Open letter to STAT and Christopher Morales

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Posted By: <b>Bob</b><p>The value is based primarily on the trust of those issuing the baseball. It's not about "what the signature" looks like anymore, but where does it come from and who authenticated the ball. IMO. Mastro "claims" that this is the only known baseball, but how are we to know that this is in fact an honest accessment to the quantity of balls out there? The fact that it was Mastro and that JSA and/or PSA/DNA says it's good, automatically puts in the minds of the general public that it is in fact good which is a naive system of thought, but the only one we have. <br /><br />That SAME ball from Mastro in CCSA would bring typical CCSA numbers simply based on reputation. After all, CCSA has a revolving door of rarities, thirteen times a year that sell for pennies on the dollar. There are so many collecting players out there with big bucks looking to buy and sell rarities and Coach's even last month, had cut signatures of John Clarkson, Buck Ewing, Oscar Charleston, Josh Gibson and why are great dealers like Kevin Keating staying away from these when they could easily get 10x-12x of what the final price Coach price was? Why doesn't Mastro (or the consignors) buy up the Coach inventory every month and put it in their auctions? <br /><br />People pay these prices because they want to truly believe that they are getting a bargain. It's the same reason people pay $5,000 for a T206 Wagner. <br /><br />I noted this before and the true villain here is Sports Collectors Digest and it's wonderful to see the hobby turn their back on what was once prominent and respectful voice. <br /><br />Bob<br /><br />I went back to the CCSA site to check something out and their new auction is up already. Among<br />the highlights: Josh Gibson signed pants (I think the last pair sold for under $200), 1939 Induction Baseball, Albert Einstein autographed baseball (they have sold a few of these in the past), Ed Cicotte signed bat, Jimmy Collins signed baseball, Chief Bender signed bat...