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Posted By: barrysloate

So I just saw the HBO show- it was repeated this evening- and here are my two cents: Several things are going on here. I am convinced that somewhere in the distant past a fake front was glued to a real Piedmont back, and that is why the paper is testing out old. I also studied these two characters who owned the card, especially the younger guy who did all the talking. He is so obsessed with it- he even admitted missing meals- that if it proved to be fake he wouldn't know what to do with himself. As long as he can perpetuate the glimmer of hope that it is real, his life has a purpose. I think deep down he knows it isn't, but life without his treasured Wagner just wouldn't be worth living. Of course I don't condone this, as he is pawning off a fake card, but I am fascinated by the psychology here because nobody holds onto to a false dream that long. I also thought Joe Orlando should have been more emphatic and simply said the card is fake, period. Steve Wolters wasn't afraid to say it and Joe knows darn well PSA wouldn't authenticate it. I am also puzzled by the statement one of the talking heads made that if it is an early reprint, and not a counterfeit, then it still has considerable value. Where did he dig up that pearl of wisdom? I have been following this story closely because it is just so bizarre but I think I understand the owners a little better now. Take away his beloved baseball card and you are taking away a piece of his life. And Bob Connelly- he was a cipher, I got nothing at all from him. And who was this unctuous broker that needed to feel the card before he bought it for his client? Glad he's not my broker.