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Grocery Cello Conspiracy
ICE9
Posts: 552 ✭✭✭
Wow - this was buried in the "other" GAI thread:
"I bought 6 packs of unopened 1971 and 1972 topps baseball cellos in the recent huggins and scott auction. When i asked steve at bbcexchange about a trade he informed me about an issue with these packs. I contacted Steve Rocchi about this and he kicked me offer to Ryan Rutter for his take. I was told to ship them to gai at there cost for review. 1 week later Steve called me back to say that these packs were made by someone in the 1970's with a pack sealer from the topps co. and that they were indeed no good. I was asked to figure out my cost and they would make good either through credit or check. I split it up and recieved a check 2 weeks later for almost 500.00."
It looks like all of those early 70's "grocery" cellos authenticated & slabbed by GAI are in deed fake. I wonder if GAI is going to make good to ALL of the folks that purchased this crap. Or if they are taking any steps to remove these from the secondary market. Not sure what everyone else is thinking , but I think that GAI integrity (or at very least their professional opinion) is now in question.
Mike
"I bought 6 packs of unopened 1971 and 1972 topps baseball cellos in the recent huggins and scott auction. When i asked steve at bbcexchange about a trade he informed me about an issue with these packs. I contacted Steve Rocchi about this and he kicked me offer to Ryan Rutter for his take. I was told to ship them to gai at there cost for review. 1 week later Steve called me back to say that these packs were made by someone in the 1970's with a pack sealer from the topps co. and that they were indeed no good. I was asked to figure out my cost and they would make good either through credit or check. I split it up and recieved a check 2 weeks later for almost 500.00."
It looks like all of those early 70's "grocery" cellos authenticated & slabbed by GAI are in deed fake. I wonder if GAI is going to make good to ALL of the folks that purchased this crap. Or if they are taking any steps to remove these from the secondary market. Not sure what everyone else is thinking , but I think that GAI integrity (or at very least their professional opinion) is now in question.
Mike
"Must these Englishmen Live That I Might Die? Must They Live That I Might Die?" - The Blue Oyster Cult
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I like the cust. service and apparent honesty with GAI and SGC. Look it seems to be very important when sending our cards out that the company that i am entrusting my babies to will at least own up to a mistake and not try to hide or cover up any issue's that may arise.
Other than that i believe that PSA,GAI and SGC are all top notch and each has there own strong points and weakness' and would submit to any of them and feel comfortable with my results.
T206's are always being bought.
aloof1003@comcast.net
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
Let's see now:
We've got hundreds of fake grocery cellos slabbed by GAI.
We've got a new potential scandal over fake PSA slabs (thread is titled "Interesting Read"), never mind the WIWAG scandal of 2003-2004.
And you wonder why people like me are skeptical about the grading industry???
<< <i>I ma sure those crappy x-mas racks are the same gambit >>
Yeah, I busted a guy who was selling these bogus racks. He gave me back my money the hard way.
Let's see now:
We've got hundreds of fake grocery cellos slabbed by GAI.
We've got a new potential scandal over fake PSA slabs (thread is titled "Interesting Read"), never mind the WIWAG scandal of 2003-2004.
And you wonder why people like me are skeptical about the grading industry???
The alternative, though, is even worse. Despite these problems, GAI certification does provide a level of protection that buying raw doesn't. I've opened dozens of GAI graded packs and can count on one hand the number of packs that were resealed. The key is to do your homework and research as much as you can. On the other hand, I'd say the percentage of resealed raw packs on ebay is at least 50%. Steve Hart estimates that it's even higher than that.
Collecting 1970s Topps baseball wax, rack and cello packs, as well as PCGS graded Half Cents, Large Cents, Two Cent pieces and Three Cent Silver pieces.
The whole reason the grading industry exists is to provide guarantees of authenticity and definitive grading. If grading companies can no longer provide these services on a consistent basis (and there have been numerous threads about inaccurate grading), then they are not adding any value and graded cards should no longer get a premium over raw cards (which have their own problem with trimming, etc.).
It getting to the point where you can't trust anything....graded cards, raw cards....there's nothing that isn't being faked.
I'm just about at the point now, where I will not buy anything from anybody without a no questions asked return policy.
<< <i>I agree with you that getting things graded offers "some" level of protection. But does the level of protection offered justify the higher prices afforded graded cards?
The whole reason the grading industry exists is to provide guarantees of authenticity and definitive grading. If grading companies can no longer provide these services on a consistent basis (and there have been numerous threads about inaccurate grading), then they are not adding any value and graded cards should no longer get a premium over raw cards (which have their own problem with trimming, etc.).
It getting to the point where you can't trust anything....graded cards, raw cards....there's nothing that isn't being faked.
I'm just about at the point now, where I will not buy anything from anybody without a no questions asked return policy. >>
Looks like someone's panic room is wifi capable. Don't tell me you hardwired it!