Joseph M Pankiewicz, you are a disgrace to this hobby!

[Peter_Spaeth]

--

[Peter_Spaeth]

Barry there are all sorts of rationalizations people give for themselves.

1. I am careful, I can avoid or minimize the problem. (mine)
2. It doesn't affect what I collect.
3. The problem isn't nearly as widespread as the conspiracy theorists claim.
4. It's all speculation, there is no proof.
5. TPGs do well by my submissions therefore I trust them.
6. I don't believe the conspiracy theories about inside jobs, favoritism, etc.
7. If it's in a holder it has a defined value so what difference does it make anyhow.
8. I just want to enjoy my hobby so I choose to avoid all the negativity.

[bobbyw8469]

They keep a list of the serial numbers of some high end cards that they intentionally undergrade and are candidates for doctoring. Maybe they graded a Goudey Ruth a 6 that should have been a 7. Now, they have someone monitor auctions. If a card on their list comes to auction, someone they know buys it. It gets doctored and magically becomes an 8. It is an 8 because THEY ARE THE ONES WHO GRADE IT! They undergraded it originally, purchase it, doctor it, grade it a second time, then consign it.

I have privately thought this as well. I have had cards come back real head scratchers on subs I did several years ago. One or two cards per sub would grade really low for the condition. Then when they started doling out half grades, I have had cards come back with the half grades when they should have been shoo-in's for at MINIMUM the next grade up. That made me think that maybe the half grades on cards were red flags for the graders to look at for undergraded cards. My last sub in particular, every single card seemed at least one grade too low. That being said, I believe this is a very plausible theory.

[barrysloate]

I agree Peter that it's a complicated issue with many answers. I also feel the only thing that can really defeat the card doctors is the marketplace. If people stopped buying their product, they would go away, and find another way to rip off the public, like stealing hub caps. But as long as their product is very marketable and in very high demand, they will continue with business as usual.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

I agree Peter that it's a complicated issue with many answers. I also feel the only thing that can really defeat the card doctors is the marketplace. If people stopped buying their product, they would go away, and find another way to rip off the public, like stealing hub caps. But as long as their product is very marketable and in very high demand, they will continue with business as usual.

People are not going to stop buying cards, for the reasons listed above, and others, and perhaps more importantly that many buyers aren't aware of the issue. The only thing that has potential to stop it in my opinion is the criminal justice system.

[barrysloate]

But the criminal justice system doesn't seem to want to get involved.

[D.P.Johnson]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

But the criminal justice system doesn't seem to want to get involved.

L.E. would get involved if enough people made a ruckus. They couldn't simply ignore it. It sounds like Leon has contact information for a lot of these people. All of these "contacts" have email addresses, telephone #'s, etc. where they can EASILY be contacted. Just because L.E. may occassionally monitor the board, doesn't mean they're necessarilly reading all of the threads. Thus, when one of these forgery and/or alteration issues shows up on here, someone could contact L.E. and point them in the direction of the appropriate thread.

[WhenItWasAHobby]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

I agree Peter that it's a complicated issue with many answers. I also feel the only thing that can really defeat the card doctors is the marketplace. If people stopped buying their product, they would go away, and find another way to rip off the public, like stealing hub caps. But as long as their product is very marketable and in very high demand, they will continue with business as usual.

How true and there lies the problem: the vast majority of the collectors either accept it and live with it and continue to spend a lot of money, while others deny there's even a problem.

I tried very hard to get at least 4 law enforcement agencies involved and there a lot of legal hurdles. One big problem is that people outside of the hobby just don't feel the weight of the problem since there aren't any industry standards of what constitutes card doctoring as fraud as opposed to "acceptable" cleaning or repairing such as flattening bent corners or removing wrinkles. The coin industry tried to roundup a bunch of coin doctors several years back and ran into this same type of problem.

But like anything if there is a strong commitment, law enforcement can do something about it and something needs be done since it pretty much goes unchecked and all indications are that it is widespread among a significant number of dealers and there's no doubt its a multimillion dollar industry. If several of these miscreants go down hard, I'm sure it will scare off many more.

[barrysloate]

You're right David. That Drysdale has an ugly print line on the back and really not even perfect corners. Maybe it's a nice 7. And Dan, as always, good points. Law enforcement probably has too high a hurdle, so the industry will have to take care of its own business, assuming enough people care. They very well may not.

[T206Collector]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

You're right David. That Drysdale has an ugly print line on the back and really not even perfect corners. Maybe it's a nice 7. And Dan, as always, good points. Law enforcement probably has too high a hurdle, so the industry will have to take care of its own business, assuming enough people care. They very well may not.

We can't even all agree that erasing a stray pencil mark isn't taboo. Or that soaking T206 cards to remove glue is okay. There is no universal standard. About the only thing everyone seems to agree on is trimming. And yet it's okay to cut strip cards by hand. The standard is a mess.

The only thing you have to "enforce" is what PSA and SGC "guarantee" to collectors. As long as they reasonably adhered to their guarantee, there is not much to complain about. You'd have to find proof of a conspiracy or illicit motive. Very hard to do behind the veil of the grading room.

[T206Collector]

Collectors' affinity for the PSA Set Registry rankings is de facto proof that collecting is driven for many by what PSA says, not what the card really is. You are collecting PSA cards, not baseball cards.

[teetwoohsix]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Barry there are all sorts of rationalizations people give for themselves.

1. I am careful, I can avoid or minimize the problem. (mine)
2. It doesn't affect what I collect.
3. The problem isn't nearly as widespread as the conspiracy theorists claim.
4. It's all speculation, there is no proof.
5. TPGs do well by my submissions therefore I trust them.
6. I don't believe the conspiracy theories about inside jobs, favoritism, etc.
7. If it's in a holder it has a defined value so what difference does it make anyhow.
8. I just want to enjoy my hobby so I choose to avoid all the negativity.

+1

Good one! Made me laugh, I almost forgot we were talking about cards

Sincerely, Clayton

[WhenItWasAHobby]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Barry there are all sorts of rationalizations people give for themselves.

1. I am careful, I can avoid or minimize the problem. (mine)
2. It doesn't affect what I collect.
3. The problem isn't nearly as widespread as the conspiracy theorists claim.
4. It's all speculation, there is no proof.
5. TPGs do well by my submissions therefore I trust them.
6. I don't believe the conspiracy theories about inside jobs, favoritism, etc.
7. If it's in a holder it has a defined value so what difference does it make anyhow.
8. I just want to enjoy my hobby so I choose to avoid all the negativity.

Excellent post Peter - as usual.

The other major factor that seems to purge all rational thinking out of typically well educated and financially successful people is the Set Registry. If the competition factor wasn't enough, receiving Hall of Fame awards and being publicly recognized in the SMR and PSA's website pretty much inoculates anyone who just dropped six or seven figures building a "world class" collection from going public and saying, "This grading and registry concept is a sham and I've been had!"