Did PSA get a free pass on The American Greed show?

[WhenItWasAHobby]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

Altered cards are pervasive. Some cards are more altered than others. And as long as they are encapsulated, most people don't seem to care.

How sad and how true.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by WhenItWasAHobby

How sad and how true.

It's the hobby's dirty not-so-secret, every AH and dealer out there knows (IMO of course) they are dealing with altered material.

[prestigecollectibles]

Here is a You Tube video called "Holy Grail: The T206 Honus Wagner" produced by ESPN with Keith Olbermann.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUTbxT_CleE

[barrysloate]

Another possible explanation:

A collector who submits a group of raw cards and gets back lots of 7's and 8's is a happy camper, and likely to submit more cards in the future. A collector who gets back a lot of cards with "evidence of trim" is unhappy and likely angry, and probably won't be sending cards in to "those guys" again.

And every business wants happy customers who will end up being repeat customers. So is it possible that cards that are close enough get graded to keep everyone happy? I know it sounds a little crazy, but I am looking for something to explain why such an alarming number of altered cards get holdered.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Another possible explanation:

A collector who submits a group of raw cards and gets back lots of 7's and 8's is a happy camper, and likely to submit more cards in the future. A collector who gets back a lot of cards with "evidence of trim" is unhappy and likely angry, and probably won't be sending cards in to "those guys" again.

And every business wants happy customers who will end up being repeat customers. So is it possible that cards that are close enough get graded to keep everyone happy? I know it sounds a little crazy, but I am looking for something to explain why such an alarming number of altered cards get holdered.

As I said, I think it's mostly because some card doctors are very skilled, and TPGs are mostly doing a minimal review and not conducting sophisticated tests. I believe the President of SGC said years ago that microtrimming was nearly impossible to detect, for example.

[Fballguy]

Originally Posted by prestigecollectibles

Here is a You Tube video called "Holy Grail: The T206 Honus Wagner" produced by ESPN with Keith Olbermann.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUTbxT_CleE

Thanks...That was a good watch. The card was so nice in all other aspects, why bother to trim it?

[insidethewrapper]

I wonder how others on here would have handled that garage sale ? I wonder if the seller was hoping for $ 25 and when he said $ 500 he said yes quickly. I always ask what they want for their items and go from there ? If both parties are happy then what's wrong .

[orly57]

Originally Posted by insidethewrapper

I wonder how others on here would have handled that garage sale ? I wonder if the seller was hoping for $ 25 and when he said $ 500 he said yes quickly. I always ask what they want for their items and go from there ? If both parties are happy then what's wrong .

"If both parties are happy, then what's wrong?" If you take that mentality a step further, the same could be said about shilled cards. I am happy to pay 20k for a card even if you shilled me, because that is what I was willing to pay for a card that I desperately wanted. I don't think anyone is saying what Evers did was wrong or what Maestro did was right. Hell, I would gladly take a garage-sale deal like that, though I like to think I would have returned with more money for the guy after assessing the value of the cards.
Those of us who posted about Evers found the irony in him whining about getting ripped off, when he got those cards by ripping-off someone else. We weren't comparing the legality of one over the other, but merely the morality, or immorality as it were. The fact that the seller didn't know he was getting robbed doesn't mean it wasn't so. Maestro robbed many people who were as oblivious as the seller at the garage sale...and many were just as ignorantly happy.

[Mdmtx]

Originally Posted by orly57

"If both parties are happy, then what's wrong?" If you take that mentality a step further, the same could be said about shilled cards. I am happy to pay 20k for a card even if you shilled me, because that is what I was willing to pay for a card that I desperately wanted. I don't think anyone is saying what Evers did was wrong or what Maestro did was right. Hell, I would gladly take a garage-sale deal like that, though I like to think I would have returned with more money for the guy after assessing the value of the cards.
Those of us who posted about Evers found the irony in him whining about getting ripped off, when he got those cards by ripping-off someone else. We weren't comparing the legality of one over the other, but merely the morality, or immorality as it were. The fact that the seller didn't know he was getting robbed doesn't mean it wasn't so. Maestro robbed many people who were as oblivious as the seller at the garage sale...and many were just as ignorantly happy.

Extremely well put Orlando!!

[rats60]

Originally Posted by Fballguy

Thanks...That was a good watch. The card was so nice in all other aspects, why bother to trim it?

The story was that the card was originally part of an uncut strip. The person who cut it off the strip did a poor job. Mastro just improved it.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by rats60

The story was that the card was originally part of an uncut strip. The person who cut it off the strip did a poor job. Mastro just improved it.

Right. As I recall the story Alan Ray, who I believe sold it to Mastro, would not say from whom he had bought it so the provenance goes back no further. But apparently it was obviously hand cut when Mastro bought it and in any case could not have been from a pack because of the back (not that it wasn't obviously hand cut afterwards too lol).

[WWG]

Originally Posted by rats60

The story was that the card was originally part of an uncut strip. The person who cut it off the strip did a poor job. Mastro just improved it.

In the program they said the card had oval edges and it was football shaped before Mastro used a paper slicer to trim the card. Can you imagine what it would be worth if the card was still intact on the strip.

[oldjudge]

A lot less