Mastro and FBI

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Posted By: Joann

OK, I just finished my last final for the term so all of my good thinking and good words may be gone, but I'll try to articulate this anyways.

It seems like if O'Keeffe wanted to do a series of articles as an expose on Mastro, then fine. Let him do it, let it be out there for what it is, and let people make up their minds about it.

But he doesn't present it that way. He couches his articles as being about the collectibles hobby/industry. As an example, in the article posted today he says "But the controversy over the "Jordan" shirt appears far from over: It has added new pressure to calls for greater regulation and standards for the dog-eat-dog world of sports memorabilia." So it looks like he is writing about the world of sports memorabilia, not about Mastro specifically.

If this is the case, why no or few references in his articles to any other auction house? To any other major dealer? To any of the grading companies (other than incidental references)?

So to me it comes down to one of two things:

He is writing about the hobbies in general, and if so it is inevitiable that other major players will be in the spotlight of future articles - or at least mentioned prominently.

Or, he really is writing about Mastro specifically and for whatever reason doesn't want to (or feel like he can) just be up front about that. He has to bury the Mastro material within the larger so-called point about the collectibles hobby as a whole.

I'll withhold opinion about which it is for now. But if he truly thinks he has an ongoing story about Mastro he should put it in exactly that context. If it continues to be about "the world of collectibles" but only seems to pick on Mastro, then I might decide that he really does have an ax to grind with Mastro and is using a generic topic as the vehicle for grinding it.

Joann

Now if he ever did want to do an investigative piece on the relationships between auction houses, consignors and grading companies - THAT would be a series to read. It may even get more exposure than his current articles that are more narrowly targeted.