BAD PSA graded Nodgrass

This PSA graded Nodgrass is very obviously no good because of the entire S missing. This card was originally sold by George Hober aka greenhornet on ebay years ago. He was the person doctoring the Nodgrass cards at the time.

REA returned the card to PSA stating it was bad but PSA argued and said they would stand behind it and that any other auction house would sell it.

After being listed as item number 390 in the recent Mastro Auction, I quickly alerted the Mastro Staff of the problem. The card was then removed from the auction.

Let's hope PSA will consider doing the only right thing here and refund the original owner his purchase price for their mistake.

http://www.mastronet.com/index.cfm?action=DisplayContent&ContentName=Lot%20Information&LotIndex=80225&LastLotListing=Lot%20Search%20List&CurrentRow=1

Dan

It looks like PSA thinks his name is Nodgrass-there is no mention of the s missing or his name being Snodgrass.
Years ago when I won a Snodgrass on ebay the person in question emailed me and tried to purchase the card from me-saying he collected the batting pose.

Good eyes Dan -you are the man!

PSA should be forced to reimburse the buyer. What are your opinions? Dan

Dan,

I think PSA should reimburse, but I don't think their policy would put them in this corner. If the purchase price reflected the value of the error, and if the buyer relied on the PSA designation as Nodgrass, then they should refund. So the more inexperienced the buyer, the more fair it is to think that they went by PSA's designation. For an experienced buyer it's harder to make the case that it was the PSA flip that led him to think it was an error card.

The only other PSA "out" that I can think of is if they can show that by policy and in practice they use the word "error" on the flip of an error card. If so, then they can make the case that the grader simply thought the guy's name was Nodgrass and therefore didn't id it as an error card.

But yeah. If someone spent extra money because they thought PSA's word was good then they should get something back.

Joann

It's PSA's slab, so they are ultimately responsible for it. They can use legal symantics and what not, but it's still a serious mistake on their part. It's just another reason for people that are knowledgable not use PSA or trust PSA graded cards. If the registry people finally come to their senses, PSA is in big trouble because they are pretty much living off the set registry. Beckett is rpefered by those that collect modern cards and SGC is the king of vintage (i.e. pre-WW2) cards. That doesn't leave much beyond the registries for PSA.

Jay

Well put gents! Here is more information in much more detail:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/153652/thread/1209785082/last-1209853057/A+Collector%2C+Mastro%2C+PSA+%26amp%3B+Our+Beloved+Hobby

Hey Dan,

Good for you for starting the threads in both forums that got this ball rolling. My answer above says that I think PSA should be on the hook, but in the Net54 thread I expanded on a few of the questions I asked above.

I'm just curious what you think of some of them, coming from a generally anti-grading perspective. I'm neutral on grading - I don't like it and I don't dislike it. It's just there. It seems to me that people that like and want grading would want these messes cleaned up instantly, while those against grading might be just as happy to see the graders continually mess all over themselves. And in public no less.

But as to some of my questions, do you think it matters if the original buyer (the first buyer after the PSA grade) was a hobby expert and knew about the forgeries being out there? Is it different if it's someone that isnt' that expert but saw the flip and bought it?

Is there any explanation that PSA could give - or them describing any set of circumstances - which would make you say that maybe they wouldn't have to pay it back?

J

I am not found of grading but I do not like to see these mishaps as they affect so many people involved. Grading does offer some good and needs to co-exist with the internet.

The buyer is very knowledgable but bought this before the word was out. Actually, Doug Allen then bought one and then I bought one. Mine was the only one that was raw. My father then noticed the doctoring. I alerted Doug immediately. Doug and Joe Orlando are very good friends so Doug immediately got his $10K back from PSA. I returned my card to the seller and received my $1500 from there. I am not sure if the original buyer learned right away, maybe Doug contacted him but I didn't.

The real problem is, PSA is not very knowledgable and for some reason, won't take the time to ask the experts that are available to them.

Dan, who are you kidding? PSA has all the experts and doesn't need to consult others when it comes to rarities, especially ones that can be easily forged.

Jay