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-   -   Bill Mastro denies widespread fraud in his auctions -- yesterday. (http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=177079)

wonkaticket 10-16-2013 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cardboard Junkie (Post 1195548)
No disrespect, but who are you? And are you saying Shelly was with you and not present when the card was graded?

David really? Like a little mustard with your foot sandwich? :mad:

irishdenny 10-16-2013 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drcy (Post 1194334)
I thought that in Catholicism, lying was considered a sin.

A venial sin, but not a mortal sin... perhaps?

ullmandds 10-16-2013 09:14 AM

say my name!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78Oxux1o2rQ

shelly 10-16-2013 10:18 AM

I would asume if you felt you where taken in anyway by Mastro. You could ask the DA if you are on the list of people that know about.. I would think that these are now open records since he has plead guilty.One other thing that
I have not read is did the Judge order restitution to the harmed partys.

Cardboard Junkie 10-16-2013 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wonkaticket (Post 1195596)
David really? Like a little mustard with your foot sandwich? :mad:

Huh?? Because I never heard of BH or his book? And why the mad face?

calvindog 10-16-2013 10:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WhenItWasAHobby (Post 1195589)
Thanks for posting this and welcome aboard. If this is true, then I find PSA's actions extremely disturbing to say the least and the "rendering an opinion" defense seems very feeble at this point.

I'm sure Doug Allen is dry cleaning his proffer suit in an effort to unload on PSA in order to save himself. Just a hunch.

mightyq 10-16-2013 11:03 AM

With all this talk of trimming , does anyone else come to mind ? Anybody remember some of the hobbies bad boys.

slidekellyslide 10-16-2013 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cardboard Junkie (Post 1195620)
Huh?? Because I never heard of BH or his book? And why the mad face?

When you inhabit a board that is dominated by T206 conversation it's like not knowing the Mona Lisa was painted by DaVinci. :D

Peter_Spaeth 10-16-2013 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mightyq (Post 1195641)
With all this talk of trimming , does anyone else come to mind ? Anybody remember some of the hobbies bad boys.

Plenty of people come to mind.

wonkaticket 10-16-2013 11:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide (Post 1195643)
When you inhabit a board that is dominated by T206 conversation it's like not knowing the Mona Lisa was painted by DaVinci. :D

Thank you Dan well said. Like having John Glenn chime in via an Aerospace chat board to be followed by "excuse me who are you, and what's your deal anyway?".....

Cardboard Junkie 10-16-2013 11:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide (Post 1195643)
When you inhabit a board that is dominated by T206 conversation it's like not knowing the Mona Lisa was painted by DaVinci. :D

oh.:rolleyes:

Peter_Spaeth 10-16-2013 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cardboard Junkie (Post 1195620)
Huh?? Because I never heard of BH or his book? And why the mad face?

I am sure David is far from the only one, even in this community.

Exhibitman 10-16-2013 11:31 AM

Well, not knowing who Bill H. is might not be so surprising except that his name is right next to his post...

Pete: "Heisenberg."

http://photos.imageevent.com/exhibit...eaking-bad.jpg

the 'stache 10-16-2013 11:41 AM

Bill, as a new Monster chaser myself, it is an honor to have you on the forum.

I was happy to find your book available on Ebay. It's ordered, so soon I'll be able to learn from your extensive knowledge.

Welcome aboard!

Bill

ScottFandango 10-16-2013 11:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mightyq (Post 1194162)
figured i would throw my story out there,

I bid on a ton of mastro auctions nonsports cards over the years, probably from 2002-08 going into legendary. anyway i forget the auction date, but i went to bed with ceiling bids on 7 lots, each was well off my ceiling and i was the winner on most. next day comes and i find out i won all 7 lots and the bidding stopped within 1 bid of each auction that would have out bid me. figure i paid thousands more that day for putting the ceiling bids in. never did that again. matter of fact that was the start of the end for me. although i had no proof i didnt need it to know that to have all 7 lots reach my ceiling was anything but shill bidding. now i dont know for sure, but i would guess that bill himself didnt do this all night long. I would assume some very in the know employees did lots if not all the dirty work, and when bill takes the stand to throw a few under the bus real soon we will get an idea as to how and who done this. pretty sure bill will be singing away when the time comes. If i were a part of bills all star team of the mastro years i would be getting ready to have my life ruined by him and ready for my family to get embarassed when articles are written for weeks to come. we will never know who what and the monetary value of all the shilling, but rest assured the govt. isnt spending all this money and man power to put this together just to catch bill. could you imagine the puppets that did the dirty work, full well knowing their guilty. they wake up each morning knowing its one day closer to their own demise. :eek:

GREAT POST, thanks

Cardboard Junkie 10-16-2013 11:53 AM

Oh Jeeze! Perhaps I should be banned for not knowing who wheitman is.

ScottFandango 10-16-2013 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wheitman (Post 1195549)
My apologies. I am the Bill Heitman referred to in Shelly's post. I don't know where Shelly was at the time the card was graded, but I know he was at my home during the two conversations I mentioned with Bill Hughes.

Oh--I am also the author of "T206 The Monster" which is where everyone got the name "The Monster" for the T206 set. That was more than 33 years ago, a time when I was the only collector in America who collected T206 by the backs and series'.

Sorry I didn't introduce myself.



thanks for posting here, but this part I don't think ted Z would agree with...:)

oldjudge 10-16-2013 12:12 PM

David---just one more wheitman on the board.

dstudeba 10-16-2013 12:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cardboard Junkie (Post 1195660)
Oh Jeeze! Perhaps I should be banned for not knowing who wheitman is.

No, but maybe for not doing the simplest bit of research on him. At the time you asked him who he was he had a grand total of 6 posts. His second post mentions that he wrote a book called The Monster in 1980, his third post mentions compiling lists in 1979. With this information you might have some clue that you are talking with someone who has been around the hobby for a while and might have some idea of what he was talking about.

Or then again you could have just reread Shelly's original post about being there with Bill Heitman and figured that it might be someone related to wheitman.

Cardboard Junkie 10-16-2013 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldjudge (Post 1195668)
David---just one more wheitman on the board.

ha ha ha ha......excelllent!!!!! Very VERY very Funny!!!! Great!:D:D:D:D

Runscott 10-16-2013 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cardboard Junkie (Post 1195548)
No disrespect, but who are you? And are you saying Shelly was with you and not present when the card was graded?

At least you weren't responding to 'Archive'.

Runscott 10-16-2013 12:21 PM

Bill, it's good to see you posting, and that was an EXCELLENT one...with no editing!!!

Cardboard Junkie 10-16-2013 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Runscott (Post 1195672)
At least you weren't responding to 'Archive'.

Yeah Scott! "Archive" I hate that mofo! I wont even talk to him!

Runscott 10-16-2013 12:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cardboard Junkie (Post 1195676)
Yeah Scott! "Archive" I hate that mofo! I wont even talk to him!

Watch what you say in print - 'Archive' might decide to sue YOU.

Cardboard Junkie 10-16-2013 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Runscott (Post 1195678)
Watch what you say in print - 'Archive' might decide to sue YOU.

Thank goodness the Bruces straightened out Archive's A$$!

ullmandds 10-16-2013 12:44 PM

Was archive the guy handing out the drink tickets at the net54 dinner at the national?

Cardboard Junkie 10-16-2013 12:56 PM

I suppose everybody is just a little giddy today due to the end of the debt crisis. oops sorry no politics, dave

Back on topic....now we all know that psa knew the card was trimmed, yet awarded it a high numerical grade. very sad:(. I think they should "man up" and address the situation.
Sometimes, at least to me, "honor" trumps "stuff". Health trumps stuff. Hell, a lot of things trump stuff to me. Stuff is way down on the list. To some though, stuff trumps all....pathetic.

Leon 10-16-2013 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ullmandds (Post 1195682)
Was archive the guy handing out the drink tickets at the net54 dinner at the national?

I am older than Archive but have been mistaken for him before.

frankbmd 10-16-2013 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Runscott (Post 1195672)
At least you weren't responding to 'Archive'.

Arch Ives was Burl's brother.

Cardboard Junkie 10-16-2013 03:23 PM

True story....I painted Burl Ives house in Santa Barb. Ca. in 1973, (there was no Vassar girl involved).

wheitman 10-16-2013 11:39 PM

Thanks
 
I'd like to thank all of you for the kind words. Bill

sylbry 10-17-2013 11:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by calvindog (Post 1193860)
http://haulsofshame.com/blog/?p=2454...comment-308922

Mastro seems to think that because his customers have not written to his judge already about his fraud that somehow he is absolved from the mountain of evidence of shill bidding against him -- and his own admissions of shill bidding in court yesterday. He also blames me apparently for his problems.

Bill, I know that you're aware that the people on this board do not have access to the records which show your years of shill bidding then. Had they seen these clear records they would be more outraged. Just because your customers have not written to the judge does not mean you did not rip them off. As your lawyers have all of these records, I'd invite you to publicly post them so that the bidders will know exactly what you did to them.

And blaming me for your problems is despicable and clearly shows you have not accepted full responsibility for your crimes. Just because I haven't met you doesn't mean I can't dislike you and what you did. I've seen the evidence of your guilt, I've read your allocution in court and I've also litigated against you -- and won. You're a disgrace and I hope that the members of this board finally get off their asses and do what you basically dared them to do: tell the judge what you really are.

http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com...ard-companies/

Having trouble reconciling this. How can someone excoriate one hobby fraud while defending another hobby fraud?

drcy 10-17-2013 11:36 AM

Logically speaking (In response to "But I won a lot below my maximum bid"):

I never understand why people think an auction house that is shilling and believe that their shilling could be illegal would shill to the max bid all lots. That would be the easiest way to arouse suspicious and get caught. Shilling is an covert operation, and they would never (except on eBay, home to many idiots) be so obvious and blatant to bid to the max bid everything.

I mean, if someone wins 20 lots over two auctions and all 20 lots are won at his exact maximum bid, he'll come straight to Net54 or PSA boards and complain loudly. If instead 6 of the lots are won below his maximum bids, he'll post in a thread "I don't believe that auction house shills, because I've won some lots below my maximum." And he may have been shilled in both scenarios. It's just that the first scenario involved an auction house that was really stupid.

Also, and as often been said, shilling is likely often from consignors and their helpers who probably have no knowledge about the maximum bids.

In fact, I would guess some shilling comes from neither the auction houses or consignors, but collectors who want to keep the 'market value' for cards they own at a good price.

The best way to counter shilling on a personal level is to regularly sell items so you know what the items are really worth when you go to bid (i.e. what you can sell them for) and not rely on auction prices and all that. All that matters resale-wise is what you can sell an item for. If you sold a card twice for $15 on eBay, you won't be so ignorant to bid $120 for one in auction. And regular sellers are the ones who know when something in auction is a good value, or sometimes even a steal.

calvindog 10-17-2013 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sylbry (Post 1196040)
http://www.sportscollectorsdaily.com...ard-companies/

Having trouble reconciling this. How can someone excoriate one hobby fraud while defending another hobby fraud?

Bryan, who are you referring to?

Edited to add: oh, now I see the link on the bottom. Bryan, did you actually read the article you linked? First, do you think that as an attorney I condone the actions of my clients? Do you think I stand in front of a judge and defend criminal actions? And did you miss the part of the article in which it makes clear that my client cooperated with the government to stop fraud in the hobby? I guess that part escaped you.

ethicsprof 10-17-2013 03:04 PM

frank b
 
excellent point.
obviously, arch was the older brother.
all the best,
barry

atx840 10-17-2013 09:33 PM

Bill Mastro denies widespread fraud in his auctions -- yesterday.
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by Runscott (Post 1195673)
Bill, it's good to see you posting, and that was an EXCELLENT one...with no editing!!!

+1

I can't even type one line without editing it.

cfc1909 10-17-2013 10:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wheitman (Post 1195906)
I'd like to thank all of you for the kind words. Bill


Hi Bill

I would like to talk with you when you have some time. Thanks for posting

stemmers37@yahoo.com

Jim Rivera

Duluth Eskimo 10-18-2013 09:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by calvindog (Post 1195637)
I'm sure Doug Allen is dry cleaning his proffer suit in an effort to unload on PSA in order to save himself. Just a hunch.

Jeff,
I have a question for you. If Bill proffered as well as Doug, do we know they fully cooperated and did not make statements that can be proven false? If so, is this something that can be brought to the attention of the presiding AUSA to go back after him? In most of the comments I have read relating to Mastro, it really doesn't appear that he is very remorseful or cooperative with the process.

wheitman 10-18-2013 05:04 PM

Jim Rivera
 
Tried to email you, but it would not go through. Email me at wheitman@aol.com

Bill Heitman

brob28 10-18-2013 05:18 PM

Bill, welcome to the forum nice to see you posting. Just wondering if you still have copies of The Monster for sale? I see them on EBay from time to time, but it would be really neat to pick one up from you directly.

wheitman 10-18-2013 06:08 PM

brob28
 
Yes, I do, but not many. Email at address in earlier post.

Bill

Denali 10-18-2013 06:34 PM

Even after Mastro's admission, I am still confused about the story behind how the card was cut from its original sheet.

Mastro admitted to trimming the card, which presumably refers to having altered the card after it was cut from its original sheet.

So then, who cut the card from the sheet to begin with?

This MOK Daily News article (excerpts from his book "The Card") states that Alan Ray sold the card to Mastro, and that when he sold it to Mastro, it had already (presumably) been cut from a sheet. The article also shows the photo of the card as originally sold to Mastro before Mastro trimmed it:
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/ba...ticle-1.220710

Quote:

Ray said he took the photos before he sold the card to Mastro in the back room of a Long Island collectibles shop in 1985. Ray wanted $25,000 for the Wagner - a lot of money in those days even for the Flying Dutchman - but Mastro balked, telling Ray the card was off-center and improperly cut. Mastro refused to complete the sale unless Ray threw in dozens of other cards the collector had brought to the shop that day. Ray later said he felt bullied, but he needed the cash and agreed to Mastro's terms.
But Peter Nash wrote in the following article that he was told that Mastro trimmed the card and was also told that Mastro cut it from a sheet:
http://haulsofshame.com/blog/?p=14545

Quote:

One of our sources, a veteran collector of high-end artifacts who was once a close associate of Lifson, revealed to this writer back in 2000 what he described as the true story behind the Wagner as he heard it directly told to him by Lifson. Our source will remain anonymous and from here on in be known simply as “Hobby Deep-Throat ...

Referring to a direct conversation he once had with Lifson, “Hobby Deep Throat” said, “He (Lifson) told me years ago that Mastro trimmed it.” He added, “He told me that Mastro cut it off from a full sheet and there was a guy on Long Island that had the sheet.”
These two articles conflict with one another.

So, who cut the card from the original sheet? Mastro? Ray? Someone else?


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