Goldin Auctions - thanks for fast resolution to issue

[raulus]

Originally Posted by D. Bergin

Hard to tell from the pictures, either here or on the Goldin site.

Was the photo paper (and other blank backs listed in the auction), used as mounting for the cards (ie. the cards are glued to the photo paper), or were the Gould cards...holes, creases, folds and all, simply printed on the paper?

Obviously it would be easy to tell in hand, I just can't tell from the pictures.

Even if they are real cards, glued on makeshift backing boards, that should have been revealed in the auction...rather then giving a general VG/EX condition representation.

What I suspect happened here is that some enterprising collector took pictures from online, printed them out, and then pasted some of them onto a cardboard backing. For the 6 that are included in the pictures above, they didn't bother to mount them onto cardboard, and just left them directly on the photopaper after printing them.

The cards, creases, rubber-band notches, corner wear, and other attributes are entirely printed onto the paper. In some cases, the cardboard backing doesn't even match up very well with the edges of the photopaper. To make it even more exciting, the color of the cardboard on the back is of completely different quality and color from card to card. I've attached some additional pics here to hopefully show some of the details, since inquiring minds need to know.

If we want to be charitable, perhaps the person who originally constructed this set did so simply for their own collecting enjoyment. Later, perhaps after their demise, a relative decided to consign them in an auction. Certainly that would be a better fact pattern than the creator of these items consigning them directly after their creation.

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by raulus

What I suspect happened here is that some enterprising collector took pictures from online, printed them out, and then pasted some of them onto a cardboard backing. For the 6 that are included in the pictures above, they didn't bother to mount them onto cardboard, and just left them directly on the photopaper after printing them.

The cards, creases, rubber-band notches, corner wear, and other attributes are entirely printed onto the paper. In some cases, the cardboard backing doesn't even match up very well with the edges of the photopaper. To make it even more exciting, the color of the cardboard on the back is of completely different quality and color from card to card. I've attached some additional pics here to hopefully show some of the details, since inquiring minds need to know.

If we want to be charitable, perhaps the person who originally constructed this set did so simply for their own collecting enjoyment. Later, perhaps after their demise, a relative decided to consign them in an auction. Certainly that would be a better fact pattern than the creator of these items consigning them directly after their creation.

Ok, that's quite a boondoggle by the auction house then. If you can't be bothered to see if the rubber band holes in the cards, are actually holes or not...somebody was in quite the rush to get that lot done quickly.

At least they are going to make you whole without too much of a hassle.

I'd have to agree, it's probably somebody's old fantasy project that got swept up and sent to auction by somebody that didn't know any better, and somehow got by all the checkpoints without anybody weeding it out.

[Johnny630]

Mistakes happen. I give them a lot of credit for promptly taking care of you by making it right. I don't mind mistakes when they're owned and honest. Case here with Goldin.

[raulus]

Originally Posted by Johnny630

Mistakes happen. I give them a lot of credit for promptly taking care of you by making it right. I don't mind mistakes when they're owned and honest. Case here with Goldin.

Agreed. I've had good experiences in the past with Goldin. And I expect that I will continue to bid on items in their auctions. Although I'm probably not alone on this board in hoping that prices will come down from their current nosebleed levels!

I will probably be a bit more wary about ungraded items, particularly if there's something about the pictures in the listing that gives me pause. Certainly in hindsight, with enough paranoia, there are some flags in the auction pictures to make you wonder whether the items were legit.

In this case, knowing Goldin as a quality shop with great expertise in this market, I had every confidence that they must be legit in spite of what appeared to be some oddities in their photos. In the future, I will probably ask some more questions during the bidding window if I see something odd in the pictures, which may lead them to take a closer look, and in this case might have led to the lot being withdrawn before the close of the auction.

I will admit that I was excited to get this set, and when I opened the box, at first, I thought that it was a joke. And then the closer I looked, the more confused I was by everything I was seeing. Ultimately, it didn't take long to realize that some tragic mistakes had been made along the way.

And I give great credit to Goldin for taking care of it promptly, and even expressing contrition in their approach.

[brianp-beme]

Originally Posted by raulus

Agreed. I've had good experiences in the past with Goldin. And I expect that I will continue to bid on items in their auctions. Although I'm probably not alone on this board in hoping that prices will come down from their current nosebleed levels!

I will probably be a bit more wary about ungraded items, particularly if there's something about the pictures in the listing that gives me pause. Certainly in hindsight, with enough paranoia, there are some flags in the auction pictures to make you wonder whether the items were legit.

In this case, knowing Goldin as a quality shop with great expertise in this market, I had every confidence that they must be legit in spite of what appeared to be some oddities in their photos. In the future, I will probably ask some more questions during the bidding window if I see something odd in the pictures, which may lead them to take a closer look, and in this case might have led to the lot being withdrawn before the close of the auction.

I will admit that I was excited to get this set, and when I opened the box, at first, I thought that it was a joke. And then the closer I looked, the more confused I was by everything I was seeing. Ultimately, it didn't take long to realize that some tragic mistakes had been made along the way.

And I give great credit to Goldin for taking care of it promptly, and even expressing contrition in their approach.

I will preface this by stating that I am not a Goldin Auction customer. And I acknowledge that this was a fairly egregious error. But with their response (glad that they are making things right), I think they have earned a change in the title to something a little less inflammatory. Something that acknowledges that they made a careless mistake, but without much prodding, did the right thing.

Brian