Sometimes I swear I must be the biggest dumb-ass in the world. Or just incredibly naive. I know that credit is normal, and all that. But if Mastro was giving the big guns time to pay, wouldn't it just stand to reason that there is a "Gotcha covered" buried in there somewhere? That it was an extension of a business courtesy on their part to cover the money short term and not an offer at the risk of the consignor? Would you think anyone would even have to ask that? I know I wouldn't.
And am I also naive to think that, if these courtesies are going to be extended, Mastro (or anyone else handling so much of other people's cards or money) would take even the most basic precautions around the process? Like getting it in writing, at least. Or retaining some interest or ability to retrieve either the cards or the value if the payments fell through.
Here's what bugs me. First of all, I don't remember a time in this hobby in which there wasn't chronic speculation and grouching about favoritism to bigwigs while the individual small and medium or unconnected collectors sat on the sidelines playing by the rules. That's been out there on everything from auction house practices to grading preferences for the big submitters. Now the favoritism is crashing the news today, with the exact outcome that the little guy got nailed so the big shots could play mover and shaker.
At the center of it all is Mastro. I know there are people that didn't pay Mastro. But these people were not in a position to limit the fallout and shield the collectors and consignors that had owned the items. Mastro was the only entity that could have done that, and they didn't.
Personally, I couldn't pick either Dave Forman or Bill Fisher out of a crowd of two - don't know them at all. But I think it's unfortunate that their money issues are playing out in public, especially since I absolutely don't believe that the issue of consignor non-payment has the slightest thing to do with them. It's just more noise around the central issue of Mastro's behavior.
I understand that some of the bigger players in the hobby might want to look at what it means that Forman is still in cards while owning a grading company (although the recent REA auction had some pretty impressive disclosure) and wonder if there is an appearance of impropriety.
I'm more concerned with the actual improrpriety by Mastro that has already come out, already affected real people and collectors and is by far the biggest taint on the hobby in this whole mess.
J
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