American Greed-CNBC

[Orioles1954]

Originally Posted by orly57

No one is saying he defrauded the guy. He just didn't paint a sympathetic figure. A guy whining about getting ripped off when he made nearly 50k by essentially ripping off someone is almost as obnoxious as his pronunciation of "Lajoie."

Plus he didn't sound very knowledgable about the industry and his story didn't make sense. How can he be pissed with Mastro when it was SGC who graded his cards? What cards were missing? Ryan did really well and Jeff appeared far more reserved than I perceived him.

[vintagerookies51]

Originally Posted by Orioles1954

Plus he didn't sound very knowledgable about the industry and his story didn't make sense. How can he be pissed with Mastro when it was SGC who graded his cards? What cards were missing? Ryan did really well and Jeff appeared far more reserved than I perceived him.

Agreed. The guy said the Lajoie was the second rarest of all baseball cards but didn't he say that Mastro didn't even include the Lajoie and several other cards in the listing? Or were they just not shown off as much as he would have liked... he wasn't very clear on that

[bnorth]

Does anybody know if this can be seen online? Got a link?

[timzcardz]

Originally Posted by bnorth

Does anybody know if this can be seen online? Got a link?

http://www.cnbc.com/live-tv/american.../1029670979712

[olrac44]

I'd have to go see if I still had that Catalog from 2007 but again this gentleman is talking as if his cards were MINT like so many other people tend to do with their own RAW cards. Plus someone couldn't have bought the lot broke it down and graded a few cards....kept a few cards for themselves....and sold off the rest by consigning the rest back to Mastro Auctions? If everyone knew back then that Mastro Auctions was getting the best prices around....why wouldn't you consign the remaining cards back to Mastro?

[slidekellyslide]

Originally Posted by olrac44

I'd have to go see if I still had that Catalog from 2007 but again this gentleman is talking as if his cards were MINT like so many other people tend to do with their own RAW cards. Plus someone couldn't have bought the lot broke it down and graded a few cards....kept a few cards for themselves....and sold off the rest by consigning the rest back to Mastro Auctions? If everyone knew back then that Mastro Auctions was getting the best prices around....why wouldn't you consign the remaining cards back to Mastro?

I can't believe how many are taking Mastro's side in Evers' case. They literally stole from him. They did the same thing to a local friend of mine who sent them a ton of early football memorabilia. They completely ignored his instructions to list the important and valuable programs separately. They lotted them all up and didn't even mention the highlights in the listing.

And does anyone really still believe that "gypsy" story with regards to Lionel Carter?

[Mdmtx]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

I can't believe how many are taking Mastro's side in Evers' case. They literally stole from him. They did the same thing to a local friend of mine who sent them a ton of early football memorabilia. They completely ignored his instructions to list the important and valuable programs separately. They lotted them all up and didn't even mention the highlights in the listing.

And does anyone really still believe that "gypsy" story with regards to Lionel Carter?

My post was the first reference to the guy with the shoebox. I did not defend Mastro at all. Never have. Never would. The shoebox guy has every right to be pissed because it does appear the Mastro took advantage of him.

However, I think it's fair to say he took advantage of the original seller. He mentioned someone else was coming up the driveway and he had to hurry and make the deal. In my opinion he took complete advantage of an unsuspecting seller. If this sale was on eBay, or from someone who held themselves out as a dealer, I would have no issue. But it wasn't portrayed that way. It was some individual who got screwed by a flipper. Bit I guess that shouldn't be a surprise in the baseball card world. There are a ton of guys in this hobby that have no problem conducting business by duping people.

Mark Medlin

[T206Collector]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

And does anyone really still believe that "gypsy" story with regards to Lionel Carter?

I have to say that I went back and read my letters from Lionel Carter recently about the attempted theft, and when you realize that it was this crime that prompted him to consign his collection to Mastro, it is extremely suspicious.

[Bkrum]

Originally Posted by slidekellyslide

I can't believe how many are taking Mastro's side in Evers' case. They literally stole from him. They did the same thing to a local friend of mine who sent them a ton of early football memorabilia. They completely ignored his instructions to list the important and valuable programs separately. They lotted them all up and didn't even mention the highlights in the listing.

And does anyone really still believe that "gypsy" story with regards to Lionel Carter?

Not taking Mastros side at all here. But the show did not paint Evers as a sympathetic figure and read more like a dude who thinks his perceived gold mine wasn't quite as lucrative as he thought. Which as we know happens in LOTS of deals. I would have liked them to focus more on any proof that Mastro stole cards or improperly listed them to buy them at a fraction of their value (did Mastro bid on and win the original lot?). Only so much they can do in an hour.

I did think the federal agents were very well spoken and seemed to understand the business and how Mastro/Allen subtlety shaved profits out of the industry

[TakingStock]

Originally Posted by vintagerookies51

Agreed. The guy said the Lajoie was the second rarest of all baseball cards but didn't he say that Mastro didn't even include the Lajoie and several other cards in the listing? Or were they just not shown off as much as he would have liked... he wasn't very clear on that

My interpretation was that Mastro Auctions intentionally omitted listing out the exact cards received on the auction agreement (the cards that he brought to their offices in person) and basically stole them from him by never listing them in the auction he was a part of thereby cutting the gentlemen out of cards he consigned but were never recorded.