Rick Probstein interviews Bill Mastro

[Hxcmilkshake]

"Hidden reserves" is something new I learned today.



Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

[Collectorsince62]

The interview was like listening to Pete Rose. A brash personality who knows a lot about the history and inner workings of his industry, a very tarnished reputation after being on top of his world, semi-repentant about his deceit, simultaneously embraced and hated . . . but interesting as hell.

[mrreality68]

Originally Posted by Collectorsince62

The interview was like listening to Pete Rose. A brash personality who knows a lot about the history and inner workings of his industry, a very tarnished reputation after being on top of his world, semi-repentant about his deceit, simultaneously embraced and hated . . . but interesting as hell.

That is actually a real good description and a really good comparison about the way he came across.

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by Collectorsince62

The interview was like listening to Pete Rose. A brash personality who knows a lot about the history and inner workings of his industry, a very tarnished reputation after being on top of his world, semi-repentant about his deceit, simultaneously embraced and hated . . . but interesting as hell.

That's a good analogy, as Mastro is certainly a polarizing figure. I did enjoy hearing Mastro's thoughts (like him or not). My name appeared on the "You've been shilled List" when it was released... and yes it was a real downer. So while I'm certainly not a fan of Mastro or what he did, I was still quite interested to hear the story from his perspective.

Pete Rose (even at his advanced age) probably knows as much about baseball as anyone alive today. I would've put Don Zimmer in that category before he passed, as well. The hobby equivalent is undeniably Mastro. Like Rose, he is still passionate about the hobby and expresses a moderate degree of remorse. Whether it's remorse over what he did or just at getting caught is open to interpretation. Still, some of my best pieces came from the early days of Mastro Auctions (dating back to Mastro & Steinbach).

I agree that Probstein should stick to his "day job", as his interviewing skills were awful, to the point of maddening. Just as Mastro would hit on an interesting topic, Probstein would interrupt him or change course. Just let him speak, for Christ's sake. A good interviewer lets the person complete their thoughts and then bases the follow-up question(s) on what's been revealed (assuming the interviewer possesses good listening skills). Johnny Carson was the master of this, and even Leno was far superior to the current Late Night crop.

Anyway, Mastro's stories of the early days were engaging. I would've liked to hear more about his federal prison experience and how he built his auction house into the empire it was back in the day. Sounded like a follow-up interview might be in the works.

[Lorewalker]

Originally Posted by perezfan

A good interviewer lets the person complete their thoughts and then bases the follow-up question(s) on what's been revealed (assuming the interviewer possesses good listening skills). Johnny Carson was the master of this, and even Leno was far superior to the current Late Night crop.

Howard Stern might be the best interviewer and makes the very most of the hour or so he has with his guests.

Did not watch the Mastro interview yet so I cannot comment.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Christiana Amanpour.

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by perezfan

I agree that Probstein should stick to his "day job", as his interviewing skills were awful, to the point of maddening. Just as Mastro would hit on an interesting topic, Probstein would interrupt him or change course. Just let him speak, for Christ's sake. A good interviewer lets the person complete their thoughts and then bases the follow-up question(s) on what's been revealed (assuming the interviewer possesses good listening skills). Johnny Carson was the master of this, and even Leno was far superior to the current Late Night crop.

That's the secret sauce in the baseball oral history classic, "The Glory of Their Times." Having listened to all of Ritter's original interview tapes, his patience with the players is what stands out as the key to the great stories he got out of them. I sometimes wondered if something had happened as the seconds rolled by while Larry sat silently to allow his subject to travel back in time in his mind. No attempt to hurry them, prod them for specifics, show off his knowledge of their careers, none of that. Just silence. Then, after what seemed like minutes sometimes, when the player was satisfied that his memory had filled in enough of the detail from many decades long past, he would launch into one of the amazing stories that make the book so magical. If a course in "Interviewing for Oral History" was ever taught, one of the textbooks should be Ritter and GOTT. You can hear the process at work on the audio set, even with a lot of editing for time and flow.

[egri]

Originally Posted by perezfan

I agree that Probstein should stick to his "day job", as his interviewing skills were awful, to the point of maddening. Just as Mastro would hit on an interesting topic, Probstein would interrupt him or change course. Just let him speak, for Christ's sake. A good interviewer lets the person complete their thoughts and then bases the follow-up question(s) on what's been revealed (assuming the interviewer possesses good listening skills). Johnny Carson was the master of this, and even Leno was far superior to the current Late Night crop.

I once listened to an interview with a Civil War veteran that was the same way. The veteran had been at Pickett's Charge, and it sounded like he was about to go into a story about that day, when the interviewer cut him off with a question about something completely unrelated.

[lumberjack]

There can be a short audio delay with Face Time. It makes for clumsy dialogue, but it's not anybody's fault that people are stepping on each other's lines. Somebody correct me if I am wrong.
lumberjack

[Snowman]

Originally Posted by lumberjack

There can be a short audio delay with Face Time. It makes for clumsy dialogue, but it's not anybody's fault that people are stepping on each other's lines. Somebody correct me if I am wrong.
lumberjack

I was just about to post this. While, as a viewer, it was pretty annoying to listen to, you could tell that he recorded it from his cell phone. They were probably having audio lag issues. I remember listening to a podcast between Joe Rogan and Peter Schiff that was the same way. It was super annoying to listen to and Joe later said that it was because of audio issues with whatever they were using to do the recording at the time.

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

Originally Posted by lumberjack

There can be a short audio delay with Face Time. It makes for clumsy dialogue, but it's not anybody's fault that people are stepping on each other's lines. Somebody correct me if I am wrong.
lumberjack

I thought this too, but he definitely didn't adjust well to the issue. Mastro was on the cusp of going into detail about something I actually wanted to hear him talk about and they trampled each other 2 or 3 times, and the thread of what he was going to say was lost. I've done enough Zoom meetings to know it's tough not to trample each other, but it can be learned. I'd give Rick a pass though. I don't think he was intentionally cutting Mastro off, being a dick, or a big shot or anything like that. It was just inelegant in execution.

[Fred]

Originally Posted by egri

I once listened to an interview with a Civil War veteran that was the same way. The veteran had been at Pickett's Charge, and it sounded like he was about to go into a story about that day, when the interviewer cut him off with a question about something completely unrelated.

Scott, I'm gonna bite - did the CW veteran ever get back to the story about Pickett's Charge? If not, bummer... When people like that get on a roll, a good interviewer would just let them keep going.

I bet Mastro could go on for hours. I'd listen but I would also not forget. Did he pay his debt to society? Maybe, but I'm going to bet he isn't "whole" with a lot of hobby community.

[lumberjack]

Lawrence Ritter said he had to keep his subjects focused. He had a woman friend who was helping, running the tape recorder or something, and he had to ban her from the interviews as she would go off subject and distract the old guys. He said he wasn't happy about it, but it was necessary.

As I understand it, he hired someone to make transcripts of the interviews and they simply went on and on.

Riter was, I guess, pretty good at editing the stories down.

Henry Thomas can, perhaps, add to that.
lumberjack

[Hankphenom]

Originally Posted by lumberjack

Lawrence Ritter said he had to keep his subjects focused. He had a woman friend who was helping, running the tape recorder or something, and he had to ban her from the interviews as she would go off subject and distract the old guys. He said he wasn't happy about it, but it was necessary. As I understand it, he hired someone to make transcripts of the interviews and they simply went on and on. Riter was, I guess, pretty good at editing the stories down.Henry Thomas can, perhaps, add to that.
lumberjack

I would agree with most of this. Larry's girlfriend, Barbara, who was allowed to participate in several of the interviews, was everything you didn't want in a questioner: full of herself, asking inane questions, obsequiously flirting with the subjects, etc. You can hear all that in the Goose Goslin segment of the audio set, but the Goose just rolls over her, he's got his story to tell and he's going to tell it, and it turns out great. And yes, the freedom and time Ritter gave his subjects could also work against him, and some of the interviews ramble on without producing much of interest. Sometimes the interviewees themselves just weren't very good no matter how much editing was brought to bear, and those were an easy choice to leave off the set. It was Larry's son, Stevie, then in his mid-teens, who handled the tape recorder, incidentally.

[egri]

Originally Posted by Fred

Scott, I'm gonna bite - did the CW veteran ever get back to the story about Pickett's Charge? If not, bummer... When people like that get on a roll, a good interviewer would just let them keep going.

It's been several years since I listened to it, but I don't remember him going back to the story. I was disappointed too.

[CTDean]

Originally Posted by Hxcmilkshake

"Hidden reserves" is something new I learned today.



Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

I've bought and sold at auctions for the last 50 years and the hidden reserve has always been around for the quality catalog auctions. Some catalogs will explain the hidden reserve in the written "Auction Terms". The auction lot should have a specified high-low estimate with the listing, and the hidden reserve can't exceed the low estimate.

I dropped out of the East Coast card show circuit by 1984 so I only have good memories of Bill Mastro. Bill was the last one on the phone for my SCD phone auctions that ended at midnight and always a easy to deal with and talk to at card shows. Bill made mistakes and he paid the price so he not getting a free pass. I wish Bill the best of luck going forward.

Peck Dean

[Yoda]

I have had a 30 year relationship with Lew Lipset. Yes, he could be a curmudgeon at times and his grading standards were out-of-step with TPG'ers. But what a fountainhead of baseball knowledge and collectibles. His books about 19th century, T & E cards are classics and sit in my library. His auctions, although rudimentary by today's standards, always had great material and were scrupulously run. He belongs in that special pantheon of early pioneers, like Nagy and others, who brought so much to the hobby we love.

[Ricky]

Originally Posted by Yoda

I have had a 30 year relationship with Lew Lipset. Yes, he could be a curmudgeon at times and his grading standards were out-of-step with TPG'ers. But what a fountainhead of baseball knowledge and collectibles. His books about 19th century, T & E cards are classics and sit in my library. His auctions, although rudimentary by today's standards, always had great material and were scrupulously run. He belongs in that special pantheon of early pioneers, like Nagy and others, who brought so much to the hobby we love.

Agree about Lew, John. Purchased some cards from him back in the day and he always had interesting material. Read his encyclopedias and Old Judge publications religiously. Is he still active in the hobby?

[Yoda]

Originally Posted by Ricky

Agree about Lew, John. Purchased some cards from him back in the day and he always had interesting material. Read his encyclopedias and Old Judge publications religiously. Is he still active in the hobby?

Rich, I have sort of lost touch with Lew. As you probably know, he and Marsha finally sold their house in AZ and moved back to NJ a few years ago. I haven't heard much lately.
I remember well when they would come down to the Jersey shore, when I lived there, looking for a consignment. Afterward, we always had lunch and he would fill me in on hobby gossip. Interestingly, at least to me, he mentioned he never had a problem with Alan Rosen, and I think he quietly liked Alan and the publicity he brought to the hobby.

[bobbyw8469]

Originally Posted by Yoda

I have had a 30 year relationship with Lew Lipset. Yes, he could be a curmudgeon at times and his grading standards were out-of-step with TPG'ers. But what a fountainhead of baseball knowledge and collectibles. His books about 19th century, T & E cards are classics and sit in my library. His auctions, although rudimentary by today's standards, always had great material and were scrupulously run. He belongs in that special pantheon of early pioneers, like Nagy and others, who brought so much to the hobby we love.

So that gives him an excuse to treat people like crap. Got it.

[molenick]

Is this viewable other than on Instagram (says the old guy without an Instagram account)?

[CTDean]

Originally Posted by molenick

Is this viewable other than on Instagram (says the old guy without an Instagram account)?

I'm an old guy without an Instagram account and I just clicked the link in the first post and watched the interview.

[molenick]

Thanks. When I clicked on it the first time it wanted me to log in....but when I just clicked on it now, it went right to the interview.

[GaryPassamonte]

Originally Posted by molenick

Is this viewable other than on Instagram (says the old guy without an Instagram account)?

Michael- I don't have an Instagram account either, but was able to watch anyway.

[molenick]

I found it very interesting (after the first two minutes of looking at an office ceiling). I recall the days when Lifson and Mastro sold cards out of a motel room at Willow Grove shows in the mid-to-late 1980s. A friend and I used to go to their room and look through plastic sheets (or was it boxes?) of T206s picking out ones we needed for our sets (as I recall, nice condition commons were $20-$25...this was well after the days of the $0.15 T206). I never cared about the backs, I was just looking to fill in gaps in my sheets back home. If anything, I didn't want a rare back because that was more expensive. I don't remember them ever setting up at the show itself, but I could be mistaken about that.

Every now and then Rob would show me something more exotic, and somehow I would go from not knowing what I was looking at to buying something I had never seen before that day. He was a very good salesman (I am not saying that in a negative way). I think he knew that the friendly sales method worked better on me than Bill's sometimes more direct approach.