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#1
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Ron
According to the Daily News the FBI is interested in another problem at Mastro Auctions |
#2
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: leon
Once again they did the right thing by pulling an auction item...Kudos for them....Doug is a class act and honest person and this once again proves it....thanks again for posting the article.... I knew that NY Daily News and Michael O'keefe, would do the right thing and print good stuff too ..... |
#3
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Jeff Lichtman
So this is a positive Mastro article? Um, ok. |
#4
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Ron
Leon |
#5
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: leon
First of all what is your last name? If you don't want to post it then you shouldn't be posting on this board about these kinds of things. The reason is, is that we need to know who posts stuff in these kind of situations. As I said in my email to you a little while ago AND YOU DIDN'T respond to it is for the protection of the whole board. If someone came on spouting stuff about you or posting articles I would do the same for you. So, your last name please? |
#6
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Joe D.
once again have a 'Daily News' article as the basis of a discussion. |
#7
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Jim Dale
Its getting kind of obvious this writer for the news does not like Mastro and wants to pin something on them. I also fund the underlying dig to a former "republican" in nearly every of his articles intriguing. I'm shocked he didn't get the Rudi Guliani connection (former lawyer) into this one...shameful. |
#8
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Jeff Lichtman
I think the moral to this story is that you might have to be a bit crazy to bid on game-used or autographed artifacts. Too much opportunity for fraud. |
#9
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Ron Bristow
Sorry for not including my last name with my opinion. My name is Ron Bristow. |
#10
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: brian
if you send a questionable item to enough authenticators, it's likely that eventually someone will deem it authentic. |
#11
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: leon
Thanks for your understanding...and I will second what others have said in this thread concerning O'keefe's reporting concerning Mastro and the autograph and game used market/hobby....Too much of a leap of faith for myself....though I am sure there is a big audience for this form of collecting.....Whatever makes you happy and keeps you out of bars at night..... |
#12
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Joseph Jesselli
another feather in Mastro's cap |
#13
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Jeff Lichtman
Did O'Keefe remove the letters from the back of the warmup jacket and put Jordan's name there? Was O'Keefe the Mastro employee who sent the jacket to MEARS but apparently didn't tell Doug that it had come back as questionable? Damn that O'Keefe -- he really has it in for Mastro! |
#14
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: leon
and was O'keefe the one who voided the sale? Of course O'keefe doesn't have it in for Mastro...You really nailed that one.. |
#15
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: barrysloate
If you read "The Card" you will find that Mastro and O'Keeffe didn't like each other one bit, and Bill stopped talking to him during the process. So I do think O'Keeffe is making sure he gets the last word. |
#16
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Jeff Lichtman
Leon, unlike you, I'm capable of being objective. Wow -- Mastro voided the sale after the s&**& hit the fan -- but how is it that Doug had the warmup sent to MEARS, had it come back questionable, then sent it to another authenticator that blessed it and yet he failed to supply the MEARS conclusion in its listing -- and even claimed he was unaware that MEARS had even been sent the warmup by his own company? And keep in mind that I like Doug and am trying to be fair here (I'm the one that posted the Mastro court win out here, recall?). But being fair sometimes means you have to call a spade a spade - which you are just unwilling to do whenever it comes to Mastro. You even went so far to call the news reported in this article as a "feather in the cap" of Mastro! So which is it -- is O'Keefe's reporting of the latest Mastro debacle (which comes about once a week now it seems) a feather in the cap for Mastro or more shoddy reporting? |
#17
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Dan Bretta
O'Keeffe may indeed have it in for Mastro, but there is a serious pattern going on here that is disturbing....I just don't buy the fact that Mastro didn't get MEARS opinion on the jersey in time...this is BS. Those guys all know each other and they're located in the same city. Mastro even did the press release for MEARS online!!!! |
#18
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Tim Newcomb
I doubt I speak only for myself when I say I don't hear much objectivity from Jeff or Leon on this issue. It's pretty clear that each of you has a distinct point of view (expressed now in many different threads), and that both of these positions have at least some merit. |
#19
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: leon
I have no issue calling Mastro out on something if they did something wrong. It just gets old when we continually see the same person reporting the same kind of crap....and there really isn't ever a smoking gun or bad ending. On this issue it seems to me that Mastro realized they made a mistake and voided the transaction...Whether that mistake should have been known earlier is debatable....According to the story it looks as though O'keefe reported that Doug said he didn't see a letter or email. I believe him.....If this forum helps keep everyone honest then that is a good thing....I just wish it wasn't always the same ole people jumping on the bandwagon....and yes, I do over compensate on purpose because it's always the same crap the other way.... |
#20
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: barrysloate
Collectors are becoming very sensitive to issues where there is the appearance of large auction houses having their way with graders and authenticators. Any time one of these topics comes up it is going to ruffle some feathers. |
#21
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Jeff Lichtman
Leon, yours was the first response on this thread. There was hardly any bandwagon jumping before you felt the need to spin away. Mastro's failings on the issue of the warmup jersey, another 'game used' helmet, altered cards, items at auction which were authenticated by the consignor, etc. have been discussed for a while on this and other forums. Blaming all of Mastro's problems on O'Keefe is just not fair. As Dan pointed out, the guy may hate Mastro but that doesn't mean he's inventing this stuff. What bothers me is that it seems like Mastro has problems pop up like this very, very often yet they still seem to be coming up with regularity, with no slowdown. As a collector who spends plenty of loot with Mastro I just want their act to be clean. How can I be biased against Mastro when I spend 5 figures routinely on their auctions? |
#22
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: James Feagin
I can't really state what side I fall on publicly (I will privately though), because it just wouldn't look good either way. However, why does O'Keefe have it in for Mastro? What is the history? I really want to know. |
#23
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Dan Bretta
As far as I know it's been ongoing for years now and dates back to even before the Joe DiMaggio streak bat that sold about three years ago. I can not tell you specifically where or how it started just that it's been ongoing for quite a good while now. |
#24
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: E, Daniel
Is why Mastro bothers with even a couple of dodgy items.....With catalogs brimming and bulging every few months, SO MUCH money being made, why would you even risk possibly damaging your image by including pieces not 1000% kosher? |
#25
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Bill
I always have to wonder, with the amount of sports memorabilia that gets spotted as being fake, altered, or not as described, how many of these items actually make it through? |
#26
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Gilbert Maines
Wait! |
#27
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Bill
That's the key that has me wondering. The FBI isn't going to just come knocking for one or two mixups that get fixed. Something else has to be there for the Feds to come around. |
#28
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Rob Dewolf
Dan B., correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't you post something on this board weeks ago about the controversy involving the Jordan shirt and Mastro? I find it odd that only after O'Keefe writes about it does it prompt so much response on this board, particularly in the form of diehard defenses of Mastro. |
#29
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: quan
say someone buys a card, alters it then try to get it slabbed. sgc rejects but psa gives it a grade. then he/she tries to sell the card until the original owner speaks up. will they still get kudos and commended for doing the right thing? i'd hope not but i'm sure this kind of things goes on more than it should and mastro seems to be in the middle of it more than most. |
#30
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Dan Bretta
Rob, it was discussed here, but I didn't start the thread....It does seem that nobody pays too much attention to these Mastro threads until O'Keeffe writes his story. |
#31
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Joann
OK, I just finished my last final for the term so all of my good thinking and good words may be gone, but I'll try to articulate this anyways. |
#32
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Aaron M.
Leon, you have to be kidding me. The questions raised about that shirt on the Game used forum and on this forum (which linked to the game used forum thread) were done so well before the auction occurred (and so were the Game used forum's attempts to contact Doug Allen). |
#33
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Mark Lutz
I'm not sure that I expect Mastronet (or any other auction) to declare in their description that they tried to get something authenticated by PSA or Mears but couldn't. If they get conflicting opinions, I expect them to decide which opinion is most plausible and, if they do run the item in the auction, to accept a return on the item if the buyer finds further evidence against the authenticity of the item. Not knowing exactly what went on inside Mastronet but focusing on what they say happened, it seems to me that Mastronet acted in an acceptable manner--even though I wish as a buyer that auction houses were so candid that they did mention problems with authentication. More practically, I expect buyers to be very cautious in any auction for high priced items. I sometimes bid on baseball bats. If a description doesn't refer to a loa from PSA/DNA or from Mears, I wonder why not. And I usually ask to see a copy of the letters of authenticity that the ads do mention: they can point to questions that are omitted from descriptions. |
#34
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Aaron M.
I also want to add this re: the issue about whether O'Keefe is "biased" or has some sort of "vendetta" against Mastro. |
#35
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Dave
I expect Mastro to tell the truth...period. unfortunately I have doubts that they ever will. Aaron M. is right. it seems like Mastro auctions had a few chances to "do the right thing" and didn't....plain and simple. Regardless of who reproted these facts....that's how it happened mastro fans. Seems like they have had the chance to do the right thing in the past also, but conveniently didn't then either. |
#36
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Joann
Aaron, |
#37
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Jeff Lichtman
Joann -- let's assume that O'Keefe hates Bill Mastro's guts. Did that bias cause the shirt to be a fake? Did that bias cause Mastro to fail to provide the MEARS opinion to the selling public? Did that bias cause them to sell game used items that have been authenticated by the consignor of the item? |
#38
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Dan Bretta
Joann, you should skip the lawyer part and go straight to being a judge. |
#39
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: leon
I am not "blindly" defending Mastro. Unless I missed something (and I might have) Doug Allen said he didn't see a letter or email from MEARS before the auction. If he did see one then I do think something needs to be said about it and should have been said. Also for the record I disagree on a Mastro policy of showing ownership of an item that is being consigned and authenticated by the person. I think it used to be, and still is, a policy to only tell if it were an issue or after the auction. I think if a bat, for example, is authenticated by MEARS, is owned by a principal of MEARS, then it should be disclosed up front. I also would like to see articles from someone less biased on Mastro's mishaps.....Okeefe has a vendetta plain and simple....and just because he has a vendetta does not make it right if Mastro did something wrong...to say I am implying that is also very wrong.... regards |
#40
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Joann
Jeff, |
#41
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: boxingcardman
Mastro gets praise for canceling an item after the sale but Verkman gets crap for it? Seems to me that both auctioneers showed equivalent negligence in vetting the items before sale. |
#42
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Sean C
You can have a vendetta against someone or a company, yet still present factual information about their misdeeds. In this case Mastro is just providing O'Keefe with plenty of ammunition for his feud. |
#43
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Joann
It took me awhile, but I thought of an analogy. |
#44
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: jay behrens
Leon, seriously, you need to quit posting in Mastro threads or quit taking their money for banner ads. Your initial post was laughable, at best. |
#45
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: leon
All I will say is you will always believe what you want to...facts or not...take care....... |
#46
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: James Feagin
Leon, |
#47
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Chris
When did the auction for the Jordan shirt end? |
#48
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: identify7
Joann: I agree that if you use a newspaper as your sole source of information, you are not likely to be very well informed. But in this case, either the FBI is involved, or they are not. If they are, then getting in at 8AM is no longer a potentially valid analogy, imo. |
#49
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: jay behrens
James, exactly my point. What will it take for Mastro to actually be held accountable and possibly removed as an advertiser. As we've seen before, when it's a lesser auction house/dealer, they are roundly taken to task by everyone and even removed as an advertiser for less than what Mastro has done. |
#50
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Mastro and FBI
Posted By: Sean C
It was part of their live auction at the National. Refresh your screen a few times, and you'll see that Leon still has one of the banner ads for the auction up and in rotation (it's on my screen now as I type this). Click through it, and you'll find the shirt. |
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