Gone with the stain

[CobbSpikedMe]

Originally Posted by MULLINS5

But they're not high grade.

Doesn't matter, the flip says it's high grade and that's all that matters to enough people that the prices are strong.

[GasHouseGang]

This article appeared in the May 31, 1996 Sports Collectors Digest. I guess Gone With The Stain was just getting started at this point. I hope the copy is big enough to read. I can send someone the original .pdf scans if they have a better way to make them more readable.

[MULLINS5]

Originally Posted by CobbSpikedMe

Doesn't matter, the flip says it's high grade and that's all that matters to enough people that the prices are strong.

Well, if it doesn't matter, then it doesn't matter.

[GasHouseGang]

Leon, thanks for your help in reposting the article so it's readable.

[GaryPassamonte]

There have been threads ad nauseum recently concerning the various grading "scandals" happening in the hobby today. I will preface my comments by saying that I got out of the grading thing in the 1990s, basically at the inception of grading. I sold almost all my cards and started collecting 19th century photographs. I figured the photographs would not be affected by the new grading craze and that assumption, in my case, has turned out to be true. Just finding most images is difficult and condition is not as important as it is with most cards. I wanted no part of grading and believed that eventually many issues would result. That too has come true. I met Dick Towle once back in the 1990s. He bought some of the cards I sold at the time. I knew nothing of his intent or his future business. I found him to be a pleasant guy. Now fast forward to today. Dick Towle has a business that is doing nothing illegal. He is providing a service, nothing more and nothing less. He is no more guilty of the scandals of today than the grading companies. The whole system is dirty and as long as there are egos it will remain that way.

[steve B]

What bugs me is how many people think that none of this is a problem.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by steve B

What bugs me is how many people think that none of this is a problem.

Starting with Joseph J. Orlando, apparently.

[barrysloate]

I wasn't aware that Towle can take creases out of cards until I read this article. If it wasn't already apparent, third party grading has virtually no meaning anymore, since nearly every VG card will eventually become a NR MT one. What's the point of even grading cards? Few if any of them are what they appear to be.