NY Times covers the scandal

[frankbmd]

PWCC needs to start their own HE chat board with only members of exceptional quality, whose foreheads receive an indelible sticker. A threshold of net purchases from the marketplace would be a qualifying requirement for the forehead sticker (or a tattoo or branding as of cattle in the wild, Wild West).

Then PWCC should also consider starting a college of Card Restoration that would grant degrees to the students leading to full certification of Card Doctors. Why should the fraudsters have to linger in the alleys out of the sunlight. Let them be credentialed as in Medicine, Law and Engineering. The valedictorians of the college could also receive plaques, which could be displayed proudly, perhaps in The Vault.

I’m sure PSA would be complicit and create a division of the college to certify graders. In a year or two I would expect a “bumper” crop of graders to qualify with their own plaques for display in the Vault.

Why should their (PWCC and PSA) elite clientele have to be bothered by allegations of fraud thrown at them by the rinky-dinks of Net54 and Blowout. The gentlemen who want to redefine the hobby, just need to think outside the box.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Credit for getting the reporter interested in the story belongs to another member, but I'll leave it to him whether he wants to acknowledge that.

[Johnny630]

NYT is complete Bird Cage Paper but I might buy one tomorrow ...

[jsanz]

Wow, this is going beyond the message boards. It might get picked up by other media now. I was waiting for this to happen. Baseball cards are finally getting some attention out there in the real world.

[Dpeck100]

I found this part interesting.


It was upsetting,” Mr. Kendrick said of learning that the card had been altered. “I heard the rumors back in 2007 when I acquired the card, but they weren’t confirmable. I wanted to have the card, and I still want to have it.”

But the controversy only increased the value of the card. Shortly after the news broke, Mr. Kendrick said, he received an offer to buy it for four times what he had paid. More recently, an insurance appraisal valued the card at more than $10 million.

[Scott L.]

Kudos to you Peter and the other board member.

[mark evans]

Originally Posted by Scott L.

Kudos to you Peter and the other board member.

Indeed

[swarmee]

Originally Posted by Dpeck100

I found this part interesting.


It was upsetting,” Mr. Kendrick said of learning that the card had been altered. “I heard the rumors back in 2007 when I acquired the card, but they weren’t confirmable. I wanted to have the card, and I still want to have it.”

But the controversy only increased the value of the card. Shortly after the news broke, Mr. Kendrick said, he received an offer to buy it for four times what he had paid. More recently, an insurance appraisal valued the card at more than $10 million.

Then he should have no problem sending it back to PSA for an Authentic Altered slab.

[Throttlesteer]

The story has been getting a lot of coverage here in the NW. Here are a couple recent articles, even though they lack any teeth.

https://www.bizjournals.com/portland...ace-under.html

https://www.oregonlive.com/business/...d-scandal.html

[brad31]

Think the article was well done.

Interesting that Moser was not afraid to talk to the media although PSA and PWCC were. Of course his claims are BS about just cracking and regrading without doing anything to the cards.

[barrysloate]

Originally Posted by Johnny630

NYT is complete Bird Cage Paper but I might buy one tomorrow ...

No politics please.

[Throttlesteer]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

No politics please.

I agree, but not liking the NYT doesn't necessarily suggest a political slant. Is there an assumption that the NYT is political one way or another????

[barrysloate]

Originally Posted by Throttlesteer

I agree, but not liking the NYT doesn't necessarily suggest a political slant. Is there an assumption that the NYT is political one way or another????

Is that a serious question? Do you think he said what he said because he feels the writers aren't literate enough for his tastes? I don't think so. It's politics, period, and I would like Net54 to remain a politics free zone, as per Leon's rules.

[thenextlevel]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Is that a serious question? Do you think he said what he said because he feels the writers aren't literate enough for his tastes? I don't think so. It's politics, period, and I would like Net54 to remain a politics free zone, as per Leon's rules.

Wow, I think you are overreacting. If anything, you brought more attention to the politics of it. I think The NY Times sucks also, does that make my comment political?

[rats60]

xxx

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Throttlesteer

I agree, but not liking the NYT doesn't necessarily suggest a political slant. Is there an assumption that the NYT is political one way or another????

The Times is generally considered to be very liberal.

[Leon]

I certainly prefer no politics on our forum. That said, when I was growing up I always thought the papers should just report the news and not take a political stand. I quit taking our paper, after many years, when they got all political. All that said, lets refrain from political commentary. This place has enough craziness already.

Back to the article, it is very good but it would have been nice to go a bit deeper on it. It didn't make the situation sound as bad as it really is, to me.

[jchcollins]

Kendrick thinks Brent is a great guy, shocker. I must admit I'm intrigued by the fact that it seems the more discretionary income you have to throw at cards, the less you really care about this issue. The collectors / investors with truly deep pockets like Ken could care less, why IS that? Seems to me they are just increasing their stereotype as rich fools who buy something only to be able to say they own it, then throw it in a safety deposit box or lend it to a museum and then forget about it.

[conor912]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

Kendrick thinks Brent is a great guy, shocker. I must admit I'm intrigued by the fact that it seems the more discretionary income you have to throw at cards, the less you really care about this issue. The collectors / investors with truly deep pockets like Ken could care less, why IS that? Seems to me they are just increasing their stereotype as rich fools who buy something only to be able to say they own it, then throw it in a safety deposit box or lend it to a museum and then forget about it.

There's caring about the money, then there's caring about the principal. He clearly isn't bothered by the latter, and the former is a rounding error on his balance sheet. In my experience, the more money you have, the more you can afford not to care about it.

[jhs5120]

Originally Posted by jchcollins

Kendrick thinks Brent is a great guy, shocker. I must admit I'm intrigued by the fact that it seems the more discretionary income you have to throw at cards, the less you really care about this issue. The collectors / investors with truly deep pockets like Ken could care less, why IS that? Seems to me they are just increasing their stereotype as rich fools who buy something only to be able to say they own it, then throw it in a safety deposit box or lend it to a museum and then forget about it.

To many people, cards are a commodity. There is little (if any) nostalgic or personal value assigned to them. Brent understands that, Kendrick understands that and many others understand that.

The article talks about “purists” who believe alteration is a cardinal sin. Others look at alterations as an investment - improving the quality of an asset.

The purists will never understand that rationale and the people who have no nostalgic attachment to baseball cards will never understand why it’s an issue.

[Baseball Bob]

I am surprised no one has mentioned the Dallas oilman Mr. Donald Spence and the impact this might have to his extraordinary collection, virtually all of which is PSA-graded.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I thought Don sold to Thomas Tull years ago.

[toledo_mudhen]

Originally Posted by Johnny630

NYT is complete Bird Cage Paper but I might buy one tomorrow ...

Both of my birds are Independents

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by toledo_mudhen

Both of my birds are Independents

La Cage Aux Folles perhaps?

[RichardSimon]

Originally Posted by Johnny630

NYT is complete Bird Cage Paper but I might buy one tomorrow ...

Gee whiz, I wonder what they will now do with their 127 Pulitzer Prizes, including two this year. And I am sure more will be awarded to them.