[prewarsports]

I will say this really quick as I was not going to post again but I will just to specify one thing. People are entitled to their own opinions and I respect that. Had I not been insulted publicly I would have said nothing AT ALL.

FIRST, the "Type" system is copyrighted. If I could have gotten a written permission to freely use it, I would have just used it and made extra comments about each photo where I felt it needed clarification. This was not possible so thats that!

SECOND, My system (which took years to develop after looking at over 1 million photos) is very comprehensive and brings something new to the hobby and I will tell you why. Should photos that are 2 years old be worth more than those made 5 years after? YES! Problem is, unless you have a photo with a paper caption and/or a date stamp (that is not FAKED) you only have the paper stock and a news service stamp to go off of. Back stamps were used for a number of years, sometimes as much as 10-15 years in some cases. Right now if ALL you have is a company stamp on the back that was used during the right year and nothing else, its a type 1. What is happening in the hobby, and I have seen it hundreds upon hundreds of times, is that people who have a photo that would otherwise be a "Type 2" because it is say 5 years after the original but the company stamp is the same one as would have been used to make it a "Type 1" are ripping off paper labels and destroying damning evidence while keeping good evidence to pass off a photo as a "type 1" and NOBODY (not me, not Henry NOBODY) can tell.


Example, lets say you have a 1939 Lou Gehrig Luckiest man Speech Photo. The "Acme" or "UP" label is the same one as used in 1939, but the back has a date stamp of 1944 and a paper caption that talks about "Five years ago on this date Gehrig makes his famous speech". With the label and date intact its a "Type 2" and worth maybe 100-200 bucks. Destroy the label and get rid of the date somehow and you now have a "Type 1" that is worth 1000+ bucks. In a hobby where fraud is the norm, THIS IS HAPPENING and it is happening A LOT!

My system is designed to do 2 things and otherwise it is the same as the "Type" system. Deter fraud, and more accurately (in my opinion) distinguish between "Type 2-4" photos. Thats it. End of Story. It is not "Revolutionary" it just is a step (in my opinion) to clarifying a few loopholes that I discovered as a COLLECTOR of photography and a step to try (futile as it may be) to clean up some of the fraud in the industry that I love.

In a perfect world the type system is great. Problem is, its not a perfect World and the collectibles arena is filled with dirty people.






Last thing. I applaud Marshall Fogel and Henry Yee for pioneering this industry. I am walking in their footsteps and I am aware of that and respect and admire both men more than any of you will probably ever know. If not for them and their book, I am not where I am today and I cant thank them enough. I AM NOT saying my system is "better" just that I believe it is more comprehensive and deters fraud, thats it. I am not insulting anyone, I took a system that they created because of a need in the hobby and tweaked it just a tiny bit.

I wish Henry all the luck in the World with his new venture and I hope it brings him happiness in his life, he deserves it as he is a great guy and someone I consider to be a good friend. I would never say anything bad about him and I know that he personally would say the same about me. There is plenty of room for more than one seller of vintage photos and you will NEVER see me take shots at him or anything he does for the betterment of my own company and I will do my best (as I have already spoken to him about this over the phone personally) to stagger my auctions away from him to not compete and I will never take a shot at him, PSA/DNA or anything. I would encourage anyone and everyone to do as much business with HIM as possible.



If anyone wishes to discuss anything with me and my "vastly inferior, fly by night, needless, archaic, system" please e mail me and I will give you my personal number to call and discuss it.

Rhys