BRSZ - ebay seller

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Posted By: Judge Dred (Fred)

Below is an email I received from Broadway Ricks Strike Zone. I'm not sure how many others have received this or not. The reason I'm posting this is because I know that there are a lot of people that have dealt with BRSZ in the past and may want to comment on this so that people that don't know BRSZ and received the same email can make an informed decision on whether or not to participate in the auction that is mentioned in the email.



Dear Customer,

For years, Strike Zone has been one of the leading sports and Americana
memorabilia dealers in the country. We are proud to announce that our 52nd
auction is now live! The auction contains 315 of the freshest lots ever seen
in the hobby including 98 baseball lots, 88 football lots, 43 hockey lots,
24 basketball lots, 22 golf lots, 8 miscellaneous sports lots, and 32
Americana lots. Jerseys, movie posters, signed balls & bats, stadium seat,
signed photos, celebrity clothing, and much more! There is truly something
for everyone!

Visit www.strikezoneauctions.com to register and bid or contact us at (800)
344-9103 or brsz@mindspring.com to request our 36 page, full color catalog.

The auction runs through August 26th at 10:00 PM EST. Don’t miss out on
these great items!

Thank you,
Rick Kohl
Strike Zone
www.strikezoneauctions.com
(800) 344-9103

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Posted By: DJ

I received this e-mail as well just now.

Don't know why we are helping him promote this auction by making a mention, especially since this is a sports and autograph auction and only one item (a lot of graded Goud's) in the auction fits this category.

Something tells me that this is going to be a pile up of adoration for Mr. Kohl.

DJ

edited: "adoration"

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Posted By: john/z28jd

If you think this thread will promote adoration for Rick,just stay tuned DJ.I think youre in for quite a surprise

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Posted By: jay behrens

For those that don't know, BSRZ is the scumbag that that got busted for shilling his own auctions and exposes were done on MSNBC and other networks. Sadly, eBay found no compelling evidence of shill bidding even though one of the accounts that bid on BSRZ's auctions had the same exact contact info as BSRZ.

He sells trimmed cards without disclosing it in hopes that you will you not notice or won't complain. I had to raise holy hell before I got a refund for the trimmed m116s he sold. He even to me about the fact that the m116s came from Rob Lifson's personal collection.

Jay

My place is full of valuable, worthless junk.

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Posted By: DJ

John,

I meant to put adoration in quotes John. I'm well aware of Mr. Kohl's business practices.

Let the pile on begin....

DJ

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Posted By: dennis

is shilling allowed in the rules for strikzones auctions?

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Posted By: john/z28jd

DJ

I meant to put "stay tuned" in quotation marks.I dont know why tho.

John

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Posted By: Judge Dred (Fred)

DJ,

This wasn't a thread to "promote" the auction. Please read the initial post carefully.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

In my opinion, he is one of the biggest a-holes in the business. Having been caught shilling on ebay, does anyone think for a moment that the auction he runs will be on the level? I sure don't think so. If you are dumb enough to bid in his auction, just remember the old adage: cheat me once, shame on you, cheat me twice, shame on me.

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Posted By: andy becker

dennis, shilling is not only allowed....it is required.
read adam's review of broadway rick in an early vcbc.
if you bid (it better be some pretty rare material) and you best be willing to pay your highest bid.

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Posted By: leon

Don't walk but RUN the other way. One of the worst deals I ever did was with him. Took months and lot's of money to get my refund from a bad card he sold. I would absolutely discourage anyone from bidding in his auctions or doing business with his company. He is what gives the hobby a bad name. I took a flier from some big young kid promoting his crap auctions, at the National, and threw it away immediately right in front of him...without saying a word..and walked away.

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Posted By: DJ

(sigh)



Leon, don't sugar coat how you feel, I mean really...let it out. It's not good to hold things in.

I too had issues with a piece I purchased from Rick three years ago. I will never purchase from him again either.

Just thought that a mention of the up coming auction may get people to cross over and lurk on the site regardless of all the negative chit-chat. My bad if I misread the attention of the thread.

Thanks,

DJ

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Posted By: Peter Spaeth

I guess my experience was not representative, but I won a PSA 9 National Game Joe Jackson in one of his auctions a number of years ago for significantly less than the "top all" bid I had left.

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Posted By: leon

As mentioned he was caught red handed shilling and it was a national media event. Everyone makes mistakes. Losers don't learn. I doubt he has.....

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Posted By: MW

I once sold Rick a group of high-grade tobacco cards and was paid promptly. Never had a problem with him.

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Posted By: Jerry

I bought some very nice trimmed T205s from BRick years ago. He has some of the nicest trimmed cards on the market. His trimmed cards will make a nice addition to anyone's trimmed collection.

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Posted By: DJ

Speak of the devil...not card related but "Breaking News" (and we like to talk about Ali in the Forum)

Muhammad Ali has settled a lawsuit against several sports collectibles dealers to block the sale of artwork and other memorabilia relating to the former heavyweight champion, including a Koran given to him by the former president of Egypt.

An injunction issued after the lawsuit was filed in 2003 had prevented the sale of hundreds of lithographs which bore forged Ali signatures, along with other items, Ali's attorney, Ron DiNicola, said Thursday in a statement.

The lithographs were copies of an artists rendering of Ali's knockout of Sonny Liston in 1965. Handwriting and memorabilia experts determined that the signatures on the lithographs were forged, the statement said.

Ali also inspected the items and confirmed that he had not signed them. All the items were offered for sale without his knowledge or permission.

Named in the suit, and included in the settlement, were Grey Flannel Auctions, Inc. and B&E Collectibles, Inc., of New York;
and Broadway Ricks Strike Zone, Inc., of Florida.

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=6&click_id=21&art_id=qw1123226461735S163

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Posted By: Jim Clarke

Wow! I never knew he was that bad? I guess he ranks up there with Al Rosen, Alan Hager, and Nick Pavletic.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

As far as I know he's never done anything like BRSZ. Being an obnoxious ass is not equivalent to cheating bidders, selling forgeries and trimmed cards, etc.

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Posted By: jay behrens

Adam, very true. Rosen may be an obnoxious arse, but I'mnot aware of him doing anything as bad as BSRZ, Hagar, etc

Jay

My place is full of valuable, worthless junk.

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Posted By: Scott Elkins

The only raw card I ever purchased from Broadway Rick was an M116 Pastel Cobb. The card was advertised as EX/MT and came back graded an EX 5 (which I thought was correct). I was pleased with the transaction, especially since I was able to get it at a great price b/c of his reputation of selling trimmed cards.

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Posted By: scott

I purchased a Ramly Keeler from this DIRT BAG that I sent in to be graded. It came back trimmed. After threating him with Postal Fraud he returned my money. The following month he placed the card in one of his auctions and NEVER said the card was trimmed. So... some other unfortunate collector got ripped off by this A-hole. Stay clear of him. He's right up there with Mr.Festberg in my book.

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Posted By: BcDaniels

and every card I ever bought from him is now the highest grade known version of whatever Caramel card it was now certified in a PSA holder?

The real lowlife of lowlifes was a buddy of his who ran an auction then filed for bankruptcy NOT paying a bunch of people who sold stuff through his black and white catalog ( it was supposed to be in color) and many of the cards I placed in it had NO photos at all. The fact that those two were pals always caused me to scratch my head but I never had any issue with Rick.

Hope you guys know who I am referring to.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

Just received an email from BRSZ addressed to "Dear Sir" (so I think it was a mass email and I don't mind sharing it here) purporting to apologize for his past indiscretions. Unfortunately, the explanation of the shill bidding is indicative of deep problems and profound denial:

"Regarding the shill bidding, I was contacted by a newspaper and instead of speaking to them off the record as most would, I told them the hard facts. I had listed a piece that I had forgotten to put a reserve bid on. I was not trying to increase the bid to make money but merely to cover the cost of the item so that I would not lose money. I realized that I made a mistake and have never done it again."

How is this false? Let me count the ways:

1. It was not one piece, it was multiple lots. I found several.

2. When outed, BRSZ changed to a private auction format and went on the attack against his detractors until the news article surfaced quoting him.

3. The mistake was never rectified with the people he cheated. As far as I know, the one successful bidder who overpaid for his set was not reimbursed nor were the people cheated out of their auction wins by the shilling permitted to buy the cards for their last true bids.

4. The newspaper was not the basis for the uproar; I found the info on ebay itself after another N54 member outed the first of the shilling efforts and wrote a VCBC article on it.

We have BRSZ's reassurance that there won't be any shilling in his auction. As Dr. Evil might say: "Riiiiiight"

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Posted By: Aaron M.

The Ali article also makes mention of B&E Collectibles. Speaking of which, they are still NARU'd despite their claim that the matter was a misunderstanding that would be cleared up shortly. In the meantime, I received my item quickly and in great shape.

Anyone have a clue what their status is?

Aaron
http://aaronsroom.blogspot.com/

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Posted By: jay behrens

Adam, I got the same email as you. I sent a message telling them what a joke that email was and pointed all the things that they omiited or lied about in the message they sent. I also told them that that was not the only reason I disliked them, but also because of the one time I bought something from them and was treated poorly when they were confronted with the fact they sold a trimmed card and then tried cover up it with lies before finally refunding my money. Will be interesting to see if they respond.

I got a canned response, here it is, lol

I apologize for this automatic reply to your email.

To control spam, I now allow incoming messages only from senders I have approved beforehand.

If you would like to be added to my list of approved senders, please fill out the short request form (see link below). Once I approve you, I will receive your original message in my inbox. You do not need to resend your message. I apologize for this one-time inconvenience.


Jay

My place is full of valuable, worthless junk.

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Posted By: jay behrens

It jsut dawned on me that the canned "protection from spam" response is quite hillarious given the fact that he is the one that sent us email. You'd think we would be able to get through if he emailed us first

Jay

My place is full of valuable, worthless junk.

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Posted By: Nick

Does he have any Monte Irvin memorabilia in the auction?

Nick

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Posted By: Anonymous

Hi everyone, I see how bad and untrustworthy he is on cards, trimming them and not disclosing that, and shill bidding.

On some of the autographs, he says PSA/DNA or James Spence LOAs --- I don't mind placing a straight bid for the max amount I would pay, and then win at that amount.

Anyone have any dealings with him buying PSA/DNA or Spence approved autographs?? Any stories of caution? He does accept credit cards, which most scammers would not do either.

Thanks in advance!

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Posted By: DJ

Autocollector,

I have purchased a couple signed pieces without problems with PSA/DNA LOA's from Broadway Rick without problems. I don't think you should have a problem in that area. Also be aware that this is basically a Baseball Card site and autograph chat sometimes make the cardboard faithful shiver a bit.

DJ

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Posted By: Ken Rioli

Yes, I understand that auto talk can be bad --- probably chose the wrong screen name here huh?

I collect both, but have enjoyed the signed stuff more as of late. My collection includes over 40 cards with SMRs higher than $5,000 --- but I don't see a challenge in the cardboard anymore and I am not trying to compete with Branca. Pretty interesting to hear everyone's views here on the cards though. I remember buying my first Mantle 52 Topps (then raw but gorgeous, ended up grading a PSA 8) for $8,000 some years back and my wife was going to kill me. Now I regret selling it for $40K !!!

Thanks again for the help!

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Posted By: DJ

"but I don't see a challenge in the cardboard anymore"

and autographs are a challenge?

C'mon, the collecting spectrum in the baseball card world is seemingless endless!

DJ

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Posted By: Ken Rioli

Uh oh, did I start a snowball with that comment? Only kidding.

Well, see, for HOF autographs, the challenge is discovering the stuff. I have waited many years for certain HOF autographs to surface -- for example, Oscar Charleston (PSA SMR lists a 3 by 5 at $4,500 -- triple that of Ruth --- and "Unknown" for his signature on anything else). There is a challenge in just finding that stuff and waiting for it to appear.

For cards, I feel as long as the cash is there, one can get whatever I want. It's a monetary game. With a certain amount of money, how do I spend it, what sets do I build? But I find that now, it's a matter of saying, can I upgrade the PSA 8 Goudey Gehrig of mine to the PSA 9 in Goodwin's auction. Not a challenge at all, just a money issue. An money related limitations/challenges aren't "fun" like actually trying to discover new signatures --- like the board member did with the Cy Young signed piece. Just my take!

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Posted By: DJ

Are you serious?

"challenge is discovering the stuff".

Discovering it? I assume with the cards you have that you have $$$. So how is it discovering it if you are just going to pay Mastro big dollars for when it comes up for auction unless you are knocking on doors hoping to be the originator of the "find". There are about as many T210 Casey Stengel's as there are Oscar Charleston autographs out there...and both will set you back about $6K.

"For cards, I feel as long as the cash is there, one can get whatever I want".

Um, yeah, that's not true at all. How about collector's who search for Peck and Snyder's? e107's? Cullivan's? Lone Jacks? D359's? T206 Uzit backs? SF Hess's? Just So's? Kalamazoo's? G and B's? Some cards are so hard, they are "myths". Sure 1952 Topps and Goudey's are easy, but I think people who find the formentioned to be the "Holy Grail" will disagree as well.

I'm not against autographs at all. I have a fine collection (Mathewson check, ten page Cobb letter, 1930 Yankees ball etc.), but I have a feeling that this Forum isn't exactly catered to you.

DJ

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Posted By: Ken Rioli

I never thought a prerequisite to join the forum was that it is catered to me You make a good point about the discovery process of the T210 Stengel --- and you are right that it's as rare as Charleston, but the $6K set back? I will gladly pay $6K for Charleston on a ball, and for that Stengel --- too bad they will both set me back like $30K as the T210 Stengel got in the latest Goodwin.

And for the Uzit backs and other rare cards, at the end of the day, they are fun since they are rare. Having them doesn't make me feel any closer to the player. The autographs to me feel like I have something personal of that player which connects me to that player. I don't feel that way any more with cards. After getting a Cobb with Cobb back and the 1914 Mathewson CJ, I just felt this inner "I'm done with this" -- I don't think I will ever get that with the autos, mainly since finding that single signed Foster, Mathewson, Stearnes, and Gibson balls elude me and may will until I die.

Mind you, I love cards, and am still interested in hearing what other collectors say, especially those collecting with the passion I used to and collecting cards I used to own This board is pretty interesting for that!

But don't you make some room for extra card purchases --- interested in selling the Mathewson check or the 1930 Yanks ball?

[CharleyBrown]

Hate to bump a thread from 7 years ago lol, but has anybody dealt with this guy since then... particularly with cards? I am interested in knowing if he's still selling trimmed raw cards, or if he's come clean?

[tbob]

I quit buying cards from him years ago because of problems with conditions, possible trimming and turn around times but recently bought a few from him on ebay and had no problem with the cards or the customer service.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by CharleyBrown

Hate to bump a thread from 7 years ago lol, but has anybody dealt with this guy since then... particularly with cards? I am interested in knowing if he's still selling trimmed raw cards, or if he's come clean?

His biggest issue was (admittedly) shilling his own auctions. I have bought from him in the last year or two, from ebay, and had no issues.

[CharleyBrown]

Thanks for the feedback. I guess I'll give him a shot.

[Jay Wolt]

Actually I won a lot from him a couple of weeks ago. It was a Buy It Now "best offer" on an inexpensive Hall Of Famer check.
So I set the price, paid instantly and rec'd it a couple of days later.
A smooth transaction.

[GregMitch34]

Is BRSZ any relation to eBay seller brsz-2?

[HRBAKER]

Originally Posted by GregMitch34

Is BRSZ any relation to eBay seller brsz-2?

The BRSZ Group