Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth
Yep. Even otherwise sophisticated, intelligent, successful people seem to check all these qualities at the door when it comes to cards, autographs, memorabilia. It's the perfect recipe for fraud. It's as Paul Simon wrote -- a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest.
And this phenomenon is exacerbated by TPG because the holder and the LOA just whitewash the problems and give what is -- in many cases -- false reassurance.
Since none of us are going to stop collecting no matter what scandals emerge, the only choice is to be more careful I guess, and use your common sense at all times.
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+1
I think the way the hobby has evolved, too much faith has been put on what the label says. A grade, or a blessing of authenticity, is only an opinion. And because TPGs need to process material as quickly as possible to increase profits, many of the opinions are flawed and inaccurate.
But how many collectors actually assess that? If the label says it's a 9, it's taken by most as a guarantee. Look at what 9's and 10's sell for, and you know that buyers have total confidence in that label. Just the idea that all these fake signatures found their way into slabs should be a wake up call that the system is deeply flawed.