Not sure if this has been posted..Mastro in the Chicago Tribune

[barrysloate]

Looks good to me.

Edited to add you can just as easily get away with "who is kidding who" as in "who's who" (you wouldn't see "who's whom").

As I get older I forget the rules anyway.

[calvindog]

But wait, Dougie has nothing to do with Mastro. And nothing to do with paying off Mastro's debts to consignors. And has nothing to do with any lawsuit against Dave Forman. Yet you mean that Doug Allen is presently the President of Mastro? Now it makes sense: just have your dogs bark at Mastro's President (Allen) and you can get paid by Mastro's President (Allen).

I am stunned at this turn of events.

[barrysloate]

Jim- better leave the cleaning up to law enforcement, because I don't believe collectors are able to do it themselves. Collectors are addicted to the stuff, and when you're addicted you need help from the outside.

[Jim VB]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Jim- better leave the cleaning up to law enforcement, because I don't believe collectors are able to do it themselves. Collectors are addicted to the stuff, and when you're addicted you need help from the outside.

That's a huge part of the problem Barry. This stuff is like heroin for some. We're just pumping it into our veins. But some get upset when the media reports problems.

O'Keefe fielded a question at the dinner that asked something like this "I saw a dad and his son, going through the show today, buying lots of cards and spending $10-$20. Why don't you report that?"

I almost spit out my (free) beer. Why would an investigative reporter write about that?

As Lance said on one of the other threads, we have to control it by who we give consignments to. The guys with no decent consignments will get poor sales results and that will take care of them.

[barrysloate]

Jim- I was more than a bit skeptical when I saw the "I'm not bidding in Legendary Auctions" thread. I suspect most of those who vowed to boycott will end it at the first sign of a card they need.

I don't mean to be cynical but that's part of the problem. Auction houses know how obsessed collectors are and they take full advantage of it. They know that they can get away with just about anything and the collectors will still come back.

And they long ago identified those collectors who won't stop bidding on an item until they get it, regardless of the price. Those are the ones, sadly, who were shilled the most.

[Jim VB]

Originally Posted by barrysloate

Jim- I was more than a bit skeptical when I saw the "I'm not bidding in Legendary Auctions" thread. I suspect most of those who vowed to boycott will end it at the first sign of a card they need.

I don't mean to be cynical but that's part of the problem. Auction houses know how obsessed collectors are and they take full advantage of it. They know that they can get away with just about anything and the collectors will still come back.

And they long ago identified those collectors who won't stop bidding on an item until they get it, regardless of the price. Those are the ones, sadly, who were shilled the most.

I agree that most houses will laugh off any attempted bidder boycott. But not paying consignors, and a subsequent consignor boycott, will catch up to them much faster.

[calvindog]

Does anyone know if Bob Gibson has loud, barking dogs?

[David W]

Originally Posted by Jim VB

I agree that most houses will laugh off any attempted bidder boycott. But not paying consignors, and a subsequent consignor boycott, will catch up to them much faster.

That seems to be the issue. It doesn't sound like buyers never received their cards, but consignors didn't get the cash.

So it's safe to buy but not to consign, apparently.

Who then, would consign anything of significant value to them without a significant cash advance?

[RichardSimon]

Auction house exec: I'm shocked, shocked to find that shilling is going on in here!

[a collector hands the exec a pile of money]

Collector: the winning bids, sir.

Auction house exec: [sotto voce] Oh, thank you very much.

[aloud]
Auction house exec: Everybody out at once!
------------

[Peter_Spaeth]

Jeff one would like to think the Illinois official state website would be reasonably up to date, and it does mention the name change on March 13, 2009, which I believe coincides with the Mastro-Legendary transaction. So apparently something was filed at that time to indicate the name change but that filing did not indicate a change in the president. But, as I said before it could be inaccurate. No information about Ketap's officers is available through the Delaware secretary of state's website.

[Jim VB]

Translation for Jeff's post:


Captain Renault: I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!

[a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]

Croupier: Your winnings, sir.

Captain Renault: [sotto voce] Oh, thank you very much.

[aloud]
Captain Renault: Everybody out at once!

[Anthony S.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jqQsDklQEM

[Rob D.]

Originally Posted by Anthony S.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jqQsDklQEM

Because we're talking about some auction houses and their relationships with consignors/bidders, and because Anthony let the Kevin Bacon/Animal House genie out of the bottle, this also seems appropriate:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdFLPn30dvQ&NR=1