Will The Hobby Be Able To Take A Blow Like

[nyc3]

One of the last fake items was a Jordan UNC warm up jacket, That was altered at the request of Bill Mastro and sold in the 25,000 range. I love the it doesnt mean much to me attitude. Shill Bidding also affects the hobby on a large scale, But brush it off like others and act like its something petty. People who have hundreds of thousands and millions in a hobby are worried and scared of the storm its gonna cause is really nothing to fret. Just like how people ignored and forgot about the Gretzky BGS rookie photo. Showed a pic of a 100+ rookies fanned out on a table and it was post grading. Some graded gems and others didnt. That shows you how much grading is a sham. But hey, It wont do anything to the hobby that already has one lousy reputation as it stands today.

Did I brush it off? Sorry I dont feel or see the need to try to start a revolution on a message board when the FBI are already involved. But hey thats just me.

 

[Mr.Whipple]

The hobby will be fine.

If the hobby only consisted of autographs and game used items, then maybe those doom-sayers have a point.

Remember the foundation of the baseball card hobby, though, and it is cards. Plenty of pre-90's cards to collect, plenty of 90's inserts to collect, and plenty of non-gu/auto sets to put together.

It is much more than auto and game used items. Plenty of worries over grading issues also and the influence of money in that area of the hobby. People forget the casual collector and the people who buy memrobilia and cards for gifts and are clueless. A story hitting the news showing such wide spread fraud will deter them from buying anything. That will close shops and slowly hit the hobby as a whole. Less and less interest will then have people flood the market with items to hopefully get some of their money back. That will cause a price decline also. It will be like the 1994 season for MLB and will there be a 1998 season to save it?

 

[Mr.Whipple]

One of the last fake items was a Jordan UNC warm up jacket, That was altered at the request of Bill Mastro and sold in the 25,000 range. I love the it doesnt mean much to me attitude. Shill Bidding also affects the hobby on a large scale, But brush it off like others and act like its something petty. People who have hundreds of thousands and millions in a hobby are worried and scared of the storm its gonna cause is really nothing to fret. Just like how people ignored and forgot about the Gretzky BGS rookie photo. Showed a pic of a 100+ rookies fanned out on a table and it was post grading. Some graded gems and others didnt. That shows you how much grading is a sham. But hey, It wont do anything to the hobby that already has one lousy reputation as it stands today.

Did I brush it off? Sorry I dont feel or see the need to try to start a revolution on a message board when the FBI are already involved. But hey thats just me.

Start a revolution? I should of kept my fingers off the keyboard and not typed a single word. Trying to inform people of a major issue coming in the hobby was a bad thing. But what is the point of a "Baseball Hobby Talk" forum when people dont care about a large important part of this hobby?

 

[nyc3]

Start a revolution? I should of kept my fingers off the keyboard and not typed a single word. Trying to inform people of a major issue coming in the hobby was a bad thing. But what is the point of a "Baseball Hobby Talk" forum when people dont care about a large important part of this hobby?

First off most here knew about this since its been a huge story for a year now ever since mastro went out of business so you really arent informing anyone. And as for your not caring comment you couldn't be more wrong, but do you really think constantly bringing this up is informing people? Or is it exactly what you are claiming will happen? You are freaking out relax.

 

[hofmichael]

One of the last fake items was a Jordan UNC warm up jacket, That was altered at the request of Bill Mastro and sold in the 25,000 range. I love the it doesnt mean much to me attitude. Shill Bidding also affects the hobby on a large scale, But brush it off like others and act like its something petty. People who have hundreds of thousands and millions in a hobby are worried and scared of the storm its gonna cause is really nothing to fret. Just like how people ignored and forgot about the Gretzky BGS rookie photo. Showed a pic of a 100+ rookies fanned out on a table and it was post grading. Some graded gems and others didnt. That shows you how much grading is a sham. But hey, It wont do anything to the hobby that already has one lousy reputation as it stands today.

Did I brush it off? Sorry I dont feel or see the need to try to start a revolution on a message board when the FBI are already involved. But hey thats just me.

Start a revolution? I should of kept my fingers off the keyboard and not typed a single word. Trying to inform people of a major issue coming in the hobby was a bad thing. But what is the point of a "Baseball Hobby Talk" forum when people dont care about a large important part of this hobby?

I completely understand what you are trying to do by telling everyone but there is no stopping what is going to happen at this point.People should have been worried about this after the Marino ring was busted.Truth be told we need people to be arrested and prosecuted.It will clean up some of the **** in this hobby.If you are heavily invested in the areas that this will affect than I feel for you but make no mistake this is very needed.
Mike

 

[bigalbert]

I think a good enema will clense the hobby and make it better in the future. Usually this will contain a painful period which leads to a better more reliable hobby.

 

[hive17]

If MLB has decided to go strictly with Topps as its card company, then they (Topps), should no longer have to go thru a middle man to get game-used equipment. That solves the problem before it can even start.

Sorry if this was mentioned already.

 

[hofmichael]

If MLB has decided to go strictly with Topps as its card company, then they (Topps), should no longer have to go thru a middle man to get game-used equipment. That solves the problem before it can even start.

Sorry if this was mentioned already.

You guys are way to narrow minded.This is much bigger than game used jerseys and bats.It involves big auction houses shill bidding,cards being doctored for resale,fake memorabilia and autographs.The people least hurt by this will be modern card collectors.Many other segments of the hobby will be hit hard.

 

[hive17]

If MLB has decided to go strictly with Topps as its card company, then they (Topps), should no longer have to go thru a middle man to get game-used equipment. That solves the problem before it can even start.

Sorry if this was mentioned already.

You guys are way to narrow minded.This is much bigger than game used jerseys and bats.It involves big auction houses shill bidding,cards being doctored for resale,fake memorabilia and autographs.The people least hurt by this will be modern card collectors.Many other segments of the hobby will be hit hard.

I'm not being narrow minded, I'm just focusing on the only part of this that impacts me. I get it that the vintage and auction houses could be screwed, but that doesn't have anything to do with what I collect. Take it easy.

 

[matfanofold]

I really do not see it affecting vintage that much. If anything it will make buyers and sellers to be more aware of doctored/forged stuff and quite possibly make legit vintage go up in value.

 

[hofmichael]

If MLB has decided to go strictly with Topps as its card company, then they (Topps), should no longer have to go thru a middle man to get game-used equipment. That solves the problem before it can even start.

Sorry if this was mentioned already.

You guys are way to narrow minded.This is much bigger than game used jerseys and bats.It involves big auction houses shill bidding,cards being doctored for resale,fake memorabilia and autographs.The people least hurt by this will be modern card collectors.Many other segments of the hobby will be hit hard.

I'm not being narrow minded, I'm just focusing on the only part of this that impacts me. I get it that the vintage and auction houses could be screwed, but that doesn't have anything to do with what I collect. Take it easy.

It wasn't meant as a shot at you.

 

[hofmichael]

I really do not see it affecting vintage that much. If anything it will make buyers and sellers to be more aware of doctored/forged stuff and quite possibly make legit vintage go up in value.

It will affect high grade vintage.Low-mid grade stuff will be fine.
Mike

 

[hive17]

If MLB has decided to go strictly with Topps as its card company, then they (Topps), should no longer have to go thru a middle man to get game-used equipment. That solves the problem before it can even start.

Sorry if this was mentioned already.

You guys are way to narrow minded.This is much bigger than game used jerseys and bats.It involves big auction houses shill bidding,cards being doctored for resale,fake memorabilia and autographs.The people least hurt by this will be modern card collectors.Many other segments of the hobby will be hit hard.

I'm not being narrow minded, I'm just focusing on the only part of this that impacts me. I get it that the vintage and auction houses could be screwed, but that doesn't have anything to do with what I collect. Take it easy.

It wasn't meant as a shot at you.

I know. The post reads more like how you called it I guess. I just needed to clarify. I should have written take 'er easy.

 

[mstng99tim]

Did operation bullpen destroy the autograph industry? Kind of but that didnt last long.

Actually this is part of operation bullpen.

Actually it's not.

The Chicago FBI investigation is the third major federal memorabilia probe in 15 years, but while Operation Foul Ball and Operation Bullpen targeted underground forgers who flooded the memorabilia market with millions of dollars worth of bogus athlete and celebrity autographs, this investigation appears to focus on some of the hobby's most prestigious firms. Mastro Auctions was sports memorabilia's largest auction house before it folded in 2009; executives from other prominent companies - including Grey Flannel, Heritage Auction, Professional Sports Authenticators, Hunt Auctions and Lelands have all been questioned by investigators.

http://tuffstuff.com/article/FBI%20inve ... ning%20day

 

[fkw]

The more they clean house the better.

Mastro is just the tip of the iceberg. Auction Houses are a big problem as a whole.... with shill bidding, excessive fees and surcharges, doctoring items, etc.

Baseball Card collecting should never be an industry, its a hobby.

"True Collectors" will always be around.

Next, clean house on these grading companies who often reject cards for no reason so they can double up their fees when resubmitted, also making a 1/2 grade so they get more fees, etc.... and modern pseudocard companies charging $5 up on a simple pack of baseball cards with no gum or product.

Dont get me started on the stupid and greedy practice of cutting up historical memorabilia and adding them to some modern piece of cardboard and calling that a vintage collectible. Now our kids will never see these artifacts in their whole form. Why not cut up the Mona Lisa, Declaration of Independence, or Liberty Bell too??

As Jefferson Burdick once said.... A true collector card was always issued FREE with a product or service of some kind. There hasnt been too many of these in last 25 years.
No wonder kids are no longer the #1 collector, greedy adults hording cards for profit are another of the many problems in this "Hobby".

Collecting should be a fun family hobby, not an industry full of greedy fat balding men!

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

Amen! Its not a hobby any more when money matters more than the hobby itself (unless you're collecting coins!); a real hobby should never have more 'middlemen' than collectors.

The more they clean house the better.

Mastro is just the tip of the iceberg. Auction Houses are a big problem as a whole.... with shill bidding, excessive fees and surcharges, doctoring items, etc.

Baseball Card collecting should never be an industry, its a hobby.

"True Collectors" will always be around.

Next, clean house on these grading companies who often reject cards for no reason so they can double up their fees when resubmitted, also making a 1/2 grade so they get more fees, etc.... and modern pseudocard companies charging $5 up on a simple pack of baseball cards with no gum or product.

Dont get me started on the stupid and greedy practice of cutting up historical memorabilia and adding them to some modern piece of cardboard and calling that a vintage collectible. Now our kids will never see these artifacts in their whole form. Why not cut up the Mona Lisa, Declaration of Independence, or Liberty Bell too??

As Jefferson Burdick once said.... A true collector card was always issued FREE with a product or service of some kind. There hasnt been too many of these in last 25 years.
No wonder kids are no longer the #1 collector, greedy adults hording cards for profit are another of the many problems in this "Hobby".

Collecting should be a fun family hobby, not an industry full of greedy fat balding men!

 

[ljw29]

so is this just targeted towards game used cards? I mean the autographs are pretty clear if it is the players signature or not and even card companies wouldnt be dumb enough to fake a players signature onto a card.

Be surprised I know a player that was a Top 3 Round Draft Pick couple years ago in Baseball and his roommate and teammate signed his thru the mail during the offseason and they even joked he would pay him to sign his cards.

And I never put anything past these companies

I know that a VERY prominent player didn't sign all of his stickers for Panini and had help from a teammate while they were on their minor league bus trips. But that isn't the companies fault. They have a contract with the players to sign the stickers. The players might be at fault, at least in this particular instance. Either way, the hobby survives. If every card with a MLB game used jersey is fake it wouldn't make a difference to me, not my cup of tea. If its proven that not all sticker Autographs are signed by the player they are supposed to be signed by, no sweat either. On-card rookie card autos or stickers that you know are signed by the player because the signature is identical to an on-card autograph. If on-card autographs are found to be forged by companies, then yes, this would cause a big problem.

I know of two NFL guys from my school (mid round guys) that had people help on their cards even the lower round stuff, neither are in the NFL but it makes me wonder.

And if Mastro sold to UD, Topps, DLP/Panini and the items were fake then it can trickle down easily

 

[TBTwinsFan]

This is going to be interesting...

I heard that in the wake of one of UD's last law suits, a few dealers spilled that almost half of UD's jersey's are fake, and many of their high end and cut autographs are fake too. I can say I know of some fake Cuts, but I can't pin anything else as it was just a comment someone made...

 

[nyc3]

This is going to be interesting...

I heard that in the wake of one of UD's last law suits, a few dealers spilled that almost half of UD's jersey's are fake, and many of their high end and cut autographs are fake too. I can say I know of some fake Cuts, but I can't pin anything else as it was just a comment someone made...

Watch this.

Who did you hear this from?

 

[TBTwinsFan]

This is going to be interesting...

I heard that in the wake of one of UD's last law suits, a few dealers spilled that almost half of UD's jersey's are fake, and many of their high end and cut autographs are fake too. I can say I know of some fake Cuts, but I can't pin anything else as it was just a comment someone made...

Watch this.

Who did you hear this from?

Watch what?