Posted By:
vikes 066Jay,
You bring up a point but remember the the auction house technically is somewhat of the "messenger". They sell (and get commissions on both ends mind you) what the authenicators say is real. Don't get me wrong it is pretty much assumed by many (and that list probably grows exponentially every day) on the inside that Mastro has known for years about Bushing's shenanigans and mistakes.
However, it really has been brought out into the regular/general public eye by Plancich, O'Keefee and ESPN in the last few months. If you believe the guy (Fred Buddie?) on the ESPN Outside the Lines tape (in reference to Bushing's massacre of the DiMaggio glove) he said that many people have had a lot of doubts for years in the collectible world on key items. Why hasn't anyone said anything before? It's like a dirty little secret that no one wanted out there. A lot of people trusted a self proclaimed expert who according to his backers had no peers. Individually people are now coming to their own conclusions about the validity of those claims.
Proving Mastro (or any auction house) knew that Bushing (or any other so called expert)authenticated anything that was not real would be very hard to prove since that would also require someone on the inside to turn against the auction house and show motive.
The cold hard scientific/forensic facts easily can point out the numerous occasions where Bushing was dead wrong and not even close. That is why he is feeling the well deserved heat he is getting. The scary part is what other mistakes will come to the forefront next. No one's perfect that is what his cronies will say, but the relative easy mistakes that have been brought to light make many people want to think twice about how much expertise is really there vs. the allure and greed possibilities of a quick payday.
Vikes066