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JohnI rarely post on these boards- though I have lurked for years. I remember jim and his ‘cleaning up the hobby’ crusade of several years ago on the PSA boards. The issue I have w/discussions like this is that a lot of accusations are hurled. Examples are- I know some guy who is one of the top card doctors in ohio (or any other state)- oh yeah, I know that guy too, but no one will disclose THAT guy’s name; oh yeah, I know there a lot of altered cards in grading co. A, B, C, and/or D holders- oh yeah, I know that too b/c I heard it from some guy who heard it from another guy at a show. These stories all make for interesting reading (or more time to waste on message boards?), but no one ever seems to provide CONCRETE PROOF- e.g., show me a card RAW, then show me alterations made to that card, then show me that SAME card GRADED. I also find it interesting that people who say they want to ‘clean up the hobby’ and abhor personal attacks have no qualms engaging in personal attacks themselves. Even more interesting is that many collectors of high $ items say they want to ‘clean up the hobby’ yet when it comes to having THEIR cards examined, they refuse. The same happens when it comes to crossing their cards over from say psa to sgc. Why?
I also think it is somewhat selfish and elitist to support a service yet make comments like ‘well, if I pay joebob, why should ANYONE ELSE benefit from it?’ If someone TRULY wants to help ‘clean up the hobby’, they should freely and openly share KNOWN alterations. People often point out questionable auctions on ebay/other sites, so why NOT point out known altered cards?
W/that said, if someone wants to pay someone to ‘sign off’ on cards before buying them, that’s their choice. If someone wants to turn this into a venture, good for them.
Btw jim, if you do not know if any of your 50,000 cards have been altered, are you going to have Kevin examine all 50,000? What are you going to do with your cards if Kevin deems them to be altered- consign them to an auction house, disclose that Kevin found them to be altered? Auction them on ebay and disclose that Kevin found them to be altered? Sell them without disclosing that Kevin found them to be altered? if someone truly believes that another person is one of the hobby's 'experts', why not put your $ where your mouth is? if i had doubts about cards in my collection, i would (and have) take every step i could to have an 'expert' examine them to determine if they were altered.