Paper Policeman, Help!

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Posted By: warshawlaw

If the members of this board seem arrogant to uninformed lurkers, it is only because of the depth of knowledge they possess regarding vintage cards, the degree to which they value their hobby, and the corresponding degree of disgust they feel when charlatans and hustlers masquerading as card dealers prey on the lack of knowledge of the general buying public in the name of that hobby. Every one of the worthless paper cut outs that Roy and his crew are creating by hacking up books has the potential of driving a new collector away from vintage card collecting or disappointing a gift recipient. These cut outs have no market value apart from the initial payment made to acquire them and rely solely on the ignorance of the initial purchaser. Is it fraudulent to list these cut outs on ebay? Probably not given the current subtleties in the descriptions used. However, the more important, and subtle, point that you gloss over is that the paper cut outs in question are being listed in the pre-1930 graded baseball trading card category. While the items in question may be pre-1930 and graded, they are emphatically not baseball trading cards. They were never issued as baseball cards or issued with the intent of being cut up to make cards (as were the strip cards), they are not recognized by any of the standard trade catalogues or institutions as cards, and simply they do not belong in the baseball card listings. That they are repeatedly placed there despite the complaints of the members of this board and many others shows the fraudulent intent of the listers, who undoubtedly hope to suggest to the more gullible members of the public that the cut outs are cards. The fact that a close, careful reading of the listing lets the reader know that the items are not cards does not make up for the intentional misclassification of the items in the first place. They are a con and anyone who defends the placement of them into the vintage card listings is either oblivious to fact or is an apologist for the charlatans.

The little pieces of paper we all collect have a 100+ year history and a collecting tradition that goes back 70 years, with established norms, markets and definitions, just like numismatics or philately, as anyone with any degree of experience in the hobby well knows. As far as this "Card Twit" goes, I suggest that you establish your credibility and your bona fides in the hobby before attacking the motives of the people on this board; as was once said, it is better for people to suspect you are ignorant than for you to open your mouth and remove all doubts.