Beware... Moser cards apparently in Mile High Auction
 

Bad not shocking....so sad..... next nothing to see here

Bye bye Brenty, or is it Brent trying to change the dialogue. I'd be curious who consigned them.

Are they suggesting that the Boston Store Ruth was messed with?

That is Manny who was Set Builder here. He claims it is bleached. The Blowout guys did not identify that one and one objected.

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Because they deserve it.

Because they found it.... most are experienced collectors just like over here. Just like they refer to us as Net54’s...etc... how do u know u haven’t done business with any one over there? There are 10s of thousands of members there.... that is if you’re Dixiedog over there?

Why does it matter that none of them will buy your cards?

So someone would bleach a $132,000 card? Sounds crazy to me.

What a stunning miscalculation he made not to take down the 52T Mantle. All that bullshit about it being conserved. It's so fitting that his arrogance and misplaced sense of invulnerability led to all this.

[QUOTE=bnorth;1892523]Why does it matter that none of them will buy your cards?[/QUOT
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I think it's a stretch, myself, and likely a scan thing.

Also, if one were to bleach a $132,000 card, and I'm not convinced anyone did, it should be a more common one.

It seems as if there is a lot of crazy going on right now, but yeah, that would be pretty crazy.

312 just posted a few more... he said the volume he is seeing in the auction is staggering and he wouldn’t be surprised if nearly every card in the auction has been altered. This is not a good look for MileHigh... whether it’s malicious or not...

I just got home to find my mile high catalog in my mailbox I immediately sent them a message asking to be removed and told them why.

You sound like all those parents who after the swimsuit issue canceled their son's SI subscription.

Seriously??? The swimsuit edition is the only reason to have a subscription to sports illustrated !!

I am confused. I thought if one avoided PWCC suctions they were safe and the chances of buying an altered card were much lower.

The sky is falling.

We’re surtounded by communist sympathizers

There are many people with varied interests in seeing this situation play out in different ways. There is very little fact and quite a lot of speculation still circulating. The BO folks have identified some significant number of potentially altered cards and adopted a guilt-by-association mentality toward any cards submitted with them. That is prudent but who knows if it will turn out to be the exception or the rule?

Bottom line is that it’s going to take quite a while for all of this to be looked into and sorted out. Is it possible that some bad slabs made it into the MH auction or any other major auction house? Sure. Is it likely to be practically every card? That seems to be a bit of a reach without evidence to back up such a comprehensive assertion. The latter seems more like an attempt to induce panic.

Since when does PWCC have a monopoly on being good for the hobby?

Perhaps because their vault is bigger than the rest.

Safe to say you have sarcasm face on right now?

Just in case you don’t, you don’t feel like this is a big deal? I did my early bidding today and saw a lot of the cards that are now being called out, I wouldn’t be surprised if there is 25% to a third of the auction that’s now “suspect”. There were already a few lots withdrawn as of mid-day today, I would imagine there are dozens more coming soon.

Never been real fond of auction houses that have unmarked reserve pieces as well as lots that they themselves have financial interests in. It's on page 1 under 2.d) in their current catalog if you want to take a look.

I have no interest other than that the truth about this blight on the hobby finally come to light whatever its extent is. And that there be consequences for those who have created it and enabled it, I should add. I am sure many feel the same way, whatever the consequences. I hope for the best and fear the worst. As for looking into it and sorting it out, the only ones who are going to do that are those of us motivated to do so. If you think TPGs or AHs are going to do it, I respectfully disagree, their interest is to minimize and contain.

There's evidence that Brent participated in the fraud. That's the best reason to avoid PWCC auctions.

The Mile High auction could be an attempt at a large inventory dump.

So for the record, you’d be cool winning these cards then?

It Wouldn’t change your mind at all if you knew who consigned them, you would bid the same regardless?

And you’d have zero problem bidding in their auctions again after finding out they were accepting consignments from someone who was actively seeking to get altered cards past the TPGs?

Blowout reports many of the cards have been taken down, but the guy running the show says many more altered cards remain. Stay tuned I guess to see how it plays out. I am glad Brian is responding.

Withdrawn Lots
 

At first glance there are 12 lots that have been withdrawn, much more than the 1-2 per auction. I would not be surprised if Brian found out that they were Moser's work and promptly withdrew them. Having dealt with Brian I have complete faith that he would do the right thing as he is a stand up guy.

Good Job By AH pulling these...

Brian has a lot more sense than Brent.

Agree +1

Very good the reported lots were pulled. This fraud that has come to light has done serious damage to my faith in all the TPGs. Anything of value and greater than say a graded VG/EX will have me question whether the card has been altered or not.

a

Yes of course I was joking.

In a thread last week on this forum we had some spirited back and forth and I was on the side that you would see cards surface in other auction houses just as easily.

No surprise here whatsoever.

I have been following all the "stories" on altered cards and a thought came to me. I haven't looked at all the cards that have been called out but are they all higher dollar cards? What about the, say T206's that have PSA grades but are commons like a Steinfeldt Sweet Caporal I have graded PSA 1.5 or his T205 Piedmont graded PSA 4 with a value of about $40 each?

Not fueling the fire but just curious.

For what it’s worth, I also believe the MHCC guys will do the right thing if there are suspect cards. I bought a lot of t205’s from them & had 8 with cracked cases that weren’t shown in the auction. Called them and they took care of the reholdering. No doubt in my mind they’ll do what’s right in this situation, too.

Like the old ad for Converse sneakers, they're everywhere.

Awesome job by MH to remove these cards.

And I’m sure that these cards weren’t consigned directly by Moser and that MH never took consignments from Moser over the years when everyone knew that Moser was a card doctor.

Who Submitted
 

MH now has the submitter of the cards. It wouldn't take much for the AH to get together and create a list of 'straw submitters'...

What if Moser has submitted openly to MH for years?

Didn't you just say you're sure he hadn't?

sarcasm

/ˈsärˌkazəm/

noun

the use of irony to mock or convey contempt.

Cough. Thank you, Mike.

I'm from Jersey, I usually don't miss sarcasm, I just assume it, sorry!

+1

Jersey? Really? What exit? ;)

At first glance there are 12 lots that have been withdrawn, much more than the 1-2 per auction. I would not be surprised if Brian found out that they were Moser's work and promptly withdrew them. Having dealt with Brian I have complete faith that he would do the right thing as he is a stand up guy.

To the attorneys on the site . . . If MH had a bona fide reason to believe they were being defrauded, could they turn these cards over directly to law enforcement?

That wouldn't be good for business. I wouldn't want to be known as the auction house that will send your cards to law enforcement because some anonymous guy on a forum says they may be altered. Pulling the auction and sending them back seems like the correct response.

I was off of 80 not the Parkway.

The one you can get off at;)

Brian has been through a few wars and knows all-too-well, particularly in a post Mastro world, that the primary asset for any AH/dealer is reputation and even a sniff of a scandal these days can be ruinous. He is doing what he has to do. Love to know who the consignor is. Doubt it is Moser.

Nobody will know...no auction house will disclose their consigners names

Certainly not without their permission, which obviously in a case like this you won't get.

I have sold things with consignors names on them and had to ask what they wanted to do. Example Mailing envelope from a given team. Defacing it may hurt the value but there's the name or magazine address stickers. Of course that doesn't guarantee it's the consignor but if you see a lot of them in one auction it's probable.

For the record, I am saying is that there is quite a bit of information not yet disclosed/uncovered/available and yet there are outrageous claims being made about 25-33% and “...practically the whole auction...” being bad slabs. That’s irresponsible and potentially something that could cause great harm to some innocent peoples’ livelihoods.

For the record, I am saying be diligent and do your homework if you’re a prospective purchaser. As for the hyperbole, stick to the facts as we know them.

Consigners
 

How about the AH shows the complete list of consigned cards from the 30 or more cards that have been withdrawn not showing the consignors name but all the cards he consigned ..good or bad

Who should we expect to disclose this information? At this point, I'd rather
error on the side of caution than wait for an auction house or PSA to step
up. They've been given their chances. They left it up to collectors to figure
things out on their own. This is the "homework" that is being done.

If they don't like it or need to clarify then they can. I'm not holding my
breathe.

Really? Well we've had one auction house already say who HASNT consigned

That's how it is, Tony, as you know. The burden is always on the collectors to uncover stuff as best they can. The people with much better access to information aren't going to do anything for us. They're only interested in crisis management and containment, with very few exceptions.

As usual, no answers to the questions asked of you.

Fine - let's deal with facts.

Looks like at least 42 lots have been withdrawn, out of approximately 400 graded card lots.

Basically all the 1948 Leafs except one, 1948 Bowmans, all the Berk Ross except one, all the Parkhursts except one, I'm sure there are others. All of these sets were extremely popular choices for alteration.

Thankfully it appears that MH has dealt with most/all of them? Yesterday they were taking them down one at a time as discovered and reported, but seems like that changed.

I said 25% of the auction might be suspect now, so you're right I misspoke. I was referring to the single card auctions, of which something near 10% are now withdrawn.

Where exactly between this and 25% does hyperbole start and stop?

It's your prerogative to continue to insist we need a "courtroom conviction" level of certainty on each and every card. I don't need that level of certainty.

I'm glad they were withdrawn. Unfortunately, we still have to keep looking for them next time. And unless the AHs are going to share with each other and/or the market more broadly, someone else is likely going to get duped into accepting these and this whole circus will start again.

When's the last time an AH withdrew 40 cards from an auction after it opened? But nah, nothing to see here, after all, no lawsuits yet, right Jake?

And yep, the cards will just surface somewhere else.

Correction, an anonymous guy on the internet posted before and after pictures suggesting at a minimum that it was likely the cards were altered.

sounds like the harm was prevented...

Fixed it for you. No charge.

Until they show up elsewhere...

Have they pulled the 75 racks that were still up yesterday? Those are no good as well.
kevin

Good job by Mile High.

But this is the type of stuff that should happen. When the big time auctions and dealers start having to remove a lot of cards in the middle auction, they'll start putting pressure on PSA and the system.

It would go be good if this happens a bunch of times with other auction houses.

The other houses might want to hire the Blowout team as consultants before the next auction goes to press.

I am sure many houses already know exactly what they have from whom.

Is anyone else having trouble getting onto the Mile High site?

Yeah it seems to be down... or even gone?

WTF
This Domain Name Has Expired - Renewal Instructions.

Forgot to pay their utility bills? How embarrassing. And they're the ones auctioning off the T206 Wagner and Cobb/Cobb back?

With all the scammers in this industry, i'm surprised nobody has bought the domain and held it for ransom yet.

That would be a smart business move. Not sure how it would be considered scamming.

According to their Facebook page, they just forgot to renew... payment is processing.

Extortion is scamming, right? Or is it just slimy?

I would call it total incompetence by Mile High. If someone made them pay for their mistake I say good for them.

So if you make an honest mistake and someone makes you pay fo it, that is fine? Got it.

I have never said my opinions are popular.:D

Well if the big money cards become impossible to sell at the big auctions (where the real big buyers are) that would curtail most of this. Sure the doctors could do things on the low end stuff but they would have to work a lot harder and for much less profit. Nobody is going to stop this 100% but if you cant make an easy profit anymore that more or less would end things in this debacle