A Collector, Mastro, PSA & Our Beloved Hobby

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Posted By: John

I’m going to discuss and bring all of you up to speed on a confusing situation that I have been roughly aware of for some time, and as of a few days ago in talking to some very long term collectors and hobby insiders was able to obtain even more info on an ugly situation for all of us.

I’m going to keep this simple and to the point and as transparent as I can. This is not a bash anyone thread this is a thread with a purpose to inform you so you can be aware of what many of us view as questionable practices that happen in our hobby, and so that hopefully the right thing can be done for some of the parties involved who are out significant sums of money, and hopefully changes will be made to better this hobby down the road.

Here is the summary of the issue of what I know and what I have been told.

1.)It starts in the late 90’s early 2000 with a man named George Hober who had a little business empire going making doctored cards, of which one of his claims to fame is fake Snodgrass error cards “Nodgrass”. The problem with George like a lot of crooks was he was caught by the details, like grandpa always said it’s the little things that get you.

2.)Hober’s downfall was his Nodgrass cards were impossible, wrong backs, wrong pose etc. not to mention but for those who don’t know the few real Nodgrass cards that are out there have some of the remaining “S” intact it’s one of the only ways to tell if you’re looking at a potential real Nodgrass if all the “S” is gone it’s bogus.

3.)Despite these issues Hober did manage to pass off some cards to some pretty serious collectors and get these cards in reputable holders as well.

4.)In the late 90’s early 2000 Hober dumped about 3-4 of these cards via eBay one of which is the very card that was withdrawn from the current Mastro auction picture below. There was also a raw catching pose Nodgrass sold to a collector but for now were going to focus on just two of Hober’s jobs.

5.)The Cycle Nodgrass PSA 5, first of all not possible with the Cycle brand back or at least never found let’s say that, as anything I guess is possible to a degree. This card was won on eBay in 1999 for $9500 by a collector T206nate. The under bidder on this very card was another fellow collector which if I’m not mistaken was Doug Allen.



6.)Now from what I have been told and what I remember hearing from multiple people George Hober contacted the under bidder (Doug Allen) on the above card and sold yet another fake Nodgrass card for around 10k to Doug, this card was also graded by PSA. This card is even more odd as it was a catching pose Nodgrass which to date has never been found and does not exist.

7.)Sometime passed and when Hober’s fraud came to light many collectors were left scrambling to see if that Nodgrass they bought was real or a fake, unfortunately for Doug and our collector they were in fact fake. I have been told on good authority that Doug was compensated in some way by PSA and Joe Orlando and the card (Catching Pose) was destroyed etc. However our collector wasn’t so lucky having doubts about the card and wanting to know he consigned the card to REA, who in turn raised the same questions about its authenticity. The collector having hit a brick wall in terms of support from PSA looked to REA to help him add resolve to the issue. Rob Lifson then sent the card to PSA and spoke with Joe Orlando directly about the cards legitimacy. Rob even sent Joe a copy of the collectors check (below) to George Hober as even more proof of the questionable nature of this card. PSA in turn told REA that they would stand behind the grade and the cards authenticity and felt it was fine. REA refused to sell the item then the card was returned from PSA to REA, Rob explained their position to the collector and returned the card to the consignor.


omitted name and account number for obvious reasons

8.)Now in 2008 this very card PSA 5 Cycle Nodgrass Batting shows up yet again in Mastro’s auction, the very card at one time that once again from what I have heard and remember Doug Allen was the under bidder on. This very card which came from George Hober, in which Doug was unfortunate enough to fall victim himself to this card doctors unsavory work.

9.)Now I’d like to add and be clear that I give Mastro and Doug 100% the benefit of doubt here, these guys pump 100’s to 1000’s of lots on and through this auction house. They can’t personally overlook each and every card that passes through these front doors, kudos to Dan for catching it and Kudos to Doug for pulling it!

However for me the plot continues to get confusing from here and that’s what troubles me the most and raises the most questions.

After seeing this lot posted and caught by Dan McKee and hearing the stories and remembering this whole Nodgrass fake Hober history, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I raised an eyebrow. What really made me cringe was the disclaimer on the lot itself?

I’ve been bidding and watching Mastro lots since I was a kid; I don’t ever recall seeing a disclaimer like that on any lot do you? It made me wonder unless someone had firsthand knowledge of a cards questionable nature why protect yourself with a disclaimer passing off liability to another party?

Having heard the first hand stories and hobby talk which I brought you guys up to speed on about these Nodgrass cards, then seeing this very card end up in a Mastro auction with a disclaimer like no other before I really have to question what’s going on here. I also don’t want to jump to conclusions but I really hope this isn’t as ugly as it may seem, and let’s be honest here for a second this looks really bad not just for Mastro but especially for PSA!

How about PSA? We pay these guys lots of coin to protect us from this stuff; we also put an enormous amount of faith in their product. Yet right now there is a PSA Nodgrass which is so bad you can smell it though the holder and it’s floating out there like a loaded gun waiting to go off again on some uneducated collector who is putting his faith and money in the very system these guys created to protect him. To me that’s a crying shame, and PSA should be ashamed of themselves!

I’m asking and I think we all should be asking PSA to step up and make it right regardless of the fact that this card should have never made the auction block to begin with. This very card and this situation with Mastro & PSA is a serious problem, it’s stuff like this obvious issue that begs the question what else is slipping by, what else is going on and when will this house of cards (pun) fall down around our heads.

I’m going to also add I really have no dog in this fight other than the fact that I love this hobby and really just want straight answers to this situation from all parties involved. I would also like to see the right thing done by way of PSA to the collector and ultimately all of us, as we all put a lot of faith and trust in PSA’s services and they need to be accountable and stand behind their product and service. If PSA won’t be accountable for this what services are they really offering us in the end, and by not doing the right thing today they are really devaluing all of our collections.

I've also added an old SCD article that discusses these cards FYI.


*if you need a larger copy I can email you one, just trying to keep the images down for easy nav*

Thanks for your time and reading this long thread, I hope we can discuss this and spearhead at least a small step in the right direction together.

Cheers,
John