"aeneas" recently made a comment in another thread that i thought was an interesting one to discuss. he noted that professional authenticators "have probably forgotten more about game-used equipment than many of us will ever know - i really believe this."
i don't really believe it. in fact, i believe the opposite. i believe a niche expert will always know more about their respective niche than a jack-of-all-trades "pro". it's highly unlikely for someone to spend, for example, 10 yrs studying 2 eras of 1 team and not know substantially more than someone who's spent the same 10 yrs studying 5 eras of 30 teams. the jacks-of-all-trades (ie: "pros") are ideal, from an business standpoint, when you've got a large auction with a wide of variety of items. the auction houses feel it's not financially feasible to go out and hire 30 different niche experts per auction. saying something is ideal from an economic standpoint isn't the same thing as saying it's ideal from an authentication standpoint though. while i can see the value of a jack-of-all-trades to an auction house, i really fail to see the value of such a pro to collectors.
most collectors have a niche and they seek very specific items that fill that niche. in seeking advice about their items then, it seems their best bet for the most accurate, insightful information would be someone who specializes in their niche. that is, someone who's done nothing but study that single niche.
that said, i believe this Forum is quite possibly the largest single gathering of niche experts offering free advice to anyone in this hobby.if you're looking at a 70s or 80s era phillies knit, for example, would you rather go to howard wolf or bushing/lampson? in that case, i believe howard's forgotten more about those particular eras of phillie knits than bushing/lampson will ever know. jeff scott for cards jerseys and bats (do any of the "pros" have every single cards game on tape like jeff does?), mark sutton for O's jerseys, lon lewis for 49'ers and giants jerseys, scoggin for broncos jerseys, iglesias, albonetti and ricks for canseco items, derlith and herman on ripken items, weimerskirch on vintage A's items, bobby on ramirez bats, ad nauseum. i'm sure there are many i've missed. collectively, they've truly forgotten more about their respective niches than most of the pros will ever know.
every time i've had a question about an item, i've spent my time searching out a niche expert rather than a "pro" because i know that while the pro may likely have some general knowledge about the item, they simply won't have the in-depth knowledge that a niche expert will. the ultimate bonus is that i've never had any of the niche experts charge me a cent.
rudy.
i don't really believe it. in fact, i believe the opposite. i believe a niche expert will always know more about their respective niche than a jack-of-all-trades "pro". it's highly unlikely for someone to spend, for example, 10 yrs studying 2 eras of 1 team and not know substantially more than someone who's spent the same 10 yrs studying 5 eras of 30 teams. the jacks-of-all-trades (ie: "pros") are ideal, from an business standpoint, when you've got a large auction with a wide of variety of items. the auction houses feel it's not financially feasible to go out and hire 30 different niche experts per auction. saying something is ideal from an economic standpoint isn't the same thing as saying it's ideal from an authentication standpoint though. while i can see the value of a jack-of-all-trades to an auction house, i really fail to see the value of such a pro to collectors.
most collectors have a niche and they seek very specific items that fill that niche. in seeking advice about their items then, it seems their best bet for the most accurate, insightful information would be someone who specializes in their niche. that is, someone who's done nothing but study that single niche.
that said, i believe this Forum is quite possibly the largest single gathering of niche experts offering free advice to anyone in this hobby.if you're looking at a 70s or 80s era phillies knit, for example, would you rather go to howard wolf or bushing/lampson? in that case, i believe howard's forgotten more about those particular eras of phillie knits than bushing/lampson will ever know. jeff scott for cards jerseys and bats (do any of the "pros" have every single cards game on tape like jeff does?), mark sutton for O's jerseys, lon lewis for 49'ers and giants jerseys, scoggin for broncos jerseys, iglesias, albonetti and ricks for canseco items, derlith and herman on ripken items, weimerskirch on vintage A's items, bobby on ramirez bats, ad nauseum. i'm sure there are many i've missed. collectively, they've truly forgotten more about their respective niches than most of the pros will ever know.
every time i've had a question about an item, i've spent my time searching out a niche expert rather than a "pro" because i know that while the pro may likely have some general knowledge about the item, they simply won't have the in-depth knowledge that a niche expert will. the ultimate bonus is that i've never had any of the niche experts charge me a cent.
rudy.
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