Shanus v. R.L. Americana, Lifson, Robert Edwards Auctions, et al.

[oldjudge]

Rob and Corey are two of the most knowledgeable guys in the hobby, and both have been of great help to me over the years. I trust both completely and am glad that they are on friendly terms again.

[oaks1912]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Rob and Corey are two of the most knowledgeable guys in the hobby, and both have been of great help to me over the years. I trust both completely and am glad that they are on friendly terms again.

+1.... As a friend of both men for many decades, its very refreshing to see things work out

[marzoumanian]

Nice to see Rob and Corey respond to this thread in a quick and frank manner. This is indeed an old case that I am familiar with but I was never certain what happened with it in terms of resolution. And whatever happened to that (bogus) trophy Nash turned over to REA for auctioning? Does anyone know where it sits today?!??
Anyway, this thread raised my eyebrows because earlier this month (at the National) I turned over my very nice 1968 Topps set to REA's Dean Faragi to auction off in the upcoming November auction. This will be my first time going through REA.
"Oh no," I said to myself when I saw this thread, "Enough. I'm tired of auction house hijinks."
You see, for the past couple of years I had been using PWCC to auction off pieces of my card collection. But after its latest troubles broke I decided it was time to look elsewhere. I remembered that Mike Gidwitz (a hobby veteran and true gentleman), who has known Rob for decades, told me at a dinner I had with him a few years ago here in Chicago that he swears by REA in terms of integrity. So I'm sticking with REA. I've expressed my integrity concerns to Dean directly. I looked him in the eye at the National and said, "Please, whatever my 1968 set goes for, so be it. Just auction it off with integrity."
The only question you have to ask in this Shanus case is: How did Rob Lifson, a smart guy and industry veteran, get duped by Peter Nash? I'm working on a book about Mastro (slowly!) and when I interviewed Rob and posed this specific question to him a few years ago he came across as honest when he told me that at the time Nash seemed to be a knowledgeable collector wanting to do business with him. In essence, he admitted he got duped. It happens to all of us. Having already talked to industry veterans about Lifson/Mastro as part of my book research, I understand that not everyone is a fan of Rob (I get versions of the old question: "What did he know and when did he know it?" while working with Mastro) but as far as REA is concerned, I have been reassured by Rob's frankness in response to this particular thread. Again, I'm sticking with 'em. Thank you.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Also people should remember Rob's not involved with the day-to-day at REA anymore. Brian Dwyer (Spacktrack here) is President, and unless he's got me completely fooled he's one of the most honest guys I've met.