Posted By:
Gilbert Maines
Gentlemen and Ladies:
I agree with some of the enthusiasm expressed here because as was stated by Brue Dorskind “This problem can inflict grave damage on the hobby …”
But what do we know about this problem? Robert Lifson states “We are talking about cards that we know for a fact are problems. The fact that we have to address situations such as this at all suggests a greater underlying problem than is generally recognized. And while it is bad enough that the altering of cards is an epidemic…”
Well to me, the term epidemic conveys a situation which is both out of control and causing widespread harm. But Julie Vogner notes “…astonished me:
1) the lack of focus on bigh grade cards among the doctorers. If they think you will want it, they will doctor it!”
This observation indicates that the focus of doctoring is not primarilly on the more important cards in the hobby nor the highest graded cards.
And as has been shared by Leon and others, the collecting of baseball cards should be kept within the overall perspective, in part because law enforcement personnel, media personnel and the general public will weigh the problems within a hobby with other problems which face society.
And certainly before we consider involving outsiders, or embarking upon a remedial course, we should establish the extent and nature of the problem. I continue to recommend that we try to determine the percentage of important cards which are in holders that contain a grade higher than the card’s attributes actually dictate.
Because right now I have no idea regarding the number of cards actually involved. Some inferences indicate that a very high percentage of cards are affected. But that has not been established.