Bill Mastro -- What He Really Thinks of His Hobby Friends

[WhenItWasAHobby]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Three reasons.
1. They are willfully blind to what is going on.
2. They look pretty.
3. Ego.

I suppose there is a fourth, which I alluded to before, as long as the market overall doesn't care, the cards are for the most part good investments.

I'll second that as a spot-on summation of the problem Peter.

The credulity of these elite collectors has baffled me to no end. I've had some very engaging discussions with some very well-known, highly intelligent and wealthy collectors from 2007 to 2010 and they either don't seem to see a problem with PSA grading altered cards or they think that PSA get's it right 99.9% of the time. In turn they think I'm completely mistaken or I'm a malcontent with an ax to grind. The most disturbing are the people that don't care if the card is altered - as long as it has a grade. There has to be some sort of psychological disorder that sustains these people.

Even more disturbing in all of this is how PSA walks away relatively unscathed by these horrific sandals. For the few like me that departed from PSA in total disgust, there's always others entering in the hobby to take my place.

At what point does law enforcement step in and say clean up your act or we will shut you down since your service is being used to systematically defraud a lot of people?