Blast from the past...

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Posted By: Lee Behrens

Here is the pesponse I received:

Lee,
Thank you for your interest. Difficult question, difficult card. Pro is
SUPPOSED to be a Professional operation. I think we ALL know just what Pro
really is. Iffy, chancy stuff with the fact being that if a card had been slabbed
by Pro, odds are that SGC and PSA won't slab it. Pro is one step above NASA
and AAA in that Pro at least grades REAL cards, but Pro itself is many steps
below SGC and PSA.
I still see MANY trimmed and bleached cards in PSA holders, but I can't
say that I've ever seen a blatantly processed card in an SGC holder.
With Pro, I see an extremely high rate of processed cards, slabbed. The
most common alteration being trimming, followed by re-backing, in-painting,
bleaching/cleaning.
That leads us to this Jax. I bought the card already Pro slabbed for
$8900 CASH. Had just started buying cards and didn't know any better (stick with
SGC/PSA). I was smart enough to MEASURE the card and bring a few E90-1s for
comparison and louped them and the Jax.
I saw, and still don't see, any detectible differences between this Jax
and any other E90-1 with respect to paper stock, thickness, texture, color,
dot pattern, etc., both front and back. The cards I brought for comparison and
still can compare against were all VG/Ex'ish with evenly rounded corners (so I
could compare size on cards that sized by the ruler/guide specs that I KNEW
were not trimmed). The Jax is equal to the LARGEST of the E90-1s that I can
compare it to across BOTH dimensions so I am CERTAIN that it is not trimmed. The
portraiture is exactly the same dimensions as another G/VG Jax that I compared
it to (about a year later) that was PSA slabbed, so the card cannot be
STRETCHED, then trimmed. Having had other E90-1 cards over the past 3 years for
comparison, I cannot possibly fathom the card being some kind of construct or
reprint (as I've heard tales of).
Back to Pro. I know they're S**T, but I DO believe in the card as much
as anyone can believe in something raw. I started the bid at $4900 and change
($4000 less than I paid). The card, technically, is "graded". Whether the
company is professional, semi-professional, or un-professional. If someone is
willing to crack it out and take a chance on submission to SGC or PSA, and SCORES,
God-Bless. BUT, I don't want it back if they DON'T score. Just like I
wouldn't expect a casino to give me back my bet if I lost a big hand of Blackjack.
They're basically taking $4000 less of a chance on it being a $20,000 card than
I did 3.5 years ago!! I'm not a gambling man. I have no luck for it. If they
buy it and DON'T resubmit it, they're getting a beautiful card anyway, although
Pro graded, and paying a fraction of what it would command if SGCed. Either
way, I'm taking a $4000 hit in the teeth on it if it auctions (which of course
it may not).

Respectfully, -Richard


I always find it generous that people are willing to lose money for me.