Ethical Concerns Regarding Heritage?

[Snapolit1]

Bob - that makes a lot of sense. My wife and I bought our first home in a neighborhood that charged a premium for homes for a number of reasons, most prominently the reputation of the public schools. After our kids were well into the public school system we realized that the schools were nowhere near what people sold them as. In fact they they were downright lousy in a lot of ways. But none of our friends would hear it. Even people who knew what we were saying was true, basically said "hey it doesn't help any of our property values to say anything disparaging about the schools . . . . It's the perception of the schools that benefits all of us." And nothing ever changed. Sort of like what you are saying here.

Originally Posted by BobC

A lot of this has to do with the fact that there are all different types on this forum, dealers, AHs, speculators, investors, and varying levels of collectors who range from being collectors who are at the same time all of the aforementioned as well, to just being truly pure collectors who are into the hobby for the simple joy of collecting and to whom the money and value are secondary, if even that high on their priority lists. I believe most of us on here would like to think of ourselves as the true collectors and not think and care so much about the money and value side. But the sad truth is that for many, the rise in card prices (and thus the value of their collections, especially vintage) are such that most collectors can't ignore the economic factor, and as a result find themselves thinking more like dealers, AHs, investors, and speculators on occasion when it comes to their beloved hobby, than as true collectors. And as a consequence, they also develop a sort of unintended acceptance of things in the hobby as they are. For even if deep down they may not entirely agree with things being done and said by certain groups and individuals, I think many collectors may also harbor a subliminal or latent fear that by speaking out against those groups and individuals in the hobby they may somehow do damage that results in economic harm to them and the value of their personal collections.

Think of someone who has a large collection of cards graded by the top accepted TPGs of today. Now think about would happen to the value of that collection were the TPGs to be discredited, and even be found guilty of criminal activity, say in conjunction with certain dealers, AHs, card doctors, and so on. That may be part of why many may seem to publicly just appear to follow the crowd. And also, with all the speculation and innuendos of less than exemplary and honest dealings by many individuals and groups within our hobby, collectors will also tend to try to identify and rally round those they may feel are not really part of its' seedy side. So many collectors may just go along with these perceived "good guys" so as to have hope that our hobby is not entirely doomed. If it ever finally came out and was proved that virtually all the major players (dealers, AHs, TPGs) were in some ways in cahoots with one another in deceiving and defrauding our entire collecting community, that could break our hobby's back, so to speak, and end up having the card collecting hobby/industry looking like the stock market crash back in 1929. Maybe a somewhat convoluted theory, but still a possible factor why many in the crowd may just always seem to go along with others in regards to thoughts and opinions, in many cases.