Q & A With Michael O'Keeffe

[kingjammy24]

eric,

what do you think should change?

beyond simply educating the community, the ability of information to drive genuine change depends on the specific changes and on collectors' ability to translate thought into action. easier said than done. i think some things could change while others likely won't.

ultimately, for change to occur, i believe those actions have to originate from the collecting community as opposed to the "industry". that is, i don't believe ebay, sellers, auction houses, or authenticators will do anything unless they're motivated financially. if they were motivated ethically then they would've solved these simple issues a long time ago. they exist simply because they're profitable. if they're to cease existing, then they have to become unprofitable. telling someone like lou lampson to do the right thing solely for the sake of doing the right thing is like telling barry bonds to be nice.

to think that a person will change their unethical practices simply because they've been exposed is a big assumption. as long as the dollars keep rolling in, many couldn't care less about what people think. as with many things, money talks. the only thing that'd stop lampson is a lack of business.

the big question is whether collectors will actually translate knowledge into action (ie: vote with their wallets). some will but, as surprising as it may seem, many won't. for them, the need for an item takes precendence. they'll say the item speaks for itself, without considering the fact that they're keeping the unethical entity in business. personally, this is just a hobby for me and i don't need to roll around in the mud so to speak. you've been a vocal critic of lampson, yet you've also regularly patronized his biggest employer, AMI. thoughts?

rudy.

[Eric]

eric,

what do you think should change?

Here are my rambling thoughts. Sorry if they seem disjointed.

I want to see people go to jail for defrauding others. There are people who send jerseys to companies to add patches and nameplates and since they have the right specs, they get passed off as game used and people are taken advantage of.

Those people have been reported to the authorities and I want them to be held accountable.

Operation Bullpen could happen in our part of the hobby.

Perhaps were are looking at an era where people are fighting back.

Mastro is being sued by buyer Bill Daniels because they sold autographs with certs that weren't examined by those represented on the cert. The collector decided he wanted justice.

The FBI is looking into allegations of a consignor bidding up his own items at Mastro.

Historic Auctions and 100% Authentic (the complaint was sent to American Memorabilia) have been reported to the Better Business Bureau for not answering questions which proved the items they deemed "game used" were not. They both ignored the BBB when investigations were done.

I agree, these things must start with us. Industry folks will not police themselves. Everyone is making money on their end, so why change things. Ebay gets the fees, auction houses get the fees, authenticators get paid, auction houses hide behind the authenticators and the authenticators (no, really just Lampson) doesn't provide contact information.

Michael O'Keeffe does a great job exposing some of the chicanery in this business and I am thankful for that. To be honest, I thought this thread would have gotten a little more activity.

We get a lot of people complaining about issues on this forum. There's nothing wrong with that- people are tired of getting ripped off. They have the right to cplain- BUT when someone is exposing the things going on like O'Keeffe does regularly- this is what we should be talking about!

The Network54 thread about Mastro being investigated by the FBI in the vintage baseball card forum has 281 posts. We're barely talking about it here.

I'm hoping that what will stop Lampson is either a lack of business or a government agency like the Federal Trade Commission, the group who oversees things like auctions, stepping in and saying "People representing themselves as authenticators need to have credentials."

Wonder what would happen if the FTC told Lampson he had to prove he was qualified and be accountable for what he writes.

And finally, to address what you wrote, you're right, I have been hard on Lampson for fooling people who might not know any better than to assume his name means an item is actually 100% Authentic. When I patronized AMI it was because I saw items I was comfortable with. I did my own homework and pretended basically that Lampson didn't even look at those things.

As people mention on baseball card forums, it's tough to ignore the auction houses who are selling rare pieces you want. Perhaps I should have taken a stand and boycotted, but this is a hobby that I would like to enjoy, and if I started cutting off everyone who paid Lou Lampson then I would be out of the hobby.

AMI banned me (and the other moderators on this site) from bidding in their auctions, so they made the decision that they don't want my business. You're right, I should have beaten them to it.

Those are my answers. Dive in!
Eric