Broadway Rick

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Posted By: jamie

No, you make the pretence of making every effort by employing someone who will authenticate anything you put in front of him. You rely on these flimsy pieces of paper when you sell items and refuse refunds when they don't hold their weight. I posted over a dozen links to people who have had issues with game used items you've sold. I can find another 100 if I hit a few more message boards I frequent. That's not an isolated problem- it's an epidemic. Your humble posts are another ploy to maintain what few customers you haven't duped yet.

Take a page out of REA's policy.

"You will never ever see Lou Lampson's name as an authenticator in a Robert Edward Auctions catalog. Lou might be a very nice guy, and I have met him and he has always been very pleasant, but I personally do not have confidence in his abilities as an authenticator. This is just my personal opinion. Lou used to live just a few minutes away from REA. I even ran into him at the deli a couple of times. Very pleasant fellow. The last time I saw him I think he ordered a cinnamon-and-raisin bagel with cream cheese. I respect his opinion about bagels. I ordered the same and was very happy. But I'm not as enthusiastic about his opinions on jerseys. Even living so close, literally five minutes away, it would have never dawned on me to consider having Lou Lampson do our uniform authentication. I'd rather have my grandmother do it. This is just my opinion and I know that some auction houses, and presumably some collectors (though I do not know them) have great confidence in Mr. Lampson's abilities. If ever a bidder was interested in a jersey at REA and they were not satisfied with the authentication work by MEARS and wanted Lou Lampson (or any one else) to look at it for a second opinion, by all means we would be happy to cooperate in any reasonable manner. This hasn't happened yet. To me it is very interesting that so many of the auction houses that use Lou Lampson's services own the items that Lou Lampson is authenticating for them and that they are offering. I don't know the significance of this, but it is interesting. I'm not saying Lou Lampson is wrong all the time. I'm sure he's been right many times. But when there is an issue with a Lou Lampson authentication, well, he's not exactly the easiest guy to reach. I don't even know if it's possible to contact him. In contrast, when there's an issue with a MEARS authentication, the communication and options that are available to collectors is tremendous. I do understand that Lou Lampson's authentication rates are extremely reasonable, but there's an old saying: you get what you pay for. The modest cost, the quality of his authentication services, and his inaccessibility may serve the purposes of some auction houses well but I don't think it's very good for collectors. "

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Posted By: Anonymous

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Posted By: Rick

DR

The main reason for the name thing is this.. Which im sure you will doubt. If you notice there are MANY things listed there, not just sports cards. Guitars, Toys, etc etc. I am partner in that venture with another gentleman (also named Rick), so we decided to put neither name in there and just put something that was a "play on words", that simple.

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Posted By: Jerry

Your Feedback speaks for itself
nuff said

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Posted By: leon

As I said I am pretty much done with the topic. I do know who DR is and he is a known board member. Regardless of anything I will not let any anonymous posters throw jabs.....You really might consider looking at the way you do business in the future as something is not working out too well with respect to your ebay feedbacks.....take care

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Posted By: Sean C

Beyond the shill bidding story, beyond the issues others may have had with cards purchased through you, I have been unwilling to deal with you since reading this story regarding what happend with Monte Irvin back in 2003:

http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/sports/2003/05/11/2003-05-11_torborg_faces_fish_hook.html

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Posted By: Rob Dewolf

Sean,

Thanks for posting that. Ever since this thread was started, I was trying to remember the Hall of Famer in this story and whether it was Broadway Rick who was involved. I was pretty sure it was but came up empty on Google searches.

Can't wait to see the tap dancing and excuses that are sure to follow.

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Posted By: Sean C

I was certain of the parties involved, but have spent the past couple of days trying to find a link to the story (too many damn results for the Broadway strike from last year showed up in my searches) before bringing it up here.

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Posted By: Matt

Sean - thanks for knowing the parties involved and digging up the link. Just a tip - In the future, if you put "strike zone" in quotations marks when you search you'll avoid results to the broadway strike. A google search for Monte Irvin Broadway "Strike zone" shows the link you found as the 4th result.

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Posted By: Steve

That's one sad article. The poor soul struggles, even with one foot in the grave. What other easy old sap got swindled?.. Good goin' Rick

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Posted By: Brian

Joshua Evans did the right thing. Impressive.

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Posted By: Matt

Josh Evans did more then the right thing - eating $10k is going WAY above and beyond.

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Posted By: scott

I had two encounters with this dealer both being negitive. Trimmed Ramly and a trimmed Matty T206. I hope never to have the pleasure of buying from him. Even after he took the Ramly back he placed it in another auction and didn't discribe it as being trimmed. I have a signed Ruth check from him and frankly speaking I'm afraid to send it in to confirm its the real deal.
BAD NEWS.........BAD NEWS One of the old time un-trustworthy dealers in the hobby that helped establish the need for grading companies. I guess PSA should send him yearly thank you cards.

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Posted By: Andy

edited for anonymity (leon)_.....

Andy- you have to put your full name out here if you want to comment. Nothing personal...I know everyone else in this thread by their handles.....take care....

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Posted By: J Levine

Rick, do you have a father? Is he older? Is he in declining health? Is his mental capacity declining? Does he have anything valuable in his house?

If the answers are yes to the questions above, I would think long and hard the next time you are in someone else's house trying to make a quick buck.

People who take advantage of the old, young, or infirm are the scum of the universe in my opinion.

Joshua

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

WOW! How do you answer to that? Kudos to Leland's and shame on Rick Kohl. I'm guessing we've seen the last of Rick in this thread.

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Posted By: Rich Wetherbee

"If you look at the negatives, most are from issues that could have simply been avoided with a phone call. Unfortunately when you sell 400+ items a week, you get almost 1,000 emails a day. If you don't respond to someone's email 2 minutes after they wrote it, some are quick to leave you a negative."

I am generally a lurker on this board and a very occasional contributor, but this comment forced me to respond. I average roughly 100+ items per week on ebay as a seller. Using Broadway math, I should be receiving 250+ emails per week. I receive generally 10-12 per week, and half of those are, "Can you end the auction early" requests. Enough with the exaggerations. If your number is even remotely close to being true, try additional photos or more succinct descriptions. Bottom line: It's not a boatload of work to maintain great feedback. You treat your customers the way you expect to be treated.

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Posted By: howard

Great move by Mr. Evans but did he really eat the whole $10K? Seems like Mr. Irvin should have at least turned over the 2K he received from Broadway Rick.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Did he give him $2,000 for just the plaque or was it the whole pile of stuff he pilfered in the house?

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Posted By: Sean C

Guess we'll have to wait until Rick responds to find out. The ball is in your court, Rick.

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Posted By: Bill

BRSZ.....I cant wait to see the "spin" you put on this.

SCUM and we wonder why dealers get a bad rap???

I'm sure glad most dont need to make a buck that bad.

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Posted By: Rob Dewolf

Just thought it was worth noting that it has been more than 24 hours, and the silence from Broadway Rick continues to be deafening.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

C'mon Rob, if you posted 400 auctions on ebay every week you wouldn't have time to spend in this chatroom either.

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Posted By: Rob Dewolf

Good point, Dan. Not to mention the 1,000 e-mails those 400 auctions generate.

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Are you midwesterners employing sarcasm?

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Posted By: Rob Dewolf

I'm the Midwest's distributor, Jeff, according to my wife.

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Posted By: 1880nonsports

- but u then owe my wife for the rights - as she invented it...

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Posted By: Al Simeone

Jeff,
Dont forget us Eastcoasters can dish up a good dose of sarcasm!!! I dont know about, Leon you know how strange those forum owners are!!! Ah sarcasm 101!!!!!!!

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Posted By: leon

edited my sarcasm out...no need to pile on. Kind of like calling an ambulance to a funeral....

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Posted By: Sean C

It's been a few days, and there have been no responses here or via email. Anybody get one?

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Posted By: boxingcardman

waiting for a response

Sic Gorgiamus Allos Subjectatos Nunc

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Posted By: Steve

I do not think Rick wants to discuss his scam of Monte Irvin like he explained away his shilling and pee poor Ebay feedback.

JMO

Steve

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Posted By: Lance

I have had only 1 deal with Rick and the card was returned and I recieved a full refund. It looks as though he is trying a little harder with his descriptions. Just giving credit where it's due.

http://tinyurl.com/2krwrv

Most scamers would be selling these as EX-NM cards.

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

Once again....I am prescient!

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Posted By: Paul S

Re Lance's above link and the description Rick provided
"...As you can imagine with such a large set, and collecting being what it use to be (Pre grading days) some of the cards came back as colored or trimmed from SGC.

What? Trimming and coloring are not done in these current grading days?

BTW, I've stayed out of this thread since I've never done business with Rick, but that Irvin story is just so disgusting you could cry over it were it not for how it eventually ended.

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Posted By: paulstratton

More like Broadway D*ck. How can you sleep at night? I've purchased a few things from him with no problems, but after reading that Monte Irvin piece I don't think I want them anymore. I wonder how many older people this clown has swindled in his time? I hope that Karma boomerang hits you square in the forehead Rick.

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Posted By: B.C.Daniels

I am with Dan Koteles above.
I have a bunch of the highest graded E-92's known and got them on "approval"
without pay from you (Rick),for several years if you recall @ $200 a piece and loved it/them. I kept some for weeks before paying you and you were cool with it for thousands of dollars even in 1990 or so. Now you did make me pay you 2k just to find Dan Knolls when I wanted more Tango Egg cards but it's all good because Dan not only repaid me your "finders fee" but also sent me 2 free cards worth over 4k now just to make me feel better! If not for you gripping my wallet so tight I'd not have a Psa 8 Weaver and Psa 7 Collins for free! . You even sent me two books to read which I did and we talked about them if you recall! just stay clear of your old pal from Beverley Hills and all is good by me! I have piles of receipts from you and never had a problem but that was way before e-bay and big dollar card dealings.



BcD

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Posted By: Rick Kohl

Here is my side of the Monte Irvin story.

Yes I did go Monte Irvin's house and bought some items from him.

Monte had a lot of items displayed on his walls and his HOF plaque was NOT one of them I did ask about it and to quote Monte from the article “When he finally found it in my closet, he tossed it on the pile of all the other stuff”.

The HOF plaque, which was bought for $2000, was sold to Joe Esposito (B&E) for $4000. I made $2000 on the deal and thought I was done with it. Joe then sold the plaque to Josh for $10,000. You have to remember, this isn’t like having a ’62 Koufax PSA 7. Often times in the memorabilia market there is only 1 of an item and it is much harder to put a value on it. If I had known it was worth $10,000. 1- I would have given Monte more then $2000 for it and 2- I would have certainly sold it for more then $4,000.

After I sold the plaque, it was the last I heard of it until the article was printed. I was never called to comment on it or get my side of the story. When I read it, I was upset at how I was portrayed and I called Josh. The article makes it look like I sold the item to Josh directly and made a “kings random” on it, both of which are untrue.

Essentially what Josh conveyed to me during that conversation was that the HOF, Joe Morgan, and Irvin were coming down hard on him to return it and he felt like he would have received a ton of negative press if he didn’t return it. He then decided to “get $10,000 worth of press” by basically throwing me under the bus.

As a footnote, AFTER this article came out, Monte himself called me not once, but TWICE to buy a few misc. items, and I declined.

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Posted By: Al C.risafulli

Some random kings:

King Solomon:

The King of Hearts:

The Burger King:

-Al

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Posted By: Matt

Rick - for the sake of clarity - the article made it seem like you paid Irvin $2k for the whole pile yet you just claimed the $2k was for just the plaque - which is correct?

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Posted By: Aaron Conyers

Rick,

Did you not receive my e-mail? Curious if you are going to respond.

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Posted By: Al Simeone

It now looks like we will have to get Josh Evans side of the story if he bought it from you or Joe. Stay tuned Im sure there is more to come.
Josh care to comment?

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Posted By: Dan Bretta

If this is true then why didn't you sue for libel? Obviously this has hurt your standing in the community.

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Posted By: Jason L

I just peeked into this thread, and now I wish I hadn't.
This all just makes me want to find another hobby...again. Feels like 1987 all over again

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Posted By: barrysloate

I agree it might be counterproductive to continue this thread. I don't know Rick and never had any dealings with him, but it is clear that whatever story surfaces, Rick seems to offer a much different side to it. So I think this will just drag on without a resolution.

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Posted By: Steve

Joe Esposito (B&E)


Oh lord, another blast from my past i'd rather forget about.


Steve

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Posted By: micah

My two cents...I have had several deals with Joe Esposito and he has been more than honorable. I had one deal with Rick Kohl and he was honorable as well. I purchased a Goose Goslin baseball from him at a show many years ago. A year or so later, the authenticity was questioned by Jimmy Spence. Even though I never asked for a refund, Rick suggested it. I accepted a full refund from him over a year after the sale. I felt he did not have to do this and was impressed with his ethics on that deal. As for the 10,000 value on the HOF plaque..... I sold via ebay 4 years ago Bill Dickey's HOF plaque and it only fetched 5800. I think Dickey is a bigger name than Irvin.

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Posted By: leon

email me privately...
thanks
leon aka moderator

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Posted By: micah

Leon-How do i email you privately? Sorry I dont know!

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Posted By: Dave F

leonl@flash.net