![]() |
Happy Festivus! Airing of Grievances 2024 Edition
December 23 is Festivus! Time for the annual airing of grievances. What grinds your gears in the collecting hobby?
Here is the 2022 post: https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=329338 Here is the 2023 post: https://www.net54baseball.com/showth...ghlight=airing For me this year, it was the Memory Lane tragedy wayyyy back in May 2024: https://www.net54baseball.com/showth...ht=memory+lane My grievance is not with the shipment of cards to a Best Western Plus (which it could be) but rather the fact that a major auction house in 2024 knowingly ran an auction with items that they were not in possession of when the auction ended. And the defending of this practice? Yeesh. I have seen a lot of lows in the hobby over the my collecting career, but this might be the lowest. What’s yours? |
I'm no fan of ML, but as previously stated I don't get the "grievance" or whatever you want to call it. Who was hurt? Even if the cards had not been recovered, who would have been hurt? This was done out of pragmatic considerations and because it was better than the alternatives, not to defraud anyone. Or maybe ML even knew the cards had been recovered before they could say so publicly, for all we know. Hardly an annual highlight IMO. Not in a hobby where countless altered cards are being bought and sold for huge sums every single day, and new ones being made I should add.
|
With the abundance of asshats and crooks in the hobby, it is so hard to choose just one, but let me 'honor' all of the sneak thieves, burglars, opportunistic thieves, and car robbers who have plagued card shows all year. It seems like you cannot go a single big show without someone getting ripped off. It has basically chased me out of the desire to set up at shows, which is a shame because I generally enjoy having a table and looked forward to doing it more often in retirement.
Honorable mention to people shit-posting the hobby. If card collecting sucks so much, stop doing it, or if not, at least STFU about it, Debbie Downer. |
Quote:
|
Scotch Tape on......welll, damned near anything card related.
B.T. |
I don’t have any grievances really this year, just saddened by all the thefts in person at shows and the break-ins of vehicles in transit to and from shows. People for the most part have been pretty nice on the board. There hasn’t been any major battles between members which is a good thing :-).
Also, let’s not forget all the greats who died this year, which will be missed. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
We all know they did not have an insurance claim that required hosting a fraudulent auction, as so many people claimed. I am still to this day, after like 1,110 posts and dozens of emails with people over it, still awaiting a single solitary example of any insurance policy from all of human history that requires hosting fake auctions to value items :rolleyes:. We all know perfectly well they could be valued another way. If you want to have a standard where it is okay to do because the winners did not get their money stolen, frankly, that would be understandable and I would simply disagree. But that was not and is not the line - because you all know 100% perfectly well why it would be wrong for me to do the exact same thing. If this was your sincere view, you all wouldn't have understood why it would be wrong for me to do it. The thread could have been like 200 posts if you guys had been consistent, instead of insisting on inconsistent standards to justify it only for certain people. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
I think, at least, we would all call continuing the auctions without cards in hand "deceptive." Some will go on to rationalize it. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
I’ll go with just about everyone’s favorite:
The cards are too damn high (priced)!!! Just seems like to get anything nice requires a 6-figure outlay these days. And I struggle to convince myself that it’s a good idea to part with so much cash for so little in return. So I keep biding my time, hoping that someday the everything rally will end. And in the meantime, just keep plugging away towards my retirement goals. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
+1 to your overall point though. |
Quote:
The ML incident was so frustrating/funny because of how people who knew perfectly well exactly how and why it was wrong for others to do (again - you all, 100%, know exactly why and how it is wrong for me to do - and thus you know perfectly well why it is wrong for someone else as well), rushed to carry water for Memory Lane with blatantly and openly double standard opinions. Usually when an auction house does something wrong, somebody goes 'my bad', and it ends with a mixed 'well they shouldn't have done it, but we mostly recognize that' to end it, usually with great reluctance to criticize very much, but not endorsing the act. This one was just so transparent an example of the broad hobby impulse to justify anything corporations or 'authorities' in the hobby do, even if it required blatant inconsistency and absolute bullshit (like the obviously fictional insurance policy that could have forced them to run a fraudulent auction so many in that thread clung too - no such policy has ever existed anywhere in human history). That's the gear grinding element - the transparency of the wagon circling of utter bullshit by the vast majority of this board and the double standards while pretending they couldn't figure out why anyone would even object. The act itself doesn't get anywhere near the list, but the response was pretty bad. This response would have been entirely different if it wasn't an organization that it was desirable to defend. If some person or group undesirable did it, it would have been unanimous or near-unanimous against, and it wouldn't even be mentioned in this thread, much less immediately become the central focus. To this day you all are still pretending it's perfectly acceptable and fine - but only for the right people, of course. That will always grind gears, and always has. It's not the original thing that was done, but the circle of bullshit trying to justify what was obviously and transparently wrong. We even had blatant screeching and religious discrimination (seriously!) and shitting on the doors (or I guess anyone poorer than the poster) in an obvious effort to get it locked to shut down conversation (credit to the board for not censoring it) from corporate suck-ups. I received more angry emails for being against this farce, for the blatantly obvious reason that it is dishonest and a lie, than for the covid thread, the thread where I advocated reading bills and read the Florida bill, and any other time I've had an unpopular opinion. Still amazes me that that was the one that made the most people endorse deception, fraud and lies - even as 100% of them know exactly why it was wrong. That's the gear grinding - the transparency of the extreme dishonesty from people who did not need to be dishonest or endorse this cynical display of dishonesty. |
My grievance is that this guy gets on almost every thread on the main page and says something negative or argumentative. 32k posts
Quote:
|
For me, personally, it is what shipping fees have become. Especially purchasing from U.S. sellers and the use of the global shipping program.
I've cried about these fees before but they are seriously getting out of hand. $35-$50 dollars+, U.S., to ship one card that can cost a 1/3 of the shipping fee. It's rare now, unless it is from a CDN seller, to find shipping less than $25-$30 dollars, which, of course, has really deterred me from looking at cards from many U.S. sellers. But, all that aside, Merry Christmas everyone. :) |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
2 Attachment(s)
Tired of all the people that overhype everything in the (what's left of it) hobby. Many times it just doesn't seem like much of a hobby anymore.
When's somebody going to bring up PSA's wonderful customer service? Or grading price structure? Or lack of true accountability for grading undersized cards with razor sharp corners and calling them mint. Attachment 644668 As they say - every thread should have a picture of a card: |
Quote:
|
Happy Festivus!
Ooh man, I'm sorry but.. I got problems and your gonna hear about it! ;):) 1) Placement of TPA Stickers TPA stickers on the front of photos...it looks horrible. It takes away from the actual photo and autograph. Place it on the back, if you don't have a letter. I promise it'll still work the same. 2) I can't stand online card breakers. *slow reveal....slow reveal.....* LEEETTTTSSSSSSSS GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! *cringe* 3) How many parallels does a card really need? 4) Charging $6.25 for shipping and then ship my order with a PWE and .73 stamp...not cool. 5) High prices on new modern product. Makes it tough for kids and new people coming into the hobby. whew...okay, I think I'm good now...thank you! Happy Holidays & New Years! Cheers! :) |
What bothers me the most is that what I frequently post seemingly requires rhyming, and is often somewhat off-topic to the point of being a tad misanthropic.
Brian (opening up a whole unexplored avenue of the airing of Festivus self-grievances) |
complaint
Yes, thats fascinating !
|
“Book Price”
|
“Grading is a scam”
|
Quote:
The hobby is gone, cards are a country club for VERY wealthy people |
Quote:
The hobby is not gone. It never went anywhere. I’m poor and enjoy this thing we have here called the hobby |
Quote:
|
Quote:
I also find it very strange that the entire premise of the complaint seems to be that an individual selling their own cards couldn't do it, so why should a consignor be able to, as if there aren't extremely major legal differences in those two roles. There is a reason both the police and the insurance company said to run the auction. There are a lot of legal rights at play here from many different parties. Running the auction and sorting out the fallout in court later was the only valid play from a legal standpoint. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Here is one…..COMPS!!!!!
I don’t give a tinkers damn about the comps, I want to know what you want for dang card!@!!!!!@!@!@!@!@@ Ugh…….. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
Nolan Ryan and Gaylord Perry posted pretty similar career values to each other, using the old stats or the new. I'm sorry. A lot of things are true that I don't like either. |
Quote:
As for the police, I just don't know, not my area, but my opinion does not depend one way or another on that aspect. |
Quote:
So my airing of grievances is those complaining about those complaining. Without all the beyond silly complaining about grading and AHs this place would not be near as fun to read.:eek::D |
Quote:
Any lawyer in that thread claiming it was criminal to run those consignment auctions either doesn't know what they are talking about, or are like you, in that they made up their minds and weren't interested in thinking through the legal issues of the case. |
Quote:
I think that lying to your customers by hosting fraudulent auctions for items they did not have and could not possibly deliver, even if you like that as the correct course, is quite obviously "dishonest". This is why it is so ridiculous and gear grinding - even this has to be denied and we have to pretend that that isn't dishonest. That is absurd, and dishonest itself. Where I implied dishonesty from you was your claim that you couldn't even understand the grievance - while knowing full well why it is wrong for people who are not Memory Lane to do the exact same thing. Of course you get it, you just disagree with it. |
Quote:
Don't confuse James with facts. His mind is made up. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
And you think it is perfectly honest to run fake auctions for items one doesn't have, but only if that is a corporation doing it (otherwise, if it was honest independent of the thing doing it, then there is no reason an individual wouldn't or shouldn't do the same thing)? Even if one supports it, running auctions for things one does not have and cannot possibly deliver on is "dishonest". I think we all, at some level, must be cognizant of that. |
It is so hard to actually argue this when people keep editing posts to change or add arguments lol
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
Further, there are fundamental legal differences between an individual fraudulently selling something, and a consigner, under contract to sell a property right on behalf of the owner of those rights. There just are. You don't have to understand or accept it. But it's just how the law works. |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
“Let’s eat, grandma!” AND “Let’s eat grandma!” |
If the ONLY facts we had in this case were that ML was selling the cards and that it did not have them in its possession, then sure we might think there was fraud.
But when you factor in everything else we know: --that ML had valid consignments to sell the cards --that the cards were stolen --that it was pretty clear the thief was local and associated with the Best Western (I believe that was the state of play) and therefore there was a chance the cards might be recovered --that ML would have to compensate the consignors if the cards were not recovered, and likely had insurance coverage that would require valuations before that could happen --that continuing the auction to conclusion would be the most straightforward way to value any cards that were not recovered --that ML had no intention of taking money from any auction winner unless it could deliver the card Then it becomes clear there was no "fraud" in the traditional sense. To me, any argument that IGNORES all these additional mitigating facts and circumstances is fundamentally flawed and just based on reductio absurdum. |
Quote:
Sorry, couldn't resist the low-hanging fruit. Either way, it's all good. :D |
Happy Festivus! Airing of Grievances 2024 Edition
Here are a few things after slowly combing through this tiring thread that might come to mind *for some* as grievances:
1. Attorneys on the main page, and their perpetual need to long windedly one-up each other on the details of the legalese which may or may not apply to a particular hobby incident / dealings of an auction house / other random hobby happening. 2. The never-ending argument on the main page and elsewhere on the skulduggery of alteration, or those who believe that Kurt's Card Care, et al. are totally legit businesses, who operate with no problems or cause for concern. 3. James and his perpetual disrespect for the way others collect as evidenced by his inability to go a week without tiredly railing on and on again about the evils of professional card grading, as if we haven't heard it all roughly 17 thousand times before. BUT -- not me. :) My grievance is petty much what it always is - prices. This is truly just a hobby for me, and as such I'm left to channel spare income, bonus money, Christmas & birthday money, etc. to fund my continuing pasteboard purchases. I could of course dip into retirement savings or investments to just go buy whatever I want without nearly as much regard for the cost, (another oft-visited main page subject...) but I think I'd like to remain married instead. As the years go by and I find myself finally more interested in things like prewar at least for my Chicago Cubs collection - I remain astounded even in a downturn at how ridiculously expensive everything is - even in low grade. I'll get over it, but that's my true grievance. Happy Holidays All! |
Quote:
|
These days, so little discussion on the main page is actually about prewar baseball cards.
That bothers me somewhat. |
My grievances:
1) Not having a separate Category called “Bitching Session" – where moderators can move posts that turn into arguments between 2-3 people and give them their own section to play paper/scissors/rock in. 2) Why can't we just all enjoy the cards, the collecting and the knowledge...Sometimes we ALL do this effectively...other times...not so much. |
Two grievances...
WAR and Peace 1. Never in my life has anyone tried to convince me of something or tried to prove they were right by trotting out the theoretical stat of WAR. I have played baseball and softball my entire life with people who love the game. The number of conversations we've had based on the theoretical stat of WAR? ZERO!!!!! Yet, every single thread here immediately (and endlessly) turns into "My theoretical stat of WAR beats your theoretical stat of WAR!!!" by people who seemingly have never dug into the batter's box even once in their lives. I'll take the 'dirt' guys' opinions about players (especially the ones whose careers we witnessed first hand) over the computer screen 'data' guys any day of the week, because the knowledge of the f*cking game is in their very souls, and not just something read off of their phones. Stop suckling on the teet of the almighty WAR mother, and come up with something else once in awhile!!!!!!! 2. Lately, it seems that there are more and more new-ish members who constantly flood the board (Collectorism: "Board Swarmers") daily with arguments and BS aplenty. It's constant!!!! Seeing their avatar, your only thought is, "Okay, who is this a-hole quoting and snarkily going after now???!!!" (As you're reading this, I'm sure member names and avatars immediately raced to the forefront of your brain, amirite??) It'd be nice if those folks would just STFU and help return the site to a more peaceful (with normal bitching/complaining/arguing levels) environment. And using HAR (holidays above replacement), it's probably best (due undoubtedly to the vast majority of members celebrating this particular holiday) that I wish everyone a Merry Christmas!!! But, to not f*cking rely solely on HAR, I will also say Happy (my preferred spelling) Chanukah!! And to all, a good end of grievances... |
Quote:
I hope your 2025 is everything you ever dreamed about, and that everything you could ever imagine on your card wantlist happens. Cheers! |
Quote:
"Long live freedom, damn it!" |
WAR is total BS.
Card grading is total BS. Know it alls, in fact, don't know it all. Now we can get back to it being a hobby. |
Quote:
My hobby never went anywhere. Congrats on getting back to whatever yours is. |
Quote:
|
Happy Festivus! Airing of Grievances 2024 Edition
Quote:
You have a good holiday man. |
Bruhhhh this debate again???? This topic is like quicksand guys. Walk around.
Besides, Festivus is for the airing of new grievances. I got a lot of problems with you people!! |
Quote:
:mad: |
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
The majority of the cards were since recovered and delivered. No? Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk |
Quote:
This information was communicated by ML, sure, but assuming it is true, it does show that ML was working with their insurers and the police while the auction was ongoing. I really don't see how their actions can be fraudulent if they are working with the police. Sent from my SM-S906U using Tapatalk |
Quote:
|
My grievance is that for some, Festivus is celebrated all year.
Instead, Happy Holidays and have a great New Year. Brian |
All times are GMT -6. The time now is 09:08 PM. |