Walking the walk: An open letter to Chris Nerat

[kingjammy24]

chris,

your recent Gavel Chat post "There is nothing worse than a guy who talks the talk but doesn’t … well, you know" accused some forum members of not "walking the walk". you lambasted them as being "bad for the hobby".

during my time on this forum, i've seen members regularly and candidly discuss practically every major auction house and dealer in the hobby. at times, many of the comments have been deeply critical. i honestly don't know of a single hobby entity that is off-limits for discussion on this forum. even GUU and it's moderators have encountered criticism by some members and their comments remained posted and unedited. in short, it seems noone or nothing is safe from candid, critical debate on this forum. can you say the same about Gavel Chat? if so, i look forward to your next piece detailing many of lampson and AMI's debacles. something tells me i shouldn't hold my breath.

i can't recall the last serious expose you've uncovered on Gavel Chat. i can't recall a single article about any of Lampson's multitude of egregious errors. i can't recall single article about any of AMI's notable errors. i can't seem to remember the last time you candidly discussed any of coach's corner's errors in Gavel Chat. in august 2007, there was a large debate on this forum about a michael jordan shooting shirt being auctioned by mastro. the shirt was found to be doctored by members of this forum. the story was so big in fact that it made the NY Daily News and to date has generated over 6000 page views. looking over the Gavel Chat archives for August 2007, i can't help but notice you completely failed to mention any word of it. instead, it seems you chose to write about Arod rookie cards, a barry bonds coin, tons of matt murphy coverage. comically enough, one of your august 2007 posts was entitled "WHEN SPORTS MEMORABILIA NEWS IS LIGHT, IT’S TIME TO GO OFF TOPIC". while some could argue that SCD is constantly "off topic", the fact was that sports memorabilia news wasn't light. the jordan shirt was in the Daily News and there were talks of the FBI looking into mastro's practices. where were you? writing about ebay's "no listing fee" month apparently. the news was only light if one buried their head in the sand.

in short, when it comes to "walking the walk" the members of this forum have consistantly done so because the overwhelming majority of them bear no allegiance to any auction house or advertisers. the proof is in the pudding or in this case, in the posts. chris, how exactly have you "walked the walk"? by deliberately ignoring the most controversial stories? by choosing to write about barry bonds commemorative coins while some of your friends and advertisers were making blunders so big that the FBI took notice? i could easily name some hobby entities which i guarantee would never appear in your column, regardless of their transgressions.

in short, if you're going accuse others of not "walking the walk", then it helps if you aren't one of the biggest offenders. hypocrisy tends to eliminate credibility and it's hard to imagine that hypocrisy isn't bad for the hobby.

rudy.

[thedegu]

Excellent work Rudy; good summary of the main issues with Nerat's piece, which also applies to SCD as a whole unfortunately. Had to add a pointed comment of my own onto the screed.

Also like to note that he has just put up a new blog post, kinda- sorta-maybe apologizing for the whole mess.

Seems like a nice, knowledgable guy, but I must say that blog really jumped the shark with all the 'cowards' stuff.

One can complain about the messenger all day, but it means little if they ignore the rot right under their noses, i.e. CCSA.

Hoping for a cleaner hobby,
CS (the degu)

[kneerat]

Hey guys,
I stand behind my blog and every point I made.

The "coward" reference was only made to refer to people who constantly call certain authenticators' mistakes into question, and constantly complain that they are impossible to get a hold of, yet when these authenticators are for the world to see at The National card convention and other events, for some reason the same people who constantly "need" to talk to the authenticators never show up to ask them their questions.

I love this site and I've learned a lot from reading this. There are responsible people who post and irresponsible people who post. My blog was aimed at the few irresponsible posters.

Rudy, I have read many of your posts and you seem to do your homework and weren't one of the guys who I was even talking about.

If you have any other questions, please give me a call and I would be happy to discuss anything on the phone with you.
Thanks,
chris

[kingjammy24]

"I stand behind my blog and every point I made."

then answer the questions that have repeatedly been posed to you on here and SCD. how do you know lampson found errors robert didn't when robert explicitly stated in his first post that he found many errors but didn't feel it necessary to detail them all?

"Rudy, I have read many of your posts and you seem to do your homework and weren't one of the guys who I was even talking about."

chris, the issue isn't who you were specifically calling out. the issue is that you're the last person to call anyone cowardly. until you start "walking the walk" yourself, anything you say on the matter is going to be hypocritical. you sit at SCD, deliberately avoiding negative stories about your friends and advertisers, and then try to call people out? start with yourself, chris. your accusations of cowardice seem to be very selective.

rudy.

[cohibasmoker]

Hey guys,
I stand behind my blog and every point I made.

The "coward" reference was only made to refer to people who constantly call certain authenticators' mistakes into question, and constantly complain that they are impossible to get a hold of, yet when these authenticators are for the world to see at The National card convention and other events, for some reason the same people who constantly "need" to talk to the authenticators never show up to ask them their questions.

I love this site and I've learned a lot from reading this. There are responsible people who post and irresponsible people who post. My blog was aimed at the few irresponsible posters.

Rudy, I have read many of your posts and you seem to do your homework and weren't one of the guys who I was even talking about.

If you have any other questions, please give me a call and I would be happy to discuss anything on the phone with you.
Thanks,
chris

Hey Chris, I'd like to make a couple of comments if you don't mind.

In case you did not know, most of the forum members are working class guys that happen to love the hobby. They have jobs and families and due to time and financial restraints, they just can't get on a plane and fly to wherever to pose a few questions to an authenticator who may or may not show up.

With that said, in an attempt to help everyone get along, there just may be a way to alleviate the time and financial restraints. Since everyone on this forum has a computer, and I think we are talking about Lou Lampson, why not get together with Lou and make him available to answer email questions posed to him over the forum over a two-day stretch? This way if any member has a question for Lou, they can ask their questions directly and publicly.

With that said, let's not spin the situation - the issue was and still is the Namath/Jets helmet.

[both-teams-played-hard]

The "coward" reference was only made to refer to people who constantly call certain authenticators' mistakes into question, and constantly complain that they are impossible to get a hold of, yet when these authenticators are for the world to see at The National card convention and other events, for some reason the same people who constantly "need" to talk to the authenticators never show up to ask them their questions.

Folks who are on summer vacation, attending the National, want to enjoy their time off and have a good time. Confrontation is a buzz kill to most. "Calling out" a so-called authenticator isn't worth a 3 hour flight. Anyone who flies across the country to question the Lamp Man may be a borderline stalker. I have NEVER purchased an item with a Lamp Man LOA. He does get some things right. Blind squirrels and nuts...But, authentic game used jerseys authenticate themselves. LOAs sell for 2 and a half cents at Kinkos. The Lamp Man has taken on cult-like status to most. I make photo-shop artwork with the Lamp Man included. It makes me laugh...immature, but the truth. I'm sure he is a cool dude with some knowledge of something. I would gladly accept, if he wanted to buy me a beer. If you claim to be an expert and get paid for it; then expect over-the-top ridicule.
For the record: I denounce the Lamp Man's expertise. Actually, I denounce and reject his expertise.

[mvandor]

I think we're all sophisticated enough to understand that this site is at minimum an irritant to businesses that make their income on the backs of auction houses that move SUBSTANTIAL numbers of bad GU pieces to the tune of millions of dollars. If legitimate efforts were made to authenticate GU pieces by these auction houses - most of which seem to hide behind the rubber stamp of Mr. Lampson - their incomes would drop SUBSTANTIALLY and their owners would be downsizing their lifestyles quickly.

Chris's employer survives on the ads of the worst like Coach's Corner, so of course they're gonna defend their income at every turn and avoid any controversy that calls into question the legitimacy of auction house items. Their purpose is to help keep the status quo churning so they protect their ad revenues. His blog and comments here are full of spin intended solely to downplay the Namath helmet situation and to float the fantasy Lampson would have refused to authenticate it to prop up SCC's clients' main enabler.

It is insulting to one's intelligence to think for a second that any auction house using Mr. Lampson's services doesn't know exactly what they're getting - the most liberal authenticator in the hobby, a guy that won't "red light" hardly anything, a guy that will help them move their volumes and keep the money machines rolling.

This isn't going to change anytime soon, not until the FBI makes a serious effort at investigating and attacking the problem. Sadly, I don't think they have the resources post-911.

[skipcareyisfat]

Well said, mvandor.

I was actually starting to think that the whole Namath fiasco was a fading issue outside of this forum until Chris's blog yesterday. :eek: Good times in Iola, WI, boys? Seriously though, Chris, thanks for the entertainment. I'm loving every minute of this.

[bigtruck260]

I was an avid reader of SCD for many years - and for a long time it was worth reading. Now, I can get through a whole issue in about 10 minutes.

Sadly, the majority of SCD's content is made up of ads and very little content. Maybe an interesting article every now and again...

The reason I ceased reading is because of the ads for Coach's Corner. I have had people offer me items with a Stat or Morales COA from CC that were obviously not authentic. I had to tell the person on the other end that thier items are - well, worthless. It ALWAYS leads to someone getting upset. They are not upset at STAT or Morales or CC...they are upset at me for telling them the truth. I am left to do the unfortunate dirty work.

SCD should be a great resource for those who are new to the hobby - not a "dangling carrot" for new folks. People assume that SCD promotes authenticity...and then they are referred to CC by the large ads featuring Babe Ruth, and Christy Matthewson. They assume that CC sells 100% authentic items.

Then, they go to the CC site, and everything is priced far lower than even eBay. They pick it up and think they got a great price...it sits in their office for a while, and then they try to move it for something else. It eventually comes to someone like me - and I reject it. Where is the blame supposed to be? Tuff Stuff is in the same boat. They also feature CC fairly prominently in auction discussions.

If I am buying a home, and I get a realtor by referral from an associate, and the realtor knowingly sells me a house with major problems without disclosing them...and I discover that he has done this numerous times before AND THE ASSOCIATE WAS MADE AWARE OF IT prior to his referring me - I am probably going to place the majority of the blame on the associate...and what's left on myself for being too trusting of someone I thought I should be able to trust.

By protecting auction houses and being biased, SCD and Chris are doing the hobby more harm than someone who assumes (based on past behavior) that the "Namath" helmet will show up in another auction as a gamer from another year. Even if it is sold at another auction house.

If not for the efforts of this forum, and one of our more prolific posters...there is no telling what would have happened. It just seems to me that auction houses and people who are associated with them (those who are vested in some way) think of GU Forum as a tabloid. Keep up that method of thinking, and there is no doubt that people who read this forum will do as much as they can to dissect and expose anything that smells bad.

Respectfully,

Dave Patek (not hiding)

[grandpahoo]

I normally find disputes like this completely ridiculous, but that blog entry is so off-target that I can't resist:

going nuts on an auction house for a mistake like this is not only bad for Heritage

You're right, that's completely unfair. If I were to make a significant, highly publicized mistake at my firm, I'd expect a nice raise. Maybe even a parade.

but it is also bad for the hobby in general

Again, nice call. It would have been much better for the hobby if the mistake was never caught and someone had laid out 50 large for that helmet.

and board members who like to sit behind their computer and rant and rave about something like this are nothing but instigators who need to calm down

I agree. Those guys should get their own blogs, then sit behind their computer and rant and rave about things like this.

Also, I don't know how many times I have read on the board that people want to confront a certain authenticator about a mistake that was made on a jersey or a bat and they always seem to want to try to email the person.

Let me get this straight - you're suggesting that these people did something wrong by failing to confront him directly, while at the same time using your blog to piss and moan rather than communicating with the "cowards" directly?

Has Lou made mistakes in the past? Yes.

Ok, I have to admit that this part made me laugh.

[bigtime59]

When a certain "respected authenticator" can't tell the (laughably obvious) difference between an Orioles major league and an Orioles minor league jersey, I begin to wonder what value that "respected authenticator" has...until I remember the humble, utilitarian...rubber...stamp.
Follow the money, people. Follow the money.

Mark
bigtime39@aol.com

[sammy]

Before Lou Lampson started "authenticating" clothes, he authenticated autographs back in the 1990s.

His name at that time was Donald Frangipani. ;)