Changes at MEARS

[Danny899]

Re: Trouble at MEARS

Whoops, thats Hobby Network to search. Are you implying that I am questioning experts?

No Nate, not implying anything. Just venting about the so called experts that I've encountered in this hobby long before this forum existed. I just knew you would sympathize somewhat and maybe inject a little humor into a tense thread. Seriously, I always felt that Dave Meidema was as close to being an expert as anyone. He has always been helpful and a pleasure to speak with. He's the one who explained that slight deviations in size, tagging, fonts and other variables do not always mean a jersey is not authentic. He stated he became wiser by studying common player jerseys, not just stars. How many times do you see a jersey knocked down here because, "the font is slightly smaller." If you've ever spoke with him I'm sure you would agree. Dan

[ndevlin]

Re: Trouble at MEARS

Ah Dan, I got ya, I got ya.

[ChrisCavalier]

Re: Trouble at MEARS

To the GUU Moderator who edited my post, what was wrong with my discussion on MEARS For Sale? My short paragraph was removed and I have no clue why.

Please advise on this forum, as I cannot imagine what rule was violated. I have a copy of the the three sentence paragraph on file and I cannot imagine what was wrong with it and I figure if it is going to be removed, me and my public should be notified why.

Hello Joel,

The portion of your post was deleted because it violated the following forum rule:

No Advertising or Website Promotion. Please do not post any messages anywhere on this site that are primarily for the promotion or advertising of any website, forum, email address, business, multi-level marketing activity or other entity without prior approval from Game Used Universe.

If you now feel compelled to post on this forum again I would suggest making sure you familiarize yourself with the rules. Given your open and public criticisms of this forum, I think it would also help to clarify things up front. If your goal in coming back is motivated by a sincere desire to help the people who participate on this site you are more than welcome. However, if the intent is to cause any discord I will respectfully ask that you reconsider.

Sincerely,
Chris

[trsent]

Re: No Trouble at MEARS

Hello Joel,

The portion of your post was deleted because it violated the following forum rule:

No Advertising or Website Promotion. Please do not post any messages anywhere on this site that are primarily for the promotion or advertising of any website, forum, email address, business, multi-level marketing activity or other entity without prior approval from Game Used Universe.

If you now feel compelled to post on this forum again I would suggest making sure you familiarize yourself with the rules. Given your open and public criticisms of this forum, I think it would also help to clarify things up front. If your goal in coming back is motivated by a sincere desire to help the people who participate on this site you are more than welcome. However, if the intent is to cause any discord I will respectfully ask that you reconsider.

Sincerely,
Chris

Chris, I am here to speak the truth about the industry. I was told that too much happens on this discussion group with no respect for the other side. Such as the discussion about Lou Lampson. I don't like his work ethic, but I also respect that he tries and I do not believe he is attempting fraud as many people have speculated on this discussion group.

As for my post about a company's sales policy as a retailer - I was not promoting a business, it was very clear, I was stating that they disclose what items they own and authenticate which is very positive for the industry that they tell you before you buy and item if they own it themselves so you know their letter of opinion came from an item they owned and you can decided to buy the item based on this information.

I know you personally do not like this company, but they are a player in the industry and my paragraph was not a promotion for them. It was making it clear that anyone who wishes to call it a conflict of interest may, because they tell everyone before the sale of the conflict that they stand behind as professionally as anyone I know in the industry.

Let's be clear, I follow the rules the best I can, but I get special treatment because I like to give a view that you may not personally agree with. It is ok for someone to start a discussion speculating that because Dave Bushing will no longer be an authentcator, there may be "Trouble at MEARS". When I come here and state that Dave is now working for a different division of MEARS, a division that fully discloses items they own and authenticate, you remove the paragraph about that - Why?

It is ok for someone to speculate that there is "Trouble at MEARS" but I state a true fact about Dave Bushing's new position, and you remove the part that mentions the company? I was not promoting anything. I was stating the facts.

If there was "Trouble at MEARS" would Dave Bushing been at the MEARS booth all weekend at the Ryan Friedman Sports Auction House Specular all weekend?

Chris, maybe if we work together in having adult discussions that are not edited and not personal attacks against others that are DISCUSSIONS, your fourm will continue to be the most read in the industry.

[ChrisCavalier]

Re: Trouble at MEARS

Joel,

Contrary to what you suggested, your post was not edited because of any personal feelings I have. The post was edited because it violated a rule, the same as tons of other posts on this site have been edited when the rules have been violated. Also contrary to what you suggest, I do not personally "not like" the company. I have had a number of really pleasant email conversations with Dave Grob and I just had an email exchange with Dave Miedema explaining I gave a favorable opinion of him to a collector at the Sun Times Show who asked me what I thought of him.

If you think I (or GUU) am out to get anyone than I can tell you that you are mistaken. We are unequivocally committed to making the hobby better for collectors and we are doing everything we possibly can to make that happen. What I am not interested in is spending my time trying to respond to false accusations (as I am having to do now). I am more interested in spending my time trying to figure out how to help collectors in every way possible.

Again, if you would like to participate in those efforts, please feel free. GUU will continue to do great things for the hobby and all who are committed to helping the collectors on this site are welcome here.

Sincerely,
Chris

[trsent]

Re: Trouble at MEARS

Joel,

Contrary to what you suggested, your post was not edited because of any personal feelings I have. The post was edited because it violated a rule, the same as tons of other posts on this site have been edited when the rules have been violated. Also contrary to what you suggest, I do not personally "not like" the company. I have had a number of really pleasant email conversations with Dave Grob and I just had an email exchange with Dave Miedema explaining I gave a favorable opinion of him to a collector at the Sun Times Show who asked me what I thought of him.

If you think I (or GUU) am out to get anyone than I can tell you that you are mistaken. We are unequivocally committed to making the hobby better for collectors and we are doing everything we possibly can to make that happen. What I am not interested in is spending my time trying to respond to false accusations (as I am having to do now). I am more interested in spending my time trying to figure out how to help collectors in every way possible.

Again, if you would like to participate in those efforts, please feel free. GUU will continue to do great things for the hobby and all who are committed to helping the collectors on this site are welcome here.

Sincerely,
Chris

Chris, I sent you a private message through the system about this discussion. I asked you to show where promoting a business was done that was out of line? I am waiting for a reply.

Stop being so defensive, it is not good for the heart my doctor tells me.

Notice I didn't repost the three sentences you removed? I have no clue how they were in violation. They were commenting about the discussion at hand and you removed them for some reason.

If I posted here say, "Upper Deck Authenticated is a great company with a great authentication system and data base and they disclose when people sign autographs for them and I really think they have an honest system", would you remove it?

There is no difference. It is a discussion, please re-read the three sentences and think about why they were removed.

Have you noticed a pattern with the replies I receive? I post for less than a day and instead of discussing the topics, they bring up strippers and my eBay listings being private? Such a poor defense instead of having a mature discussion.

[beantown]

Re: Trouble at MEARS

i suppose i've got a different take on things. i think differing viewpoints are one of the things that makes this forum so valuable though.

predictably, dave paints himself as a selfless martyr, castigated by bloodthirsty hatemongers, all for nothing more than a couple of simple "mistakes". oh woe is him who hath build this hobby with his bare hands, authored every book and every article ever read by anyone, and helped his fellow collectors more than anyone in history. the nameless, faceless, online hellhounds have chased away a completely well-intentioned man who desired nothing more than to simply help his fellow collectors.

not sure how many caught this recent thread:
http://www.network54.com/Forum/42715...nt+REA+Auction.

a simple "mistake" right? the sort that dave feels he's unfairly persecuted for. let's look at this mistake to see the grave injustices that dave is subjected to. the jersey is owned by bushing and has been given an A10, the highest grade possible. it has a very large, very noticeable stain on the front. mears' own grading criteria explicitly states that points are deducted for stains. anywhere from .5 to 5 pts depending on the size and severity of the stain. in order for the A10 to truly be an innocent mistake, 1 of 2 things must've genuinely occurred: either dave did not see the stain or he was unaware of mears' grading criteria. anyone with one working eye can see that stain. if dave truly missed it, then that is frightening. i don't believe he missed the stain. it's as plain as day, especially for an "expert".
was dave unaware of the details of mears' grading system? after spending years at mears, as their top authenticator, evaluating hundreds of items, i have to think that dave is very well versed in mears' grading system. so if dave saw the stain and was aware that points ought to be deducted for them, then how on earth could this jersey have managed to retain a perfect A10? could it be because dave owned the jersey and stood to personally profit from it? could it be because dave knew that an A10 would put more money in his pocket than an A7 or A8? those certainly seem far more plausible than the idea that he missed the stain or was unfamiliar with mears' grading system. this of course begs the question of how many other A10s has dave slapped onto items he's owned that really should've been graded lower (and thus sold for lower)? this behavior is not tolerable to me.

"I will no longer even grade or authenticate my own merchandise, rather leave that to the staff."

why was this not happening from day 1? if other mears staff could authenticate dave's items, then why on earth was dave doing it himself, especially given mears' strong objection to conflicts of interest?

dave bushing has his fans. i am not among them. if he truly stays retired from authenticating, then it seems he'll be doing what he really does best: blowing his own trumpet and flipping items.

incidentally, i found the notion of a "professional authenticator" calling out others for being "self proclaimed so called authorities" to be absolutely hilarious. especially when it was prefaced with dave "self proclaiming" all of his mighty accomplishments in the hobby. did he tell you how he's written more books than you? more articles, has given more advice, baptised more babies, parted more seas, and saved more planets? what i suspect dave is really tired of is being called out on his shenanigans. he's tired of not being able to operate in the "ethically-challenged" bushingland of the 90s, before mears came along and forced him to disclose conflicts of interest. oh the heady days of when you could buy a dimaggio bat, give it a perfect score, attribute it to his 56-hit streak, and quietly keep secret that you also owned the bat. perhaps he's really tired of having to operate within the confines of an ethical standard all while having his work subjected to the diligent eyes of the internet. it was much easier before GUU came along and before vince malta had the bright idea to release those damn bat records to the public.

"Base point, no more conflict of interest, I am simply interested in buying and selling and making a profit."

i'm not sure dave was ever interested in anything else. mears was simply a convenient tool for him to do it.

rudy.

Some jerseys from the Bushing collection, graded by MEARS with an A10....

http://bid.robertedwardauctions.com/bidplace.aspx?itemid=11161

http://bid.robertedwardauctions.com/bidplace.aspx?itemid=11153

Also many other jerseys in this auction that come from the Bushing/Kinunen collection with a MEARS A10....

It's not always what you know, but who you know...

[trsent]

Re: Trouble at MEARS

Some jerseys from the Bushing collection, graded by MEARS with an A10....

http://bid.robertedwardauctions.com/bidplace.aspx?itemid=11161

http://bid.robertedwardauctions.com/bidplace.aspx?itemid=11153

Also many other jerseys in this auction that come from the Bushing/Kinunen collection with a MEARS A10....

It's not always what you know, but who you know...

All I can say is at least every item is identified as coming from their personal collection/inventory. What more can be said? They give full disclosure of ownership, isn't this what everyone was asking for to begin with?

I posted more about this before, but the moderator decided I was breaking forum rules discussing a business's practice so he removed those three sentences. I am still confused with what rule I was breaking discussing how a business promotes, certifies and fully discloses their ownership with their certification which means anyone who cries "Conflict of interest" is right but they disclose such right up front so the customer is fully aware with no games.

[rose14]

Re: Trouble at MEARS

Why do some people choose to make statements on here when they don't know 100% of what they are talking about. Beantown, you just made the statement of "it's not what you know but who you know" and then you gave links to two auctions with jerseys graded A10 by Mears.

Just so you know I was the original owner of the 1979 Ozzie Smith Padres jersey. I personally submitted it to Mears about a year ago where it was given an A10 grade. I can tell you 100% that this jersey didn't acheive the grade it did just because of who Bushing knows and who he is in business with.

[rose14]

Re: Trouble at MEARS

Sorry for the spelling error in my original post.

[kingjammy24]

Re: Trouble at MEARS

"½ to 5 points subtracted for the following (determined solely by authenticator):
Fading or staining (minor to abused)
Use is light (-2 to 4)
Use by more than one player or worn more than one season by other player (-3)"

http://bid.robertedwardauctions.com/bidplace.aspx?itemid=11113

graded A10. "the jersey displays light wear"

http://bid.robertedwardauctions.com/bidplace.aspx?itemid=11115

graded A10. owned by bushing. "the jersey displays light wear throughout"

http://bid.robertedwardauctions.com/bidplace.aspx?itemid=11144

graded A10. owned by bushing. "displays light wear including a few light stains on the front".

http://bid.robertedwardauctions.com/bidplace.aspx?itemid=11145

graded A10. owned by bushing. "displays light wear throughout"

http://bid.robertedwardauctions.com/bidplace.aspx?itemid=11149

graded A10. owned by bushing. "scattered light stains on the front"

http://bid.robertedwardauctions.com/bidplace.aspx?itemid=11157

graded A10. owned by bushing. "scattered light stains on the front"

http://bid.robertedwardauctions.com/bidplace.aspx?itemid=11158

graded A9. owned by bushing. 1 pt removed for the nameplate. "Use by more than one player or worn more than one season by other player (-3)" "Following the 1979 season this jersey was subsequently used by one of the Expos' minor league clubs." why was only 1 pt deducted and not 3?

in this one auction, of the 23 pre-87 jerseys that received an A10, mears owns 16 of them.

rudy.

[beantown]

Re: Trouble at MEARS

Why do some people choose to make statements on here when they don't know 100% of what they are talking about. Beantown, you just made the statement of "it's not what you know but who you know" and then you gave links to two auctions with jerseys graded A10 by Mears.

Just so you know I was the original owner of the 1979 Ozzie Smith Padres jersey. I personally submitted it to Mears about a year ago where it was given an A10 grade. I can tell you 100% that this jersey didn't acheive the grade it did just because of who Bushing knows and who he is in business with.

The auction states the jersey came from the Bushing collection and was graded by MEARS A10...did I state something incorrectly? I respect REA's full disclosure of the consignor, who also happens to be the authenticator, but that is a DEFINITE conflict....

[allstarsplus]

Re: Trouble at MEARS

IMO, I believe this is called a disclosed conflict and by REA rules is allowed so no rules have been violated.

The only issue is if you believe the rating is not justified.

Just because a jersey is light or moderate use doesn't mean that an A10 is not justified.

Read their criteria for the grading on their Mears Website:

http://www.mearsonline.com/services/jersey.asp

[rose14]

Re: Trouble at MEARS

Beantown, correct me if I'm wrong but I believe you were implying that its pretty convenient of all the jerseys that Dave consigned were given A10 ratings by the same company that he authenticates for?

I can't say about the other jerseys but I owned the Ozzie Smith jersey and paid for the authentication myself when it received the A10 rating. Dave purchased the jersey from the auction house that I consigned it to. How do you know that each and everyone of those jerseys that he has consigned to REA hadn't been originally submitted by an individual to be graded and then Dave or Troy purchased them at a later time either personally or through an auction house?

Just like with my Ozzie Smith Padre jersey, he had seen it personally and authenticated it prior to it being auctioned off so he had knowledge of what he was getting. Does he have an advantage since he has seen all the items that have been authenticated by MEARS that are being sold at auction? Yes, compared to most people who don't even get to see their first look of an item until they receive it after being the winning bidder. Sure you can go and view items in person at the auction house location prior to an auction ending but how many people can actually do that?

The only problem I could ever see is that if Dave or Troy ever gave a low grade to something they authenticated and then purchased it later on and researched it further and gave it a higher grade to sell at a higher price. To my knowledge this has never been done as it would be very hard to get by unnoticed by the very savy collecting community.

[beantown]

Re: Trouble at MEARS

I'm saying that Dave Bushing can and should use his expertise to acquire pieces for his own personal collection. Which he did in this instance….

http://bid.robertedwardauctions.com/bidplace.aspx?itemid=11280

However, should he decide to consign/sell a piece from his own personal collection, he should have it examined by an objective third party…