Two hour interview with.... Bill Mastro

[Fred]

Originally Posted by Brent G.

So has this card smashing been going on for a long time or recent phenomenon?

What do you mean by "card smashing"? Are you referring to all the discussion about how the very first card graded by PSA was subjectively given a NUMERICAL grade?

If so, then the observation is that you've somehow missed out on MANY threads that regurgitate the disgust at PSA for not doing what they were set out to do in the first place. TPGs are supposed to provide an honest unbiased opinion about the condition of a card that's to be slabbed.

The very first card that PSA encapsulated is a fraud. PSA has rejected MANY cards as being altered and has not provided numerical grades to what they determine is a trimmed card.

TPGs are supposed to protect the collecting public from these shams by not encapsulating trimmed cards with NUMERICAL grades. For example, look at the price of a PSA8 T206 common and then look at the price of a trimmed (nice looking) PSA-A graded T206 common. Not to mention a T206 Wagner.

This "hobby" has boiled down to being driven by $$$ based on these grades. Soooooo... go back to the beginning of this semi-rant and you should begin to understand this not a recent phenomenon. The topic of so many trimmed encapsulated cards is also not a new phenomenon.