A Southern California collector has filed a class action lawsuit over the ongoing allegations of altered sports and non-sports cards. Eric Savoy of El Cajon, CA filed the civil case in Orange County Superior Court this week, naming PSA and two major card dealers, PWCC Marketplace and Rick Probstein as defendants. A group of unnamed defendants is also listed in the … [Read more...]
Editor’s Blog: More Altered Cards Outed But No Legal Action Yet
No legal action been filed yet in connection with the ongoing revelations of altered trading cards uncovered by members of the Blowout Cards forum since last spring, but the work to identify them continues. More cards alleged to have been purchased, altered and re-graded for profit are being revealed on almost a daily basis. Members have recently highlighted … [Read more...]
Finds and Revelations: 2019 Sports Collecting Year in Review (Part I)
There were phenomenal finds and disturbing discoveries. Record revenue and sensational selling prices. No matter the month, there was something collectors were talking about this year. In the first of a two-part series, we look back at the last year in the hobby with some happenings from the first half of 2019. The year began in strange fashion with the viral … [Read more...]
Revenue, Submissions, Backlog Still Growing at PSA
Collectors Universe, the parent company of PSA and PSA/DNA, reported record revenues for fiscal year 2019 on Wednesday. The company took in $72.5 million in fiscal 2019, which ended June 30. That figure includes a record $5.4 million, or 25% increase in trading card and autograph authentication revenues. Revenue from trading card and autograph submissions in … [Read more...]
Altered Cards Update: Pre-War HOFers Impacted
Some more notes on recent developments and a few observations surrounding the revelation of altered cards.... *A group of pre-War cards with evidence of "cleaning" and perhaps other alterations has emerged through the research of collectors who've been looking into the issue for the last several months. Among them: a 1921 Exhibit Babe Ruth (the first Exhibit card … [Read more...]
Card Alteration Probe Hits USA Today
The hobby's card doctoring problem was on the front page of the USA Today sports section Tuesday afternoon. The paper published a story outlining the ongoing issues over trimming and other trading card alterations that have ignited a federal investigation. Writer A.J. Perez confirmed Sports Collectors Daily's earlier report that FBI agents handed out subpoenas at … [Read more...]
Grand Jury Subpoenas Part of NSCC Events
There were no arrests made, but law enforcement was present at the National Sports Collectors Convention this year. Sports Collectors Daily has learned that multiple FBI agents were at the Stephens Convention Center during the week and that several hobby businesses received subpoenas seeking sales lists, customer records and other material. The effort … [Read more...]
PWCC Owner Now Has Criminal Defense Attorney; Cooperating with FBI
"If Brent does any more good things for the hobby he’s going to end up in prison." Whether dealing with accused mobsters or offering an opinion on hobby-related matters, well-known criminal defense attorney Jeff Lichtman usually doesn't pull punches. As the altered trading cards scandal played out during the spring and early summer, he was an outspoken critic of the owner of … [Read more...]
Collectors to Washington Post: We’ve Talked to FBI
The ongoing revelation of vintage and current era trading cards that have been altered and re-sold for profit has attracted the attention of federal investigators, according to a story in the Washington Post. While it had been strongly suspected that the FBI was interested in the case, the Post story--the third mainstream media outlet to report on the issue-- indicated that … [Read more...]
Card Doctors Could Face Variety of Legal Trouble If Law Pursues
Issues of trust and legitimacy are the biggest takeaways from the recent scandal over graded sports cards that have been trimmed, recolored or otherwise altered. But is there a legal reckoning to come? A professor of law at a South Florida university says it's possible, but cautions it is a difficult process. “This is the crime to commit,” said Bob Jarvis, who has taught … [Read more...]