GUU The Newest Authentication Service On The Block?

[ChrisCavalier]

Re: GUU The Newest Authentication Service On The Block?

GUU Auctions does rely on free labor and i believe that may be an inherant flaw in chris' idea. in general, i don't believe one can operate a for-profit venture that is dependent on free labor.

Hello Rudy,

I need to correct you here. The GUU Auction model is not based on "free" labor. In fact, every item submitted to GUU is evaluated first by knowledgeable people like Mike Specht, Rob Steinmetz, Darrell O'Mary and others before they are listed in the auction. Those knowledgeable people are also the ones who write the descriptions for the items. That process is not different from the services other auction houses provide although we feel more comfortable with our evaluators and the way they examine items. In fact, we rejected quite a few item that were submitted to us for this auction because they did not pass our internal evaluations. Some potential consignors have been upset with us because they we wouldn't accept items for our auction even though they have LOAs from other entities. While we were not saying the items were "bad", they simply did not meet the criteria we have established for GUU auctions.

Further, we have invested a great deal of time and money to build the community on Game Used Universe and we have integrated it into our transaction model to add further assurances to collectors when they make a purchase. It is a "layered" model that uses trust-worthy experts to do the evaluations, write-ups. etc. and then allows questions to be asked so that items are fully understood. It is in my mind the best model in the industry to validate items. However, it is far from being based on "free" labor.

I hope that clears up any misunderstanding you may have had about how the auction works.

Sincerely,
Chris

[kingjammy24]

Re: GUU The Newest Authentication Service On The Block?

Isn't this exactly the model being used by the auction portion of this forum? Put the items up to the scrutiny of its members?

Regards,
Dave

hi dave,

yes and no. to an extent, GUU Auctions does rely on free labor and i believe that may be an inherant flaw in chris' idea. in general, i don't believe one can operate a for-profit venture that is dependent on free labor.

however, it's not entirely free. in return, GUU provides this forum completely free of charge. as well, mike specht and jim caravello, under the GUU banner, have put in prodigious effort in regularly answering volumes of bat record info for one and all. again, free of charge. if chris cavalier told me that, in order to enjoy this forum on a daily basis, i needed to authenticate 4 jerseys a year for GUF, then i'd gladly do it because i'd consider it a fair trade. GUU gets its "free" authentication and i, in turn, get access to an unbelievable amount of expertise and insightful discussion free of charge.

conversely, in return for free authentications from Forum members, what exactly has GFC, AMI, Mastro or Historic given back? AMI has banned chris, rob, and eric. Historic has blocked all incoming links. i don't recall GFC offering to make nick coppola's crew available to answer jersey questions free of charge. i don't recall doug allen making his crew available free of charge to help out with member questions, despite having his ass saved by this very Forum on the jordan shirt. doug was too classy to even come on and say thanks.

dave, you and i both get a lot from GUU/GUF. otherwise, we wouldn't be regulars right? i've gotten absolutely, unequivocally nothing from GFC, AMI, Historic, or Mastro. when's the last time lampson came on the forum to offer up some of that astounding knowledge that he's supposedly got packed into his amazing brain? coppola? does he not have a computer either? how many times has this forum saved GFC's ass? how about a "hey forum members, here's 10% off just for you. thanks for all of your help".

there are folks in the industry who seem to willingly help others. most of the GUU folks as well as rob lifson and dave grob come to mind. it's not hard to give back to those who help you. conversely, when someone's a boor who's given back little, it's pretty hard to feel you ought to help them willingly and for free.

rudy.

[aeneas01]

Re: GUU The Newest Authentication Service On The Block?

Isn't this exactly the model being used by the auction portion of this forum? Put the items up to the scrutiny of its members?

Regards,
Dave

not quite the same - i don't believe items listed here as one thing evolve and morph into something else based on member comments. of course i've been wrong before....

[aeneas01]

Re: GUU The Newest Authentication Service On The Block?

anyway, robert: i think some auction houses have long been skimming free information off this site for their own authentication purposes. i suppose that's a good thing, right? can't exactly bitch about them not listening and then bitch when they do.

i don't have any problem with an auction house looking to guu for help. i have a problem with an auction house that cherry-picks good info from this site for less than above board purposes - such as to bolster, or make excuses for, a very suspect item in their possession. and, imo, that seems to be the case with the reynolds lid. but, hey, i have a vivid imagination. and i also suffer from delusions of grandeur.

forget 4.7gb dvd discs, lou's still doing it old-school. what a relic. does he still enjoy taking in a good vaudeville show? maybe getting into his trusty Packard and heading downtown for a 5-cent sarsparilla and some frozen custard? maybe see the doc about getting a poultice for his gout? maybe that's why he and victor get along so well. they can both dish about the time they saw jack dempsey making eyes with theda bera. i bet andy rooney drives them nuts with his youthful impishness.

funny, funny stuff! i guess we all need to simply face the fact that lampson is from a much gentler, kinder, "kick off your shoes and grab your fishing pole" place and time. and, further, i guess we all need to finally realize that nerat is right - lampson is just a harmless little rascal trying to make his way in the world....

[CollectGU]

Re: GUU The Newest Authentication Service On The Block?

"If you have ever seen Lou at a show, he pulls a large briefcase (almost a suitcase) around on wheels. In it, he has his latest treasures for show and tell, as well as many photos."



i think some auction houses have long been skimming free information off this site for their own authentication purposes. i suppose that's a good thing, right? can't exactly bitch about them not listening and then bitch when they do. my personal feeling on the matter in general is that while i think it's prudent for auction houses to listen to GUF, it's a bit of a raw deal that this free information is helping their venture to profit.
rudy.

Isn't this exactly the model being used by the auction portion of this forum? Put the items up to the scrutiny of its members?

Regards,
Dave

[Vintagedeputy]

Re: GUU The Newest Authentication Service On The Block?

"If you have ever seen Lou at a show, he pulls a large briefcase (almost a suitcase) around on wheels. In it, he has his latest treasures for show and tell, as well as many photos."

and thank you for my laugh of the day! a suitcase on wheels. i love it. forget 4.7gb dvd discs, lou's still doing it old-school. what a relic. does he still enjoy taking in a good vaudeville show? maybe getting into his trusty Packard and heading downtown for a 5-cent sarsparilla and some frozen custard? maybe see the doc about getting a poultice for his gout? maybe that's why he and victor get along so well. they can both dish about the time they saw jack dempsey making eyes with theda bera. i bet andy rooney drives them nuts with his youthful impishness.

King - that was priceless! Well worth the price of admission! Thanks for a good hearty laugh!

Jim

[kingjammy24]

Re: GUU The Newest Authentication Service On The Block?

"If you have ever seen Lou at a show, he pulls a large briefcase (almost a suitcase) around on wheels. In it, he has his latest treasures for show and tell, as well as many photos."

and thank you for my laugh of the day! a suitcase on wheels. i love it. forget 4.7gb dvd discs, lou's still doing it old-school. what a relic. does he still enjoy taking in a good vaudeville show? maybe getting into his trusty Packard and heading downtown for a 5-cent sarsparilla and some frozen custard? maybe see the doc about getting a poultice for his gout? maybe that's why he and victor get along so well. they can both dish about the time they saw jack dempsey making eyes with theda bera. i bet andy rooney drives them nuts with his youthful impishness.

anyway, robert: i think some auction houses have long been skimming free information off this site for their own authentication purposes. i suppose that's a good thing, right? can't exactly bitch about them not listening and then bitch when they do. in this specific case, i understand the ridiculousness of AMI banning chris, rob, and eric solely for their association with the GUF and then turning around and pilfering information from it for their own purposes. my personal feeling on the matter in general is that while i think it's prudent for auction houses to listen to GUF, it's a bit of a raw deal that this free information is helping their venture to profit. i can't count the number of screwups lampson has made that were corrected by this Forum. not only did they fail to send any of the authentication fee to the folks on here who really did the work but they didn't even come on this Forum to say thank you! classless is right.
lampson screws it up, members on here correct it, and lampson collects 100% of the fee. i don't mind helping people on here for free because i receive the same in kind. i do mind helping people for free when they're making money off of my work, not sharing a dime of it with me, and have never helped me in the least.
you'll continue to authenticate helmets at various auction houses and i guarantee you that if the auction house is GFC, AMI, Mastro, Vintage or Historic, you'll never hear so much as a thank-you much less actually receive a cut for your work. they'll take your info but pay lampson.

rudy.

[helmets]

Re: GUU The Newest Authentication Service On The Block?

If you have ever seen Lou at a show, he pulls a large briefcase (almost a suitcase) around on wheels. In it, he has his latest treasures for show and tell, as well as many photos.

[Dewey2007]

Re: GUU The Newest Authentication Service On The Block?

Your L.L. LOA photo w/ captions just gave me the laugh that I needed to get me through the rest of the day. Thank you and keep them coming!

[kingjammy24]

Re: GUU The Newest Authentication Service On The Block?

I'm confused. I have always been told (by two auction houses) that Mr. Lampson doesn't use email, computers, the internet etc.

If that's true, then he's missing out on a lot of research material. So it can't be true, can it?

of course it's true. lampson claims to have an "astounding" 8000 photos. how do you suppose he carries around 8000 photos? assuming he carries 8x10s (or larger) and that each one would weigh approx .20 oz, that's roughly 80lbs. don't you always carry around an 80lb briefcase with 8000 photos inside? i know i do. these biceps of mine don't build themselves!

no computers, no internet. just books and hard copies of photos. the thing that has me really puzzled though is how he prints off so many loas. his website has 10 loas per page and 580 pages for a total of 5800 loas. that's a whole lot of typewriter ribbon! or maybe he's got his own printing press? all that typesetting must be madness for the poor guy.



rudy.

[aeneas01]

Re: GUU The Newest Authentication Service On The Block?

... but really have to wonder with all those differences how they then can attribute it to Reynolds at all? And curious where the recycled camp story came from as well, sort of suspect the creative writers that do their catalogue.

exactly...

the first time around the decals were "intact and original" - the second time around they are "trimmings" later added. yet we're supposed to believe that the "reynolds" dymo tape, the item connecting this lid to hacksaw, is original? and, p.s., the "camp" story is utterly ridiculous.

[Eric]

Re: GUU The Newest Authentication Service On The Block?

I'm confused. I have always been told (by two auction houses) that Mr. Lampson doesn't use email, computers, the internet etc.

If that's true, then he's missing out on a lot of research material. So it can't be true, can it?

Anyone know first hand?

[both-teams-played-hard]

Re: GUU The Newest Authentication Service On The Block?

Notice post #9 from this thread:

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=3023&highlight=alworth

Could just be a coincidence, but Lampson may have used my research. I still urge Mr. Lampson to join this forum and ask questions of its members. He may have caught details that I, or other members of this forum, missed.

[harpt]

Re: GUU The Newest Authentication Service On The Block?

...I put them, morally, at the same level with the terd that a bird left on my pick-up this morning

I can honestly say that's first time in my life that I have ever heard any reference to the morality of a terd.

[lund6771]

Re: GUU The Newest Authentication Service On The Block?

You know, I respect that they tried to address the issues but really have to wonder with all those differences how they then can attribute it to Reynolds at all? And curious where the recycled camp story came from as well, sort of suspect the creative writers that do their catalogue.

Mvandor...some might call it creativity...I call it morally & ethically dispicable what auction houses like AMI do...I put them, morally, at the same level with the terd that a bird left on my pick-up this morning