edited to add last sentence<br />

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>T206Collector</b><p>...and I'll say it again:<br /><br />Anyone who collects graded cards with an expectation that the grading company or grades themselves will mean the same thing in 5, 10, 15 or more years down the road should consider broadening their perspective. Grading companies, or at least their reputations, may come and go; cards may be added to populations or a 5 today may not be a 5 tomorrow. <br /><br />For a collection to last the test of time, it should have an appeal that transcends a particular grading company or grade assigned to it. It is for this reason, among others, that I think paying money to compete in a set registry of any grading company reflects a short-term perspective on one's own collection.<br /><br /><br><br>_ <u> </u> _ <u> </u> _ <u> </u> _ <u> </u> _ <u> </u> _ <u> </u> _ _ <br /><br />Visit <a href="http://www.t206collector.com" target="_new" rel="nofollow">http://www.t206collector.com</a> for signed deadball card galleries, articles and more!

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Jay</b><p>BTW, what happened to David Hall's holdings? If I'm not mistaken he used to be one of the major holders of CLCT stock. When I look at the yahoo financial web site now I do not see him histed as a major holder any more. Did he sell out his share in the company?

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Anonymous</b><p>Quick look at EDGAR table of contents shows last entry for David Hall was a Form 4 in 2005, so presumably that is when he got out. Edited to add cannot access the contents from where I am.

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Alan U</b><p>The set registries are not of much interest to me unless there are scans of the cards.<br /><br />It's unfortunate the set registries don't require that scans of the cards be viewable to all, or better yet the grading companies could have scans that are automatically added when the cards are added to a set.<br /><br />I would love to be able to see some the cards in some of the high-end sets registered, but some of them you can't even see the set composition, much less scans.<br /><br />-Alan<br /><br />

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Anonymous</b><p>There are guys who don't want the world to know what they need, so they don't get run up on low pop commons and such by auction houses/ebay sellers. I think that is perfectly understandable. In fact I think it is economically counterproductive for certain high stakes people to make public their incomplete sets, for that reason.

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Alan U</b><p>That's a good point Peter and very understandable.<br /><br />It's just that for the everyday common collector, it would be really nice to at least be able to see the high-end cards.<br /><br />-Alan

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>D.C. Markel</b><p>Jim Crandall,<br /><br />Reading this thread, you clearly have a lot of confidence in grading - both with PSA and SGC.<br /><br />What if this hypothetical situation occurred? Let's say it is proven beyond a reasonable doubt (either by investigative journalism through the national media or by a court of law or both) that thousands upon thousands of altered cards intentionally submitted by one or several unscrupulous dealers were slabbed and sold at significantly high prices to unsuspecting collectors over a long period of time and this becomes a matter of public record. Do you think that kind of scandal would be the kiss of death for that grading company and the existing cards slabbed by that company or not?

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Tom Boblitt</b><p>Currently shows hall with 700K shares.................<br /><br /><a href="http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=80247&p=irol-govownership" target="_new" rel="nofollow">http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=80247&p=irol-govownership</a><br /><br />

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Anonymous</b><p>A far-fetched hypothetical, indeed. <img src="/images/happy.gif" height=14 width=14> Then again....

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Jay</b><p>Tom--Interesting. He is listed as President and CEO of CLCT but is not listed amongst the insider holders of the equity or amongst the major holders of CLCT shares.

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Tom Boblitt</b><p>doesn't show him divesting anything. Just a statement of ownership of the 700K shares. It is odd that on Yahoo investing, they don't show him as an insider if the 700K shares is REALLY true. Sniff, sniff...........<br />

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Steve</b><p>Why does every thread regarding PSA turn into a bashing thread?<br /><br />No need to answer the question.<br /><br />Congrats to Bill Bengen.<br /><br />He truly does have some outstanding non sport sets.<br /><br /><br /><br />Steve

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Anonymous</b><p>I cannot reconcile the inconsistency. It seems Yahoo must be wrong.

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Tom Boblitt</b><p>I would almost pick Yahoo over CLCT..............

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Anonymous</b><p>MSN Money shows Hall's ownership at 9 pecent of the company.

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Jay</b><p>Tom--Do you know why he has the Professor title? Where did he receive a professorship? <br /><br />BTW, according to CLCT's May 9, 2008 filing they had, on March 31, 2008, cash and equivalents of $28.2 million. That is down $14.2 million from June 30, 2007. Of that decrease, $6.4 million was dividend payouts. It doesn't take much to figure out that at that rate, unless things change, the cupboard would be bare in less than two years. I wonder if that is why the half grade cash grab happened this year.

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Anonymous</b><p>Appears CLCT's principal investor, Shamrock Capital, is headed up by Roy Disney and another member of the Disney family.

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>boxingcardman</b><p>Wasn't there a Bill Bergen who played for the Eagles?<br /><br />As far as PSA's demise, I think the GAI meltdown is a pretty good indicator of how people who wanted out of PSA would handle it; crack and submit or cross overs to whoever is left. Honestly, though, I don't see PSA vanishing even if the parent got into major trouble. The name and assets would be worth either spinning off or selling through bankruptcy. <br><br>Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Tom Boblitt</b><p>shares, so dividends at a buck a share, like you said, won't last long. Still 12%+ dividend right now. How long before they ditch their dividend? No idea about the professorship. Maybe something like Gilligan's Island. I don't know. Hopefully, he's tenured. He has a website for his coin business at www.davidhall.com<br /><br />

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>CoreyRS.hanus</b><p>I wonder how long the shelf life is of ANY grading company? After all, won't the hobby start to run out of raw cards, leaving the bulk of what's left to grade the new issues? And can that be enough to sustain the existing number of grading companies?<br><br>

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Matt</b><p>Corey - for the last 5 issue years (prior to the current year), PSA averages 19k+ slabbed cards per issue year. There are more submissions from 1 year of new shiny stuff then 1913 through 1921 combined.

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Jodi Birkholm</b><p>Quote Jim Crandell: "Sure--or send me your mailing address for an autographed picture."<br /><br />Do you have a dual-signed pose featuring Mr. Mint? I only collect Crandellabilia if Rosen is somehow involved. <img src="/images/happy.gif" height=14 width=14><br />

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>barrysloate</b><p>Corey- there is a solution to that problem...quarter grades.<br /><br />8.0; 8.25; 8.5; 8.75, etc.

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>CoreyRS.hanus</b><p>I wonder then how much of the new stuff is submitted for grading? Aren't the overwhelming majority of those cards of indistinct players? Wouldn't then the value of such a card in a slab be a fraction of the cost of slabbing it?<br><br>

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Alan U</b><p>There are a few sellers on ebay that sell literally 100's of 80's & newer slabbed cards (usually PSA 9's and 10's) a week. I think cost is $5/card bulk for grading and they usually have minimums of $9.99 or more on them.<br /><br />edited for spelling

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>dstudeba</b><p>That is very interesting that Shamrock is a major holder. They are an activist investment group started by Roy Disney. I would expect some shakeups in the future due to their involvement.

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Anonymous</b><p>Bloomberg shows large (9%) stakes in CLCT held by Austin Marxe, Sarbit Asset Management and smaller positions held by Royce and Dimensional. These are all more hedge fund type investors rather than private equity guys. They will cut their losses if the situation keeps deteriorating. In fact, the 30% hit in the last two weeks may be someone getting out. If a position in excess of 5% is held for investment purposes only, changes are not reported as regularly, so it may be some time before we know.<br /><br />Hall is shown holding 771,000 shares, but last reporting date is 2005. If he sold down to under 5%, he would have to disclose that fact, so he either still owns the stock or is in a lot of trouble.

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Frank Wakefield</b><p>Well Al, Jim, and Dan...<br /><br />Even though accused of it, I made no personal attack up there with my worthless post, which would have had no less value than that of a moderator, nor am I attempting to ruin what Jim perceives to be a good thread...<br /><br />But golly, guys, 79 posts now, not a one about vintage baseball cards. Truthfully, when I see "Hall of Fame" I think of only one. And Bill Bergen the catcher came to mind when I saw the post title. An "OT" would have improved the title, as well as slipping "PSA" in front of "Hall of Fame". Then I'd have known to stay clear.<br /><br />I have learned one thing that interests me, for which I'm grateful. Jim C collects R58s. That set has always fascinated me a bit, some mixup as to even whether that was pre or post WWII. I'm always interested in reading about that set. The Non-sports board would be the place. And if I meet Jim C one day, I hope he and I can skip past old feuds and talk about cards. Ball cards. And R58s.

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Rob D.</b><p>Keep banging that drum, Frank.

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Michael Steele</b><p>Continuing this thread along it's non "vintage baseball card" course: <br /><br />Barry,<br /><br />Why stop at quarter grades? Can the day of "tenth" grades be in the future? 8.1,8.2,8.3,8.4 etc...<br />Then the registry will really be rocking! Let's hope that is about 100 years off and our Great Grandchildren can worry about it.

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Jay</b><p>Continuing downward, CLCT fell from a close of $7.50 yesterday to trade at $6.80 on the close today, a decline of 9.3%.

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>leon</b><p>Did you see the concurrent announcement that due to "helping" the hobby they are going to .25 grades now <img src="/images/happy.gif" height=14 width=14>....Of course no discounts for regrading will be given...and your re-submissions can only go UP UP UP.....it's a virtual win-win....

Bill Bengen Inducted into Hall of Fame
 

Posted By: <b>Jay</b><p>Leon--This is no joke. Can you imagine how slow the service will be at SGC when all the PSA registry guys rush over to cross their sets?