Mastro Sports Auctions

[mvandor]

Can't help but wonder iif this is not a direct result of the well publicized FBI investigation. Perhaps the brand had become tarnished, perhaps Bill Mastro was worn out by the wear and tear of the investigation and wanted out. Wonder if the new corporation acquired assets only or assets and liabilities? If just the first could be a liability dodge.

Lots of possible motivations.

[dcgreg25]

I just got a call from someone at Mastro and it sounds like Legendary will take over the assets going forward starting with the next auction. Mastro will receive payment for and complete all transactions from the recently closed auction.

Its funny, if you call the phone number on the email announcing Legendary's formation, you get a voicemail for a restoration company and no mention of the auction house...at least as of when I called this morning.

[kingjammy24]

Can't help but wonder iif this is not a direct result of the well publicized FBI investigation. Perhaps the brand had become tarnished, perhaps Bill Mastro was worn out by the wear and tear of the investigation and wanted out. Wonder if the new corporation acquired assets only or assets and liabilities? If just the first could be a liability dodge.

Lots of possible motivations.

as usual, mastro's explanation makes little sense. if bill simply wants to leave the hobby then why does that necessitate shutting down his life's work entirely? after all, bill already sold his interest in 2004. all he'd have to do is just quit. you'd think he'd be interested in seeing the business with his name on it continue and prosper for many years.

- in 2004, mastro sold his firm to silk road equity. silk road equity is headed by andrew filipowski. filipowski was doug allen's boss many years ago when doug worked as a VP for platinum technologies. safe to say that andrew and doug have a long history.

- fast forward to today: from a feb 2009 ny daily news article:
"A lawyer contacted by an angry consignor, however, said company founder Bill Mastro told him the company had a cash-flow problem.
"Mastro said the new owners have been reluctant to expand or renew their bank credit line," said the lawyer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity."

wow..doug can't get his buddy's firm to renew their credit line? that's very odd. (at the time, doug said everything was fine, no problems, just a banking glitch. 1 month later, mastro shuts down. as always, doug's word is gold).

well wait a minute here..if doug couldn't secure financing for mastro, then how did he secure it for "legendary", especially in 2009 when credit has practically frozen? legendary is up and running within days of mastro folding? yeah that makes sense. just bill..wanting to leave the hobby. that's it.

my 2 cents: if "legendary" is revealed to be funded by silk road equity, then i think it's obvious what happened.

rudy.

[suicide_squeeze]

as usual, mastro's explanation makes little sense. if bill simply wants to leave the hobby then why does that necessitate shutting down his life's work entirely? after all, bill already sold his interest in 2004. all he'd have to do is just quit. you'd think he'd be interested in seeing the business with his name on it continue and prosper for many years.

- in 2004, mastro sold his firm to silk road equity. silk road equity is headed by andrew filipowski. filipowski was doug allen's boss many years ago when doug worked as a VP for platinum technologies. safe to say that andrew and doug have a long history.

- fast forward to today: from a feb 2009 ny daily news article:
"A lawyer contacted by an angry consignor, however, said company founder Bill Mastro told him the company had a cash-flow problem.
"Mastro said the new owners have been reluctant to expand or renew their bank credit line," said the lawyer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity."

wow..doug can't get his buddy's firm to renew their credit line? that's very odd. (at the time, doug said everything was fine, no problems, just a banking glitch. 1 month later, mastro shuts down. as always, doug's word is gold).

well wait a minute here..if doug couldn't secure financing for mastro, then how did he secure it for "legendary", especially in 2009 when credit has practically frozen? legendary is up and running within days of mastro folding? yeah that makes sense. just bill..wanting to leave the hobby. that's it.

my 2 cents: if "legendary" is revealed to be funded by silk road equity, then i think it's obvious what happened.

rudy.

Exactly, Rudy.

I think it's referred to in the brokerage business as an unfriendly takeover. But this one most likely carries a twist.

In creating the "appearance" that Bill's name is being removed from the company from this point on, how convenient is that for the three principles left to run the "new" company while shedding the perceived "baggage" that was Mastro Net? Pretty darn convenient.

So, were the problems that wrecked the largest Auction house in the business from Bill? Or were the majority of these problems the result of the sale and subsequent "management" team that took the reigns and ran with it? Does it even matter?

There is an obvious "changing of the guard" as far as company policy. But it's still the usual suspects running the show. My guess? We are all ending up left to deal with the same company with forced changed mandated by the FBI investigation.....and the results of a manufactured compromise on everyone involved to just end the speculation of "unfair" play, and start over with guidelines to be followed (or else) going forward.

You saw it at AMI......and we're seeing it here. Simple as that.

As long as the end result is a better invironment for the bidders (collectors).......then I guess it's a good thing.

[jppopma]

I'd hate to be one of the people with a consignment check coming from Mastro.... Not coming out and saying that there will be problems and people being told a "sorry Mastro is no more" shell game, just how will these changes affect the timely payments??

[kingjammy24]

unless of course the FBI investigation made silk road withdraw their funding and no bank would touch mastro unless there was a scapegoat and investors were told that the scapegoat is no longer part of the company so "everything's ok now".

any way you slice it, it doesn't appear to me to be simply a quaint little matter of bill mastro just wanting more time to feed the ducks in the park.

rudy.

[lowell25]

You forgot to add coaches corner.

Looks like we have a new addition to the Game Used Sports Hall of Shame:

1. AMI
2. Bricol
3. Vintage
4. Historic
5. now Mastro...doesn't surprise me.

Should ebay be included for excessive costs, poor buisness practices, etc.?

[lowell25]

Can anyone tell me who I should Trust when I buy game used jersey's, helmets, ect. AMI SUCKS, Coaches Corner SUCKS, Mastro Net SUCKS. Should I just buy from MLB.COM and Steiner. PLEASE HELP.

[dirtyla2000]

I would love the same answer!

[kingjammy24]

Can anyone tell me who I should Trust when I buy game used jersey's, helmets, ect. AMI SUCKS, Coaches Corner SUCKS, Mastro Net SUCKS. Should I just buy from MLB.COM and Steiner. PLEASE HELP.

the answer to that question has always been the same: trust yourself. educate yourself on the items you want to collect. that way you won't need to place trust in others. noone will look after your best interests like you. mlb.com and steiner have both made numerous errors. if you know what you're doing, you'll spot the errors. the thing is, it's not that hard. this isn't rocket science. start with bill henderson's guide: http://www.mlbstyleguides.com/refguide.html . it provides a great introduction to collecting MLB gamers.

rudy.