Mastro Sports Auctions

[kingjammy24]

I agree that there is limited information and much speculation. As far as the investigation goes, no on knows what is going on who is being looked at. For example, even if shilling is the crime, shilling can be the product of the consignors (and well placed friends) rather the auctioneer. I've seen a variety of speculation, but I've not heard anyone in the government say a Mastro employee, much less which Mastro employee, is being looked at by the FBI. Maybe a Mastro employee(s) is in trouble, but I can only speculate about that.

according to one ny daily news article, the mastro FBI investigation "has focused on shill bidding, card doctoring and other allegations of fraud".

"Also on Friday, investigators from the FBI and the United States Postal Service interviewed a former Mastro Auctions employee who is known to be a “card doctor,” somebody who fixes dog-eared corners, removes stains, flattens out creases or takes other steps to improve the appearance of trading cards. Most collectors and dealers consider it unethical to alter cards."

rudy.

[suicide_squeeze]

O.K. ...................I can "speculate" with the best of them.

I'll go out on a limb and say there was some kind of a deal cut by Bill and and FBI. I'll also say ALL of them that worked in the company knew exactly what was going on. EVERYTHING.

Keeping in mind fraud is a BITCH to prosecute and prove in the court of law (because of the necessary "intent" prerequisite to convict) and knowing it would have been a long, trecherous trial, expensive as hell, with NO guarantee of any convictions.........this is how it probably went down......


FBI: "Bill, you and your RAT PACK have some dirty hands here.....You say you're "into everything" so by self admission, you're guilty of having knowledge of what we've found going on here (shill bidding, card doctoring). How do we clean this up Bill? Oh, and by the way, thanks for the Babe Ruth signed baseball, my son will LOVE it!

Bill: "My pleasure....and my best to the wife, Chief. I'll just grab my jacket and I'll be on my way....thanks for everything, boys!"

FBI: "But Bill.....we have to do SOMETHING or all the money we've spent to investigate all of the complaints will be for not.....And after all, we HAVE found your rats have been chewing on the collectors.....so how does this sound?.....Since you're responsible, you take yourself out of the picture, and this company that bought your name can move on with a clean slate....deal? That will separate you from your elfs, and everyone will be left wondering who the real responsible party is......sound good?"

Bill: "I think that's a gem, Chief. After all, I've made enough to last me a lifetime with MORE than enough left over to satisfy the 'family', and since my 'gig is up' and you're letting me walk, I won't have to be looking over my shoulder in the slammer because I wasn't able to pay off 'the family' before I met up with one of their 'insider's' in the joint. It's ALL GOOD! So......are you sure the wifey wouldn't like a signed Jose Canseco ball? The chicks really used to dig him.....Madonna too?"

FBI: I'm sure 'Slick' (Willie).....Hell, she'll probably have me auction off the Ruth ball before I can even give it to the boy.....Maybe even in the upcoming Legendary Auction?!?!!

Both laugh heartily as they shake hands and head towards the door......

[trsent]

Have any of you pointing fingers ever met Bill Mastro and had a discussion with him?

I do not know if he is clean or not, but I can tell you he always gave me the impression that he was very straightforward and honest. This doesn't mean he was, but he sure showed class and openness in my dealings with him many years ago. This also doesn't mean there were not issues in his company that he may or may not have known about.

Everyone can make guesses, everyone can be jealous because Bill used to tell us all how he had more money than everyone else, but putting the spotlight on Bill Mastro because the company reformed is just speculation.

Rudy, as for you doubting my comments about the money issues within the owners of Mastro Auctions - My speculation came from sources within the company and not just pure speculation. Maybe they were telling people this to make them feel better, as I find it odd that the same parent company is advertising the new auction house on their web site if there was really to be a reorganization.

So confusing this whole situation. Too bad the principles do not post their sides on here.

[David]

Over the years I've had both positive and negative interactions with Mastro, so I'm not an apologist. At their best they were the best sports auction house around, though later on there were some things I saw that didn't sit well with me. As I said, I don't know the specifics of the investigation, so I won't speculate on that.

[suicide_squeeze]

trsent, David......and anybody else for that matter....

This is not a court room, and we are not trying Mastro Net.

But I for one am DAMN PISSED OFF for one particular dealing I had with them (a prior post....let me know if you want to re-visit it) that was BRUTALLY wrong.....so wrong that I almost gave up on my interest in the collecting hobby. I was raped.....playing by THEIR rules!

Then to hear we ALL have been faced with "shill bidding" when participating intheir auctions? I mean.....I'd be REALLY upset if I was a CARD COLLECTOR......thank God I'm not.

WHY do you care to stand up for Bill, or his company.....after this type of news comes out? HOW MANY items did you OVER PAY for? It was HIS COMPANY. If ANY of you think their was criminal activity going on by his employees, and HE didn't KNOW about it......then WHY is HE the one going bye-bye? C'MON people.........use the grey matter.

As far as how Bill came off to you and in regards to your experiences and past dealings....I mean are you kidding? O.J. Simpson was a well respected superstar in the sports world AND in social circles all over Los Angeles here, Hollywood, the whole acting scene....you name it.

But what would you say if I told you I attended a high school party many years ago in Brentwood, where I grew up, and our cross country track star had a party at his well-known brain sugeon father's mansion......and O.J. showed up with a couple of his pro football buddies. He went from blonde to blonde without hesitation. This was 1976 people. True story. High school girls.

Then, Mr. Congeniality did his little double duty in 1994 becasue NO ONE was going to make the GREAT O.J. pay $10,000 a month in ALIMONY! Nice.

Would you let the guy date your daughter today?

Criminals don't walk around wearing a cap saying "LOOK OUT, IM A BAD ONE!" The most successful of them are usually the classiest, quiet, soft and well spoken. They attract people......their "victims" to be. They are experts at grabbing your wallet, all the time while stroking your ego, or whatever else you lay on the table with their smooth ways.

I say the whole organization was a skunk wearing Chanel #5. And I have most of my best items from them over the years.

But you know what? Just because they had the largest numbers (by far) in sales over the past 6-8 years or so in the hobby doesn't mean they are "the blessed ones". In fact, WHY were their numbers so darn good in their little "unregulated" business?

Yeah, Mastro Net had a great thing going.

So did Bernie Madoff.

I don't know about you.......but I want some GAL DARN ANSWERS from someone....the FBI.....SOMEONE.

I'll say my apologies later.

[trsent]

Did you compare Bill Mastro to OJ Simpson?

Sorry, I stopped reading your post after that.

Everyone know I am a fan of Bill Mastro but I think Doug Allen thinks the rules are made by him, in case you are concerned about where I stand.

[rose14]

I have been dealing with Bill Mastro and Mastro Sports Auctions for over 10 years now and I can tell you that my dealings with Bill and Brian Marren were great over the years. I have been to their offices about three or four times over those years and everything and everyone was very professional, everything you would expect from a top notch auction house. I always looked forward to every Mastro auction and knew it would be loaded with some of the best items in the sports collectibles industry.

I have seen a noticable change in the company since Doug Allen arrived at Mastro. It appears to me that the amount of questionable items has gone up considerably since Doug's arrival. In my opinion it seems that in the last few years Mastro Auctions abilitly to safely authenticate items prior to auction was poor and that those auctions were about quantity instead of quality.

[suicide_squeeze]

Did you compare Bill Mastro to OJ Simpson?

Sorry, I stopped reading your post after that.

Everyone know I am a fan of Bill Mastro but I think Doug Allen thinks the rules are made by him, in case you are concerned about where I stand.

trsent,

Read it again if you'd like, but please.....understand the analogy.

I was simply saying you can't judge a book by it's cover. No matter how personable, professional, caring, etc. a guy comes off, he could be the devil in disguise. I was in NO way, shape, or form comparing Bill to O.J.

Look, obviously something was wrong. Hopefully the truth will come out, but the "truth" may be nothing more than what we already know:

-There was some card doctoring. Without a picture or proof of who did this.....no charges will be brought.

-There was "shill bidding" going on. This could mean a LOT of things. But I'll summerize by saying if the item was owned by someone in the auction house, and you ended up bidding on it and WON......you probably got lambasted because you were bidding against someone in the company who either got he wanted for it, or jacked it up to a pre-determined point where he locked in his investment in it.

And guess what the consequences would be if one of the bidders didn't win an item that was being bid up by an insider of the company? That's right, nothing. No buyers premium to pay, no listing fees.....NOTHING. It was a win/win sitch for them.

So you ask..."How could they get away with this?" Easy, they tell the Feds "Hey, we're collectors too. If our consigners have no problem with us bidding on items in our own auctions, what is the problem? We sincerely wanted to win the item we were bidding on. Sure. Right. And it probably took very little planning and effort on their part to represent the item being "owned and consigned" by another individual. Am I speculating? Yes.
Am I way off base? You can decide for yourself.

Go ahead, trsent, stand up for your man. I have no problem with that. But if you want to comment on a post, at least READ it through and try to get the meaning......please.

[suicide_squeeze]

I have been dealing with Bill Mastro and Mastro Sports Auctions for over 10 years now and I can tell you that my dealings with Bill and Brian Marren were great over the years. I have been to their offices about three or four times over those years and everything and everyone was very professional, everything you would expect from a top notch auction house. I always looked forward to every Mastro auction and knew it would be loaded with some of the best items in the sports collectibles industry.

I have seen a noticable change in the company since Doug Allen arrived at Mastro. It appears to me that the amount of questionable items has gone up considerably since Doug's arrival. In my opinion it seems that in the last few years Mastro Auctions abilitly to safely authenticate items prior to auction was poor and that those auctions were about quantity instead of quality.

O.K. Bill's the greatest guy in the hobby.


So what happened? If Doug Allen is the "bad seed"......why did Bill allow this to escalate into his own self demise? Did he just not want to do it anymore? Did he make too much money and just not want to fight the fight anymore? Did he sell the business he obviously loved dearly only to get weaseled out by the Satin of the industry?

All you guys do is praise Bill for the past, but with no substance behind it other than to state (essentially) "It had to be Doug". And quite frankly, the super bad experience I had with Mastro was ALL ABOUT Doug.....he personally orchestrated the biggest buttf&$king I've ever had in my entire life......so believe me, there is no love loss with me and Doug.

But again.......WHY would Bill be the scapegoat? Why would he stand up for the very same guys who did him in? I mean c'mon???

It just doesn't make sense.....if there was absolutely no culpability on his part. As good of a guy as he seemed to be.