Rick Probstein interviews Bill Mastro

[68Hawk]

Cliff notes?

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by 68Hawk

Cliff notes?

The Wagner card was sheet cut by someone else. He bought all the cards from that sheet from the guy who cut up the sheet. The Wagner was cut ridiculously wide left to right, and bowed out on both sides. Mastro said it looked like a football with a flat top and flat bottom. Mastro trimmed it for himself, not to resell it, and he trimmed it to size. He said it's not undersized at all, and that if you measure it, it would be of above average size for non-trimmed T206s.

He also said the majority of the auctions that were shill bid at Mastro Auctions were actually of Americana or other non-sports card collectibles. He said it was mostly stuff that had very interested few buyers. He said most of the cards had plenty of action and that they didn't "need" to bid on those, but that sometimes they did anyhow because they had access to everyone's bid amounts and they got greedy.

Lots of other great stories though. Worth a listen.

[Carter08]

Thanks for sharing!

[Peter_Spaeth]

I didn't think Alan Ray -- the pre-Mastro owner -- was the one who cut the Wagner from the sheet. I had thought the provenance did not go back all the way to the sheet and I also thought Ray would not say where HE got the card.

But there are several members at least who know the story better.

[drcy]

Very interesting and entertaining. He should write a book. His enthusiasm for cards is obvious.

[Yoda]

Didn't Mastro buy the sheet from Rob Lifson, or Rob loaned him the money to buy it himself?

[Shoeless Moe]

Prison really aged him.

Let that be a lesson to all you youngsters out there.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Yoda

Didn't Mastro buy the sheet from Rob Lifson, or Rob loaned him the money to buy it himself?

I think Rob was a lender, not a seller.

[Vintagecatcher]

Thanks for sharing!

Interesting to hear him speak. I expect that there will be a tell all book.

Found it interesting that he said he hated Lew Lipset.

Patrick

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by Snowman

The Wagner card was sheet cut by someone else. He bought all the cards from that sheet from the guy who cut up the sheet. The Wagner was cut ridiculously wide left to right, and bowed out on both sides. Mastro said it looked like a football with a flat top and flat bottom. Mastro trimmed it for himself, not to resell it, and he trimmed it to size. He said it's not undersized at all, and that if you measure it, it would be of above average size for non-trimmed T206s.

He also said the majority of the auctions that were shill bid at Mastro Auctions were actually of Americana or other non-sports card collectibles. He said it was mostly stuff that had very interested few buyers. He said most of the cards had plenty of action and that they didn't "need" to bid on those, but that sometimes they did anyhow because they had access to everyone's bid amounts and they got greedy.

Lots of other great stories though. Worth a listen.

.

So basically he was "THIS" close to being innocent and certainly not a bad guy, and everyone should just enjoy what an entertaining fellow he is. Gotcha.

[drcy]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

.

So basically he was "THIS" close to being innocent and certainly not a bad guy, and everyone should just enjoy what an entertaining fellow he is. Gotcha.

He admits to his guilt in the video and served his time.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by drcy

He admits to his guilt in the video and served his time.

Don't think I said anything that contradicted that.

[Huysmans]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

Don't think I said anything that contradicted that.

Then what was even the point of your comment??
Did you actually have one?
Or just a snide, condescending remark?

[Ricky]

Haven’t watched yet but why did he hate Lipset?

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by Huysmans

Then what was even the point of your comment??
Did you actually have one?
Or just a snide, condescending remark?

If you read his comment carefully, you'll see that he was projecting that statement onto me. He was saying that was *my* opinion of Mastro. Hence he said "gotcha" as in "got ya" rather than "got it" at the end.

To be clear, this is not my opinion of Mastro. Someone asked for the Cliff Notes so I provided them as delivered in the video, and without bias, for the two topics I thought people would be most interested in.

I don't think there's anything wrong with him trimming that sheet cut Wagner. I just think it should have been graded for what it is, as a sheet cut card. But I have a big problem with how he ran his auctions. However, I find him to be remorseful and he's paid his debt to society. I'd give him a second chance. But I understand others who wouldn't. To each their own.