This is the problem with grading...

[Ronnie73]

First let me say that i've bid on and won many auctions from Rick and never once felt like any funny business was going on. As far as the turnaround times, if the winner is at a show that Ricks at and PSA is there too, then the trunaround is possible. Only Rick could confirm this but i'm sure he owes some sort of privacy to his buyers and consigners. If the buyer has a good track record for upgrades, then they can afford to travel the country and do this sort of thing full time. One important thing to remember, nobody is forcing the final buyer to pay crazy money for a PSA 10 grade except their need of that 10 on the label. I agree that some cards don't deserve the upgrade but there are others that do. Plain and simple, buy the card and not the holder. Me personally, I'm more than happy with a nicely centered PSA 8 any day over a 10.

Look at the bidders from $250 up. All the bid percentages are way high with Rick. Then again he could have a strong following

[glchen]

This is why buying 10's is a fool's business. There's just a hair's difference between the top grades, yet thousands of dollars. If the grader misses just one tiny thing, it's what you have here. Obviously, with that print dot on the back, no way that Shell card deserves a 10. The original 8 was probably the right grade.

[HOF Auto Rookies]

I have won several auctions with Rick, he does probably indeed have a good following, because you know for sure you are going to get that item, and Rick will do whatever he can to make it a perfect transaction.

[vintagetoppsguy]

I thought "pank21" was an account set up by Probstein. That's just where the clues led me. After all, there were 2 cards won by the same buyer, both cards were re-submitted to PSA and received significant bumps and both cards were once again sold by Probstein. I was wrong and my apologies to Rick.

Pank21 is Joseph M Pankiewicz and from what I understand a former grader at SGC and he also worked for Mastro and Heritage. I do know that he did shill his own auctions and that tells me everything I need to know about him.

It still amazes me how he got the bumps??? Maybe he "knows" one of the graders at PSA??? I think Joe O. needs to take a look at the grader of those two cards.

[DJR]

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[Matthew H]

Originally Posted by DJR

To make this sordid tale even spicier, pank21 is actually an SGC employee / rep...WTF!

http://www.sgccard.com/appearances.htm

Even SGC employees choose PSA. Haha

This is all very terrible. I'm glad I don't collect high grade crap.

[RobertGT]

I agree there is no way in hell that card is a 10.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I hate to disillusion people, but buying cards and resubmitting them is an extremely common practice. Given the arbitrariness of grading, lots of cards go up when resubmitted, particularly when cracked out. I know countless stories of cards that have made multiple trips to grading before being "maximized." Maybe Rick is friends with Pank21 and alerted him that he had a couple of cards that he thought were undergraded. Nothing wrong with that.

My much bigger worry is the 5 to 8 scenario, where work is done on the cards in the interim. Certain people just LOVE to buy ex to ex mt centered cards!!!

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I hate to disillusion people, but buying cards and resubmitting them is an extremely common practice. Given the arbitrariness of grading, lots of cards go up when resubmitted, particularly when cracked out. I know countless stories of cards that have made multiple trips to grading before being "maximized." Maybe Rick is friends with Pank21 and alerted him that he had a couple of cards that he thought were undergraded. Nothing wrong with that.

My much bigger worry is the 5 to 8 scenario, where work is done on the cards in the interim. Certain people just LOVE to buy ex to ex mt centered cards!!!

Peter, you are correct that resubmitting is a common practice, but no way that Shell card should have ever received a 10. It's not even close. The registration is horrible. Go back to the first page and look at the scans. The white numbers on his jersey are out of focus and you can also tell around his calf area. Not to mention the large fisheye and staining on the back.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by vintagetoppsguy

I thought "pank21" was an account set up by Probstein. That's just where the clues led me. After all, there were 2 cards won by the same buyer, both cards were re-submitted to PSA and received significant bumps and both cards were once again sold by Probstein. I was wrong and my apologies to Rick.

Pank21 is Joseph M Pankiewicz and from what I understand a former grader at SGC and he also worked for Mastro and Heritage. I do know that he did shill his own auctions and that tells me everything I need to know about him.

It still amazes me how he got the bumps??? Maybe he "knows" one of the graders at PSA??? I think Joe O. needs to take a look at the grader of those two cards.

Just to add a bit of clarity it is my understanding that Joseph M Pankiewicz hasn't worked at SGC in nearly 10 yrs. Now back to my popcorn.

[vintagetoppsguy]

Originally Posted by Leon

Just to add a bit of clarity it is my understanding that Joseph M Pankiewicz hasn't worked at SGC in nearly 10 yrs. Now back to my popcorn.

It's my understanding that he hasn't been a grader for them in nearly 10 years. The SGC website refers to him as a representative that accepts consignments on their behalf. Whether or not that means he's on their payroll I don't know.

http://www.sgccard.com/appearances.htm

[Paul S]

Originally Posted by Leon

Now back to my popcorn.

Yeah, but does a popcorn (leopard) change its' spots?