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Posted By: David Smith

Why are people surprised that (alleged) unsavory activity is being done at an auction house?? Christies and Sothebys got into trouble for collusion, among other things, a few years back. Reputations were dmaged and people were fined and jailed for their actions. Why is Mastro (for example) no different??

The executives of Enron and Adelphia were rich yet human nature took over and they wanted more and did illegal things to attain "more". Why couldn't this happen at Mastro??

Ten years ago, when eBay first started and sports auction companies were coming into existence, an old-time collector (my Mentor) advised me to be careful and watch out for auctions. His advice was to be careful when really rare or high grade items started popping up. Because these were the items that would sell for the most yet also were the ones that were most likely to be reproduced or tampered with.

An example he gave was the following. He knew that one of the things I wanted to add to my collection was an L1 baseball leather. He said for enough money, he knew a person who could MAKE me one. He said he knew a leathersmith who had been in business a long time and that all I needed to do was give him a color picture of the L1 I wanted and it's dimensions. The leathersmith could make it look like new or age and damage it to look old. Whatever I wanted.

Of course, he advised me that if I ever did this, I would have to disclose
that the leather was a reproduction (I would). The problem, though, is the people who owned this fake piece after me. Would THEY disclose the leather was not as old as it was supposed to be?? I never went farther with this idea because 1) I didn't have the money and 2) I worried about what would happen afterwards if I ever sold a fake piece. However, I did remember his advice to be careful.

The problem, as I see it, is how high at Mastro (or any auction company) does the problem go?? Is it a rogue lower level employee doing these things without their superior's knowledge or is the problem systemic?? If a lower level employee is cleaning/repairing a few cards for a friend or customer and only he/she knows about it, then the whole company shouldn't be tarred and feathered. But, if altering cards is a known practice from top to bottom (or even just at the top) and these alterations are not disclosed at the time of sale, then there is a MAJOR problem because WHO is benefiting the most?? The Owners and high level employees, that is who.


The people I worry about most in this (or any) hobby are the ones who know the most and who have a lot of money. These people know what an item is supposed to look like and have the money to reproduce it, if they wanted. An example might be the Pirate Cigarette cards which were just sold.

When these cards first came to this board's attention, how many were curious about them?? I know I was. Now, how many thought there was something fishy going on?? If I remember correctly, there were a few. I mean, these cards rarely show up individually but here was an almost complete set with a few uncatalogued cards to boot. The strange thing was there were no doubles (at least not known at this time).

If these were run of the mill cards that sold for $800 or even $8,000 dollars, then most people wouldn't take notice. But ultra-rare cards, in quantity, coming out of nowhere and selling for $8000,000 dollars is something else.

If I were wealthy, unscrupulous and KNEW what Pirate Cigarette baseball cards were supposed to look and feel like, what is to keep me from going overseas and having someone make them?? I mean, going to China and paying someone there $100,000 to make these cards wouldn't be out of the question. A person there wouldn't know or care about baseball cards and they are so far away that if a stink was ever raised, they are out of the loop and even if they DID hear about a controversy, why would they come forward?? They were paid a lot of money, so why get involved?? If I were the rich person who had them made why would I care or say anything to raise eyebrows?? If I were unethical enough to have them created in the first place and then pocketed a $700,000 profit, I would keep my mouth shut and move on to other things.

As an aside, this was just an example. I have NO knowledge of these cards and are just using these as an example of what COULD happen, so DO NOT SUE ME BECAUSE I KNOW NOTHING, AM IMPLYING NOTHING and don't have any money anyway.

As far as automobiles (and collectibles ) go, I use as a guide the old saying, "a car is only original once". For the most part, an original, unrestored car is going to sell for more than a restored car, if both are in the same condition. If you don't believe me, just watch the Barrett-Jackson auctions in January on the SPEED Channel. The cars that sell for the most are rare cars that are original or restored back to original. Those cars are fully documented and, if restored, have full documentation of that, too. Altered or undocumented cars sell for WAY less than their documented brethren.

Having said all of that, it does not mean that you just let an original car sit out in the open and let it get rusty and allow birds to crap all over it. You keep it stored in a climate controlled building and drive it every once in a while to let the fluids circulate.

The same goes for cards. A card is only original once and those cards will sell for more than a restored card. And just as with cars, cards also have to be taken care of and stored properly.

With collectibles, any alteration or restoration MUST be disclosed when selling. Otherwise, the buyer will think they are getting an original, unrestored example. If an altration has occured and is not noted at the time of sale, then I consider that fraud. Also, just because an alteration is not detectable now doesn't mean it wont be in the future.

That is my two cents about this issue,

David