Brothers Battles--
Full credit for coming on to state your case. I think this is understandably fascinating to a lot of us on Net54, as Battlefield/War_Eagle_Vintage had become a bit of a punchline on here and elsewhere.
Although I won't consider bidding in the auction, I'm interested to see how the first round goes for folks on here who will hopefully report back their experiences.
Couple of points here, and that's it:
--Ungraded cards of the caliber you have up for auction are very unusual to see these days. We're well past the advent of TPG's, and grading is now the standard way for collectors to protect themselves.
I think it's jarring for most of us to see this caliber of raw cards at auction, and understandably would make us suspicious even a neutral situation.
--However, we are not in a neutral situation. You not only have a good amount of Battlefield's inventory in your auction, but they are your *Family*.
You couldn't have disavowed Battlefield's actions any more strongly but, in the end, those are words. And they are words from an interested party who presumably has tens of thousands of dollars on the line with a current auction running.
And the counterpoint to that is that your direct Family members operated Battlefield for years, the most notorious vintage card operation on eBay.
I genuinely am not trying to be personal, but why persist in the vintage sports collectibles arena with this sort of history??
--Although there were certainly issues with Battlefield's product being trimmed, the bigger issue was the truly impressive manipulation and photoshopping of cards.
Ultimately a buyer ended up with a lesser card than expected, and then had to weigh the trouble of returning once in-hand, or simply just take the path of least resistance and keep it.
Would you be willing to guarantee that no scans have been enhanced or altered in any of your listings, now and in future? That and a return policy for ungradeable cards via TPG's would go a long way.
--Finally, just out of curiosity, with both of your experience in the collecting world, are there maybe some Dealers/Buyers you've had great associations with in the past? Feel free to name-drop.
It's a small community, and for folks who are deeply involved it's hard not to meet others in that circle and make an impression, one way or the other.
If you are truly trying to correct the wrongs of your Family, then I think that's extraordinarily commendable and I will wish you luck.
If this is something less honorable, then it won't escape criticism. Misbehavior with an Auction House doesn't offer the eBay remediation route, just the regular old Court system.
And again, I honestly wish you a lot of luck if things are 100% as you say. I try to be an optimist wherever possible, and hope for the good sense to stop just short of being a fool.
