Originally Posted by wolf441 (Post 1026552)

Just my humble opinion, but I do believe in second chances and will reserve judgement for the time being. People can and do change all the time. I would cite Michael Milken as a great example. He was disgraced during the junk bond scandal in the late 1980's, served his prison sentence and became a leading advocate for cancer research whose philanthropic endeavors have raised hundreds of millions for cancer research.

Originally Posted by wolf441 (Post 1026561)

Point taken Jeff,

I'm not advocating blindly giving a second chance. I'm just interested to see how things play out. Just from being a member of Net54 for a very short period of time, I don't believe that the crowd here will be taken in by a less than 100% honest auction house. And seeing Scott Gaynor involved gives me hope as well.

Best wishes,

Steve

Originally Posted by jefferyepayne (Post 1026588)

I wish you were right. In other threads on Net54, people have said they will participate in any auctions that has the cards they need, irrespective of the ethics or past behavior of the auction house / owner. Unfortunately it appears that very few are willing to do what's right if it results in even a small amount of personal loss.

The con men are laughing all the way to the bank when this attitude prevails and anyone in the hobby with a positive brand needs to be careful associating themselves with those of questionable ethics. In business, your brand is partially determined by who you associate with...

jeff

Originally Posted by Ladder7 (Post 1026751)

Right, bash the guy for his honorable stance. What are you smokin?

:rolleyes:

Originally Posted by Runscott (Post 1026709)

Okay, so you won't bid on items sold by an auction house of questionable ethics. I assume you also wouldn't have a friend bid for you? Some have gone so far as to say they won't even sit at a dinner table if someone representing such an auction house is present. Do you also check to see who cards were bought from, just to insure that you don't buy from someone who buys from such auction houses? Will you eat at the same restaurants they eat at? Will you have anything to do with a bar that sells their employees a beer?

Let's find all these people and and get this hobby cleaned up properly!

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...h_McCarthy.jpg

Originally Posted by Matthew H (Post 1026758)

IMO this Goldin guy was just an easy target for these "hobby crusaders". Just take a look at the topic vintagetoppsguy started... a pretty big deal if you ask me... you can hear crickets in that thread.

Originally Posted by smotan_02 (Post 1037742)

I would recommend getting a scanner as the pictures of the Jordan AMEX look amateur-ish

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth (Post 1024703)

neat pic from the website

Originally Posted by botn (Post 1025531)

Ken actually told me on the telephone the other day that he and the others involved really did not need the money. They just really wanted to do this. So I guess he does love the hobby. Sounds like he was born to have his own auction house!

Does make me wonder about the ethics of the other people who are involved with him. No way his partners cannot know about who this guy is, is there?

Originally Posted by botn (Post 1025531)

Ken actually told me on the telephone the other day that he and the others involved really did not need the money. They just really wanted to do this. So I guess he does love the hobby. Sounds like he was born to have his own auction house!

Does make me wonder about the ethics of the other people who are involved with him. No way his partners cannot know about who this guy is, is there?

Originally Posted by shoebox (Post 1509263)

seems those that predicted that 'stuff will trump all' back then despite rather sketchy past associations have been proven right. Turns out there was more sketchiness yet to be uncovered. Just goes to show if oj simpson could still run for touchdowns there would be fans lining up to cheer for him and is bill and doug left prison today used a prison shank made from his toothbrush to fix a corner on a mantle rookie and then put it in a psa 8 holder and there will be collectors climbing over themselves to bid.

Originally Posted by kengoldin (Post 1025202)

To comment further and a last time on the SAH stuff. I first called into SAH in 1995 I believe. I last called in 2002. I, like many, thought Don West was funny and almost thought he was putting on an act, which to a degree he was. I was told that is what their audience liked, they were the ante-QVC, which is a soft, non value sell. I imagine while I was doing it I did not take it seriously enough. At the time it was kind of like a comedy show, it was parodied often on SNL, as well as Opie and Anthony show. In the 11 years since I have called into SAH, I have been divorced, remarried, had 2 daughters, and found my love again for what started me in this hobby when I was 11 years old, vintage cards and vintage memorabilia. I started by traveling to shows, buying and selling with my father, Paul Goldin, who many of you knew if you were around in the 1970s and 80s. I still have a vast collection and have been building on it the past 10 years . Yes, the new stuff for the most part is crap that will not be worth much in the future.
Yes, SAH was over the top. Yes, SAH in the majority of instances sold product for way too much money (keep in mind as a retailer however, they sold product for double what they paid, meaning the vendor got ½ the amount, or LESS then the price you saw on the screen). I wish I could say it wasn’t part of my past, but it is. I apologize for using the words ‘that’s how it was done’ and I have edited that out almost immediately out of the post. I am sorry for the word choice of my original posting, and as stated, as someone who understood the business very well, I was doing well enough by just selling to the soft cell QVC. I should never have stooped to the hard sell SAH method of doing business and I am sorry it happened. I know many hobbyist hated those shows, and I know many people loved them. I know the dealers that were providing me with product loved me. The people that hated the shows have always been the most vocal…and relentless. My point in the earlier post about mentioning QVC was only to point out that as an individual, I was able to adapt my ‘pitch’ to the network. One wanted a high energy, over the top performance, the other wanted an informative, no hype, no value driven soft sell. In hindsight I should have let SAH sell the product and not participate and wish I did not. At this point, when I turn 60 , 70 and even 80 to some I will always be known as the guy who used to call into SAH.
Hopefully to many of you I will not be remembered that way, to some I will, no matter what good I did in the past and do in the future. I will have to live with that. Just like I had to live with losing $1 million plus on Mark Mcgwire product (most of which I still have in inventory) because I did invest in the product I sold, and did get killed when he fell off the map and later had steroid controversy. To address one last question that was raised, on post 48 I outlined my departure from SB in 1997, as well as fact that I was not with the company when redemptions were due (including the Wagner card) so I cannot answer as to the outcome that John White CEO of SB did with the card. The company had run a similar promotion with a 52 topps mantle when I was there in 1996 and everyone got their cards, including the 52 topps Mantle that was given away. Also, with regards to authenticity question raised just above this post, I refer you back to my post #46. And I will repeat, there were 6-8 vendors to SAH…I just happen to be the most well known. With respect to autographs I constantly emailed SAH that they need to be careful who they purchased autos from, as they were buying from people who were not experts and not providing good certs…I purchased several items from them with ‘Howards sports collectibles’ certs to see what customers were getting, and then would send them to SAH management telling them I did not think it was real. . Again, all I ask is fairness. If I was not the vendor who sold a given product, I cannot take blame for that product. Just because it was sold on SAH does NOT mean the company I worked for was the vendor.
I wish the best of luck and collecting to all of you, even the negative posters, and hope at some point in time in the future you will look at Ken Goldin as the person who brought athletes to the masses, the guy who signed Shaq exclusively, and hopefully, the guy who always delivers great auctions and great products. I am available by PM or email if I can help any dealer or collector in any way, but believe my days of posting and reading this is over.

Originally Posted by kengoldin (Post 1024357)

Greg
thank you for at least taking the time to read everything. I re-read my original post and edited it to reflect a more accurate statement, as the wording may have been poor with respect to SB certs, this is listed below. I have ALWAYS gone out of my way, on ebay, and with hobby dealers (and quite frankly anyone who bothers to call me and ask me a question, or email me) to inform them of what to look for when buying SB product to make sure they buy the real thing, I continue to do so to this day, and will continue to do so in the future.
As far as the auction, i believe what i have stated, the people involved, our product and our policies speak for itself. I am well aware that every auction house is going to be scrutinized till the ends of the earth forever, and am happy that we will be conducting our FIRST auction in 10 weeks, so we can learn from other's mistakes. Rest assured, all parties involved like their lives and are not going to do anything to jeapordize themselves, their careers, or the business.
At this point, I will let everyone come to their own opinion, and let time be the judge. I am available for questions by email or PM, but I think i have had more then my share of the 'public forums' for a while.

"around 92-93 to combat these problems SB started marking its autographed items with a mark that was detectable under UV light. In addition, it began to mark its certs with a hidden water mark as well. 100% of the certs that are REAL and have the name 'ken goldin' have this mark. If it does not have the mark, and has the facsimile of Ken goldin, it is a fake cert. SB did not publicize this fact because it wanted to stay 1 step ahead of the forgers. It told its customers but did not point out where the water mark was, it what it was. I have , however, made dealers and press (example an interview i did with TJ Schwartz 2 years ago where he mentioned that SB certs and items were marked...but did not mention where or how) are of this."

Originally Posted by Shoebox (Post 1509263)

Seems those that predicted that 'Stuff Will Trump All' back then despite rather sketchy past associations have been proven right. Turns out there was more sketchiness yet to be uncovered. Just goes to show if OJ Simpson could still run for touchdowns there would be fans lining up to cheer for him and is Bill and Doug left prison today used a prison shank made from his toothbrush to fix a corner on a Mantle rookie and then put it in a PSA 8 holder and there will be collectors climbing over themselves to bid.

Originally Posted by WindyCityGameUsed (Post 1509324)

The first paragraph of this article explains a few things


http://www.nj.com/yankees/index.ssf/...ctionscom.html

Originally Posted by dhernandez (Post 1509717)

Its interesting that a person would plead his case publicly like this and it comes back and bites him in the a$$. Shades of Justice Robert Bork during confirmation hearings. In all honesty I did not know this thread existed and kind of shocked that Big Boss Kenny would take his case to the public airwaves. Amazing how he tries to rationalize his past indiscretions as how things were. So were we suppose to hand out that free pass? I guess some did. What about now in light of the recent findings? SMH :rolleyes:

Originally Posted by botn (Post 1025531)

Ken actually told me on the telephone the other day that he and the others involved really did not need the money. They just really wanted to do this. So I guess he does love the hobby. Sounds like he was born to have his own auction house!

Does make me wonder about the ethics of the other people who are involved with him. No way his partners cannot know about who this guy is, is there?

Originally Posted by WindyCityGameUsed (Post 1510510)

IMO thats always whats said when they come a courting

Originally Posted by botn (Post 1510921)

Hi David,

There is quite a bit to be found on Darryl Abramowitz on Google. You should check it out. Enjoy your reading.

Greg

Originally Posted by botn (Post 1511864)

Mike,

Here is an article http://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/12/ny...e-attempt.html on a Darryl Abramowitz out of New York who was arrested by the FBI regarding a Wal-Mart scandal. Not sure if this is the same Darryl Abramowitz who is associated with 23Kt Gold Collectibles, Ltd.

Greg

Originally Posted by dhernandez (Post 1509717)

Its interesting that a person would plead his case publicly like this and it comes back and bites him in the a$$. Shades of Justice Robert Bork during confirmation hearings.

Originally Posted by mickeymao34 (Post 1512850)

Greg does 23Kt Gold Collectibles deal in sports mem?

Originally Posted by sreader3 (Post 1512871)

This is a vintage baseball card website and most of us think it's good form to leave our politics at the door--whether about Judge (not "Justice") Bork or Verizon or the evils of capitalism or whatever. This Board is replete with highly informed people right, left and center who have enough respect for others to leave gratuitous partisan and ideological jibes to other venues. Thanks for your consideration.

Originally Posted by KingFisk (Post 1514163)

In case anyone hadn't seen this in awhile...

http://www.hulu.com/watch/65921

Originally Posted by kingfisk (Post 1514163)

in case anyone hadn't seen this in awhile...

http://www.hulu.com/watch/65921

Originally Posted by nsaddict (Post 1514849)

LMAO...it's not that much of an exaggeration :)

Originally Posted by frankbmd (Post 1514860)

not true. There were only five cards on my shaq plaque.

Originally Posted by KingFisk (Post 1514163)

In case anyone hadn't seen this in awhile...

http://www.hulu.com/watch/65921

Originally Posted by The Cardfather (Post 1515417)

That was great, Carl!
I've never seen that before.

Was that Robert Downey Jr. on the far left?

Originally Posted by WindyCityGameUsed (Post 1512930)

You seriously want to try and deflect while lecturing people on what they should and shouldn't be discussing on a OPEN Forum?

Originally Posted by slipk1068 (Post 1515448)

He is not trying to deflect anything. He is trying to keep politics out of this discussion.

Originally Posted by mickeymao34 (Post 1516753)

i am actually quite surprised SNL did this bit. Hilarious and spot on

Originally Posted by dhernandez (Post 1517007)

"Why I outta......!!"

Originally Posted by WindyCityGameUsed (Post 1517011)

David

Better save your money I hear this are coming 2 auction soon

Originally Posted by dhernandez (Post 1517027)

Are these photomatched?

Originally Posted by WindyCityGameUsed (Post 1517011)

David

Better save your money I hear this are coming 2 auction soon

Originally Posted by dhernandez (Post 1517035)

although not game worn the first pic are great issues... the 2nd pic is only getty pic i could find but shoe are blue in color but similar style

Originally Posted by mickeymao34 (Post 1517125)

Moderators please move this to the appropiate thread CUU : Clown Used Universe