Originally Posted by JP21
I am writing this in response to the negative accusations and assumptions made over some upgrades that I received from PSA lately. As you can see by the diversification of cards that I have gotten upgrades on, that I am on ebay and other sites looking for cards that can possibly upgrade for hours every day. If I was just buying expensive Mantle cards and turning 5's and 6's into 8's and 9's, I would see why people would get upset over that. But I'm NOT doing that. I'm searching hundreds of cards a day, thousands of cards a week to find a handful of cards to buy and possibly crack out and resubmit. I submit hundreds of cards a month. I am bound to get a couple upgrades once in a while. I have been in the card business for over 30 years. I have been involved in grading cards for over 15 years. I work very hard and I have developed an eye to find undergraded cards.
To the surprise of many on this board, maintaining the original integrity of every card I buy and regrade is very important to me. I do not trim cards. I do not paint cards. I do not power erase cards. I do not do anything to a card that sacrifices the original integrity, edges, corners, surface, gloss, size, design or shape of a card to achieve a higher grade.
The Art Shell rookie PSA 8 upgrade to a PSA 10 seems to have caused the most commotion. I know it's hard for people to understand how that could happen without some sort of shenanigans going on but there were none. I literally cracked out the card, put it into a card saver and submitted it at the National last year. The card came back a PSA 10 and the owner of the card (my client) opted to sell it since he was putting a HOF Rookie PSA 9 set together. Top/bottom centering on 1973 Topps football is not black and white because of the funky design of the card. It is very possible that a first-year grader at PSA miscalculated the centering and graded the card a PSA 8 the first time. The more experienced graders that grade at the National put it in a PSA 10.
Rick Probstein deserves an apology from whoever accused Rick of being in cahoots with me for me to buy an undergraded card and resell it through him after regrading. This is so ridiculous. Rick is just like any other auction house. He makes a living from getting consignments. His job is to get the most money he can for the cards that are consigned to him. It's not his job to tell the consignor to tell him that his card may upgrade if resubmitted... there isn't an auction house on earth that would return the card to the consignor so he could resubmit it. To blame Rick for anything associated with upgrades is completely absurd.
Hopefully, this will help people understand that people who try to get upgrades on graded cards are not evil. Whoever enjoys following my every move, can put a scan as big as the moon of any one of my upgrades and I will stand behind that card and explain to any potential buyer why that card would be an excellent and legitimate addition to their collection. I don't feel that I have to explain any of my upgrades to anyone else.
I have a lot of good friends and colleagues in the industry that got a couple good laughs over these threads at my expense because the attacks were just so outrageous and ridiculous. But the attacks started to get personal and that's where I have to draw the line. My reputation as an honest, hard-working, innovative, knowledgeable and reputable sportscard dealer is very important to me. I can't stress enough that I stand behind every single card that I have ever graded and sold.
I also noticed that there is a lot of joking around. One guy wrote my name 10 times in a post after Leon said I requested my name be removed from a personal attack... It seems like a lot of you want to press people's buttons, and you feel like you can say anything you want while acting as judge and jury. This was evident when the guy agreed to change the title of his personal attack on me if I agreed to respond. Well guy, you accomplished what you wanted to accomplish by calling me a disgrace to the hobby. That was something that I didn't deserve and something that I don't deserve more of going forward. I have a long resume of accomplishments in the sportscard industry. I have hundreds of long-time customers that enjoy buying from me and selling to me. I have made a countless number of friends that are big names and small names in the industry that respect me as a reputable sportscard dealer.
I really don't feel that I need to further explain or defend anything that I've ever done in the sportscard industry.
I have not contacted a lawyer and I hope to not have to contact a lawyer, but my reputation is my most valuable asset. Going forward, I want to make it very clear that any personal attacks with my name in it will be forwarded to my lawyer. Hopefully, the fellow dealers and collectors of this board, will refrain from personal attacks going forward since I held up my end of the terms of the deal I made with Leon to respond. And Leon, you're welcome for all the extra hits to your site at my expense again. Respectfully, J.Pankiewicz
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