NJ's sincerity in this apology should be heavily scrutinized. I have good reason to believe he's only sorry he got caught.
I have a friend in the hobby that noticed something fishy with NJ's eBay listings, and he showed them to me. NJ and I have had some good conversations in the past, as I'm sure many of you have experienced. I reached out to him to see what these fishy listings were about, knowing full well what the intent was. From NJ's presence on here, he always came off as a very passionate individual regarding the hobby, trying to soak up knowledge and really be a positive influence in the community. I knew he wasn't ignorant when it came to fakes, and his listings
clearly contained fakes. It angered me, and when I confronted him, his responses pissed me off even more. For full disclosure, I will copy and paste our conversation from February below.
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Kyle May Feb 21 to NJ
Hey NJ,
Are you selling reprints as questionable?
NJ Dunkin Feb 21 to me
Hey Kyle!
Great to hear from you, brother. I actually put up the listings to try and copy the pseudo-legitimate style that so many listers use, but ended up feeling bad and took down as many as I physically could at the end, while bidding up the other two to make sure no one would win them.
Next time I re-list, I've decided to make it much more clear that these are intended to look like old reproductions (although I had listed the cards as "reprints" under that category already.)
It's a fun project to make them and make a few bucks in turn
How have your collecting adventures been? Picked up anything new lately?
Kyle May Feb 21 to NJ
Cut it out. You're better than that. I've always thought highly of you, and from what I know you have a good reputation in the hobby. Don't jeopardize that for a few cheap bucks. You're doing it on a separate account from your main eBay account, which is sketchy as well.
NJ Dunkin Feb 21 to me
Hmm...perhaps you are right. I wouldn't do this to damage my reputation intentionally, but selling "reprints" could be cardboard suicide. I'll give this some thought.
Kyle May Feb 21 to NJ
You're smarter than that, and I think you know why you did this, and that what you did/are doing was/is wrong. You went for the chump change. Of course you didn't purposefully damage your reputation, because you didn't think you'd get caught by selling on your second account. Your emails don't sound very remorseful either, and now I'm seeing a post on Net54 that you're looking for 3 pricey cards? Please tell me you aren't using any profits from this scheme to fund those purchases. Sorry NJ, but something stinks here and I don't like it.
NJ Dunkin Feb 21 to me
Kyle,
I have never done this for easy money or to take a sleazy road. That has never been and never will be my intention. Please hear my heart on this--don't read in to this more than it is.
I'll never sell reprints like this again. I can give you my honest word, I never did this to take advantage of anyone. It was just like crafts in school; I did it for fun in an effort to make intentionally advertised reproductions for display.
The moral ambiguity was a mistake on my part; realizing how foolish that looked only came after I logged in to check the auctions.
I would not want to lose my friendship with you at all, brother. I wouldn't lose it for the world. I really enjoy your company and love our discussions of old cards.
Additionally, if you would like to hear why I asked about those cards on N54 (the expensive ones), I would be happy to explain them to you.
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From what I've seen in his similar conversations with others who have confronted him, he has worked to sculpt his "apology" to open the door as much as possible for forgiveness. Essentially, he's working the angles to avoid the death penalty in the hobby. I wanted to share our conversation because I don't believe there should be much sympathy for him. I know people live by the adage "forgive and forget" but I'm not sure I'll ever forgive, and I sure as hell won't forget.
I have no idea how old he is. I do know that money affects livelihoods. It's criminal what he did, no matter the age, and his knowledge on the situation is well beyond any potential ignorance at his age.