Its sad to see another authentication service changing again. Consistancly in this hobby is crucial especially when authenticaiton comes into play. Conflict of interest already exists with the new company being formed called Memorabilia Evaluation and Research Services (MEARS).
Dave Grob writes himself that he will:
"1. I will serve as the editor and a principle contributor to the content of the site.
2. I will serve as the policy director for evaluation operations.
3. I will once again be involved in the evaluation of baseball uniforms."
Is it me or is the conflict now black and white! No matter if it was Dave's intent or not, his controls in the new company conflict one another or at least bias one another.
Also..where did Dan Knoll and Lou Lampson go? Are they still apart of this new company? If they aren't why not? I hope they are. I mean if the autheticators from the original SCDA can't stick together for more than a year how is this going to work.
And if they aren't their, why did they leave? What about all of the SCDA LOA's that were already done. Is their something wrong with them now?
Seperation of powers is important so that checks and balances may occur. Good Authentication is extrememly important to the memorabilia hobby. It would be nice to see each authenticator just authentic as their own person instead of forming new companies.
I wish all involved with the new Memorabilia Evaluation and Research Services well, and hope they will only bring positive things to the hobby.....just think they need to re think some things before they start.
Might we at LEAST give Mr. Grob and company a chance to authenticate one piece of equipment as M.E.A.R.S. before we circle around them like Great Whites around some chum?
I don't post much on this board, but, Eric, I think it is high time....no name signed....no post. If you don't have what it takes to sign your name to some critizism.....you shouldn't be allowed to post. Just my opinion.
Thanks for the post and your concern for the hobby. I am curious as to what my conflict of interests are with respect to my role within MEARS are. Please elabortate.
1. I will serve as the editor and a principle contributor to the content of the site. (My editorial functions involve providing information).
2. I will serve as the policy director for evaluation operations. (My role as policy director is focused on internal operating procedures (how we do things) and those external ones that are related to those we work with, i.e., if you are an auction house and want our services, these are our expectations from you).
3. I will once again be involved in the evaluation of baseball uniforms. ( I will offer opinons on items as my schedule permits).
As far as where Dan Knoll and Lou Lampson went, that was answered in a previous post where I stated that Dan Knoll is still with us and was a response to Humpty's question on the origonal announcement thread. I stated in response to Aaron's question about overall organizational changes and composition that Lou Lampson will still be in the hobby, but writing letters under his own structure.
I thank you for the well wishes and would be interested in hearing what the things are that you wish we would re-think.
As to Eric B.s note about giving us a chance, that's all that anyone can ask for and I too believe in the concept of no name = no post.
1) To echo one of the points made by AuctionInfo, the one thing that I am concerned about is the value of the SCDA LOA. SCDA was not around very long at all. I have several items that I paid a premium for because they came with this LOA. I can't say that I'm thrilled that SCDA bailed out so quickly as this clearly won't boost the value of the LOAs and the items that come with them (I don't buy items for their LOAs ... but this is definitely a relevant issue with respect to re-sale as the LOA is hugely important to a lot of collectors). When you buy items that come with LOAs from the biggest names in the hobby, you definitely don't expect the LOAs to become outdated/extinct that quickly.
2) As for your public "suggestions" to our gameusedforum.com owner (Eric) as to how run or manage this website, I have a suggestion for you (that has been made elsewhere on this site multiple times by other members): "LET ERIC RUN HIS WEBSITE" - there are far too many posts as to how Eric should change his website (which are really indirect criticisms of his website) and far too few statements of praise. The website is FANTASTIC. You can always email Eric privately with a suggestion if you like or start your own website (Eric includes his email in every post of his I've ever seen and I've contacted him privately myself a number of times and he always responds quickly).
Dave, I wish you the very best with this new endeavor and I'm glad to hear that Dan Knoll will stay with you folks.
Your concerns about the value of former SCDA letters are valid, and we also had the same concerns as we were forming MEARS. Although the name has changed, all of the practices, procedures, methods, and guarantees have remained. We are currently contracted by the same auction houses and will begin accepting retail submissions soon.
All SCDA letters are recognized by MEARS. Not only are they recognized, the data we have gathered from authenticating them has become an integeral part of our database. Portions of this data base will be made available on the MEARS website for those interested in increasing their own education of game used/worn memorabilia. This means that all items graded by SCDA will be found in the MEARS bat population report. We are currently gathering all of the jerseys information for the items we authenticated as SCDA and will include them in the new MEARS website and population report.
In cases where collectors insisted on having their SCDA letters converted to MEARS letterhead, that process could be arranged.
And finally, all items authenticated with letters signed by Dave Bushing, are still guaranteed for life with a money back guarantee. The logo has changed, but the product and services will be better.
Thanks for your response. Up until this point, I always thought a COO was a chief operating officer. Now I understand that it is a certificate of opinion. Are the days of the COA officially over?
I do appreciate your response and I am sure you guys will continue to work through these and related concerns. Teaming Dave Grob up with Dan Knoll for uniforms is certainly a confidence builder. I wish Dan followed this forum as I imagine his comments would be very helpful to collectors (as Dave's have been).
Great post and a very solid concern that is probably shared by more than have voiced it to date. In a perfect world, SCDA would not have changed name and would still be part of a larger and evolving SCD community. Unfortunately this is not the case.
Before you or anyone else begins to consider an SCDA letter as being out of date, I would ask that you reflect on what or why you decided to buy an item with a SCDA letter or bid on one in an auction that came with this letter. I suspect that it had something to do with what you eluded to in your post..the letter was produced by a certain person or persons whose opinion either you thought had merit or had value associated with.
For the most part, that really has not changed. Yes, Lou Lampson is no longer part of this new organization, but Lou is still a very visable and recognizable name in the hobby. Dave Bushing and Dan Knoll are still part of MEARS. At the end of the day, you will still be able to say your item comes with the formal opinon of the person you sought out and that person is still a pressence within the hobby today. What should assign value to the item is the person and the quality of the work offered by that individual, versus any brand name associated with it.
SCD is clearly in a position to keep the services offered by SCDA up and running should they choose to do so. They would have to reatin a group of individuals to perform that work. If this was the case, you would have to ask yourself who would you send future items to..the orgainzation with the same name or a new organization with largely the same individuals.
As long as the hobby has confidence, which mind you has to be earned on a daily basis, on an individual and or process, then the name it is done under should not be an issue with regards to value retention.
I understand all of that ... but remember, as a collector, I could not possibly care less about the LOAs (no offense!). I just worry about how other potential buyers/collectors will view these letters (and the values of the items that come along with them) when I go to sell these game used items. At best, this will not hurt the buyers' perceived values; at worst, it will significantly hurt. My bet is that it is somewhere in the middle ... and hence, my original post.
Reid, my suggestion was made with the best of intentions. You are very correct that Eric owns this forum as as the owner, he has bestowed upon me the right to post. This is also a right that, he, as owner, can take away at any time if he feels I am a detriment to the forum. My comments were made respectfully without any "shouting" capital letters or any such derogatory tone. I respect any persons right to make a calm, resonable suggestion on any forum I belong to. If you don't see it that way, I can only appologize.
I'm sure your post was well-intended and you're free to post your opinions and suggestions, of course ... but as someone who does make regular posts on this forum, I get tired (and you can tell from other threads that I am clearly not the only one) of everyone knowing better than Eric how Eric should run his own website. I appreciate your response and I'm sorry if you were offended by my "yelling."
Now that Lou Lampson is no longer affiliated with SCDA, who will authenticate the football items for MEARS? Here are my thoughts on "authentication"...are there individuals with vast array of knowledge when it comes to game used items? Of course there is, however, they can not be the end all be all on whether something is game used or worn. As a consumer, take the time and effort to research things on your own!! That effort along with the authenticator’s knowledge will ensure your piece of mind when buying something considered game worn/used. Cut these authenticators some slack, not everyone can know everything about game worn used items. I once had a jersey that an authenticator stated was "bad"...I worked with him to prove why I thought it was "good" and sent over 100 photos of the item in question. He was pleased at my thoroughness and I informed him of things he wasn't even aware of!!! He subsequently changed his mind from his initial determination….
Did YOU actually pay this “Authenticator” for basically “authenticating” YOUR item with YOUR information which YOU provided?
Gees, I thought that was the service HE was suppose to provide to you. If you changed his mind by sending him photos and adding information, who is the “Authenticator” and who shouldn’t be.
Your post states that what I am doing within this new organiztion presents a conflict.. I responded with clarification as to what I am doing. With all my posts I enure there is an e-mail link. I have posted my phone number on this forum on more than one occasion.
I would like to know why you feel my roles conflict or bias one another. In addtion, I have asked that you please let me know what the things we should rethink are.
If I don't know who you are or how I contact you and you don't provide clarification, then please don't be disappointed if things at MEARS are not done to your liking. This is not to say we will be all things to all people.
If you look in the archives here- Auction Info included an email address link with some of his early posts- rookierdf2003@yahoo.com
Maybe you can get in touch with him that way.
Also, I have 3 questions about MEARS. Have you decided if the definition that SCDA was using for "game worn" is going to change? (That was a big issue on these boards a while back) It seems absurd that SCDA would determine that an item that never made it out of the locker could be written up as game worn simply because it was game issued or intended for game use.
My second question is- since you made the announcement about the changes, does that mean you will be the spokesman for the company and not Troy? If Troy will be continuing his duties in his current position, then why didn't he announce it? Maybe it's semantics, but it seemed confusing to come from you and not someone affiliated with SCDA.
1. Definition of game use. This changes because of how items will be listed. In the past a uniform would be listed as a say a "Tony Gwynn game worn jersey". Items will now be listed as say "Tony Gwynn 1985 San Diego Padres Home Jersey." any mention of evauluating game use will have to be explained in the body of the letter. They shirt will either show some signs of use or wear or not. If it does not and it is "game ready" but shows no sign of use or wear, that will be stated.
2. On who is the spokesman for MEARS, you should expect to hear from all members of the organization. My focus in on our procedures..Troy will still be working day to day operations and collectors should expect to hear from him on specific pieces that have been worked.
3. We are still playing with domain names for the site and will lock that in the next few weeks. We are looking to launch on or about 1 August. We will let folks know what the address it before that time..
I would like to let the board to know that my concern with the football jersey and the lack of Lou Lampson's letter has been rectified.
After my post, Troy responded promptly on the board and I e-mailed him. Received a reply promptly back and he and Lou will personally look at the jersey on Wednesday.
I have dealt with a lot of authenticators and I must congratulate Troy and the folks at SCDA on the prompt service and attention to collectors concerns.
Some of you may not agree with them on everything, but in this business/hobby, they are as concerned with getting the right information in regard to items as you are, and will promptly respond to your concerns.
