PWCC Altered Cards Callout Thread - 1952 Topps Mantle etc

[Ryanm84]

I don’t necessarily. But I want to give them any details I can find if possible. Some of the cards are short. I don’t have an exact measure since I’m measuring outside the slab but I have many others that measure right. It’s easy to see on a couple of them. I don’t expect to have anything come back from them. But I feel like I have to at least try.

[MoreToppsPlease]

Good luck, I look forward to seeing your results!

[whackadoo]

Originally Posted by HarryLime

1985 Topps are notorious for bad print jobs and PSA knows this. It's one of the reasons so many sharp looking cards that people think will 10 end up in a 9 holder. If PSA graded that specific card a 10, I'll eat my underwear.

Arthur

No, they’re not. It looks full sized and has the type of cut and apparent centering that high grade ‘85 Topps baseball cards usually have. I could go into greater detail, but suffice it to say that I’ve been collecting and upgrading this set for many years and know it well.

Totally kidding, Arthur. I felt left out and wanted to join the let’s-crap-on-Arthur party.

[superdan49]

Found this October 2015 article on PWCC that was memoryholed from PSA's website some time between May 30 and June 2 of last year. All that is left is the archive. I have not seen it referenced in this thread, so for our purposes it is new material. Here are some of the highlights [all bolds below are my own for emphasis]:


Brent Huigens talking about market "commoditization," PSA, and the impartiality of PWCC:

The word "commoditization" is one that is liberally used by Huigens as he expounds on how the sportscard hobby has, and continues, to adjust to skyrocketing values. "It was PSA that helped propel collectibles into viable investments," says Huigens. "The commoditization of sportscards and memorabilia would simply not exist without them. They have brought about confidence and stability to a marketplace that was in dire need of those elements. The combination of PSA, the Internet and eBay revolutionized the hobby. That changed everything, and I founded PWCC to complete the circle - to provide a better solution to the actual process of buying and selling cards."

As a part of that better solution, PWCC works with each client, no matter the value of the cards involved, with the same level of attention. "We are an impartial broker and attentive to every need a client has...."

Brent commenting on the importance of integrity, transparency, and stopping shill bidders:

As a part of that commitment to their clients, PWCC does not do private sales. "We are strictly a service-based auction company, not a dealer handling private sales, and are fully transparent in everything we do," says Huigens. "Integrity is our top priority. The sportscard hobby hinges on that. We do not permit shill bidding of any kind and actively police our auctions to prevent such acts from occurring."

Brent once again, this time on PWCC and its positive role in the hobby:

"Our company was designed to be the change collectors wanted to see in the role of a sportscard auction house," says Huigens. Since 1998 we've been doing that - working to garner the trust of collectors and to strengthen the hobby."

The full article can be found here: https://archive.ph/r9SVQ

[CaptSpaulding]

Originally Posted by superdan49

Found this October 2015 article on PWCC that was memoryholed from PSA's website some time between May 30 and June 2 of last year.

Brent commenting on the importance of integrity, transparency, and stopping shill bidders:

So no private sales, Brent? Ya sure about that? SMR article was Oct 2015 and private sale was a few months before that. https://www.net54baseball.com/showpo...&postcount=303

That is a post from a Net54 thread in 2017 in which Brent was outed as having purchased and altered a 1936 World Wide Gum Joe DiMaggio that ended up going into a PSA 7.

Just one of many private sales that Brent would do. Nothing wrong with doing private sales but when you lie about things that you do not need to lie about you just look a complete #@#@#@#@ing tool.

[Bruins1993]

"Brent earned my trust, but like any rabid dog, when you turn your back, you're gonna get bit." -C.D.
https://www.net54baseball.com/showpo...&postcount=368

[auburn35]

Originally Posted by superdan49

Found this October 2015 article on PWCC that was memoryholed from PSA's website some time between May 30 and June 2 of last year. All that is left is the archive. I have not seen it referenced in this thread, so for our purposes it is new material. Here are some of the highlights [all bolds below are my own for emphasis]:


Brent Huigens talking about market "commoditization," PSA, and the impartiality of PWCC:


The full article can be found here: https://archive.ph/r9SVQ

Thanks for sharing this.
You would think these attempts by Collectors Universe / PSA to wipe away all their history with PWCC and the other fraudsters will be a focus of the Civil litigation and hopefully the Federal investigation.

[Bruins1993]

Originally Posted by auburn35

Thanks for sharing this.
You would think these attempts by Collectors Universe / PSA to wipe away all their history with PWCC and the other fraudsters will be a focus of the Civil litigation and hopefully the Federal investigation.

It is great that PSA's has their own definition of altered stock that everyone can agree on in court:

"Altered Stock
This term is used when the paper stock is altered in one or more of the following ways: trimming, recoloring, restoring, or enhancing the gloss."
https://www.psacard.com/resources/lingo/a/

[pip]

Originally Posted by Bruins1993

It is great that PSA's has their own definition of altered stock that everyone can agree on in court:

"Altered Stock
This term is used when the paper stock is altered in one or more of the following ways: trimming, recoloring, restoring, or enhancing the gloss."
https://www.psacard.com/resources/lingo/a/

Restoring is a very broad term. Good for grading. Not good in court.

[3124508 on COMC]

More garbage PWCC is trying to get away with selling. First sold trimmed by them on 10/15/18.

https://www.pwccmarketplace.com/items/2224056
https://www.pwccmarketplace.com/items/1806870

[3124508 on COMC]

Lots of cards consigned by Evan Mathis in PWCC's March auction. Buyer beware.

[wcardguy]

Originally Posted by corndog

PSA Cert #25790411

1948 Leaf Boxing Joe Louis #48

Set Registry: Sher60JoeLouis

Value gain of $1,473.00

This card was purchased by whitman111 (Gary Moser) from Ebay seller carterscards2006 as a SGC 7 on July 07, 2015 for $425.00.
VCP link: https://vintagecardprices.com/card/b...8/72233/SGC/84

Same card was sold by PWCC as a PSA 8 on September 27, 2016 for $1,898.00.
VCP link: https://vintagecardprices.com/card/b...48/72233/PSA/8

Yellow circles are print mark, chipping, or paper fiber matching identifiers.
Red squares identify trimmed left and right edges.

Oof anyone who has spent any time looking at 48 Leaf should know that 8 is way way too thin.

[pip]

Originally Posted by 3124508 on COMC

Lots of cards consigned by Evan Mathis in PWCC's March auction. Buyer beware.

I guess I don't need to ask Arthur how his friend is doing because now we know. He's continuing to try to defraud customers with his hack jobs.

[pip]

Any serious 1948 Leaf collector who looks at that PSA 8 Frank Gustine would laugh at how small the borders are.

There's something I can't figure out, however. PSA has consistently demonstrated its willingness to grade extremely small cards for a favored group of submitters. So why didn't the card molester who trimmed the 1948 Leaf Frank Gustine just cut off a little more and get a grade of Gem Mint 10? Why stop at 1/16" inch when you could take off a full 1/8" and make the corners perfect?

[3124508 on COMC]

More garbage set to be sold.

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthoped...-19-2018207931
https://www.pwccmarketplace.com/items/2223958

[pip]

Wow. That was some pretty extensive corner damage.

The UL corner on the 1933 SK Shore was also "fixed" as were the corners on the back of the card. It also looks like a light crease was removed from Shore's head but the card molester messed up and removed some of the surface of the card right above Shore's eye.

What a lovely EX-MT 6. Good job, PSA.

[3124508 on COMC]

PWCC reselling this trimmed Giannis Black Label this month. Probably returned after the buyer found out it was trimmed. Sold for over $16k last time around.

https://www.pwccmarketplace.com/items/2215711
https://www.pwccmarketplace.com/items/2155247
https://www.ebay.com/itm/352930707404
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthoped...day-1898823830

[ken161]

Two observations about the '33 Sport Kings Eddie Shore:

1) The card doctors are very good at what they do

2) PSA is very bad at what they do

If the overhaul on that mangled corner on the Shore does not shake people's confidence in PSA, I don't know what will.

[wcardguy]

Wasn't sure where to post this, but one card I am obsessed with is the 1986 Topps Ryne Sandberg. Perhaps I'm insane, but according to PSA's website has the Pop 10 not gone kinda crazy in the last month or two? I could have sworn it was pop 3 (maybe 4?) over the holidays, but it's pop 7 now. Seems kinda crazy that nearly 35 years after production a famously difficult card would double its Pop 10 in a month or two. I don't understand PSA's website well enough to figure out if there have been a run of submissions on it lately.

[Bruins1993]

Originally Posted by pip

There's something I can't figure out, however. PSA has consistently demonstrated its willingness to grade extremely small cards for a favored group of submitters. So why didn't the card molester who trimmed the 1948 Leaf Frank Gustine just cut off a little more and get a grade of Gem Mint 10? Why stop at 1/16" inch when you could take off a full 1/8" and make the corners perfect?

Apparently they still have standards, even for altered stock. Remember the Vegas coaching?

[MoreToppsPlease]

Originally Posted by ken161

Two observations about the '33 Sport Kings Eddie Shore:



1) The card doctors are very good at what they do



2) PSA is very bad at what they do



If the overhaul on that mangled corner on the Shore does not shake people's confidence in PSA, I don't know what will.

I like to consider it as being a symbiotic relationship.

PSA provides the best grades for its best customers who then, in turn, shill their own PSA auctions to make PSA slabs appear more valuable. The more valuable PSA slabs appear, the more submissions PSA receives.

This way everyone gets what they want...more $$$. The best kind of quid pro quo.

Just follow the money.

[Bruins1993]

Originally Posted by MoreToppsPlease

I like to consider it as being a symbiotic relationship.

PSA provides the best grades for its best customers who then, in turn, shill their own PSA auctions to make PSA slabs appear more valuable. The more valuable PSA slabs appear, the more submissions PSA receives.

This way everyone gets what they want...more $$$. The best kind of quid pro quo.

Just follow the money.

From the CLCT Annual Report:
"Our Mission
...
generally enhance interest, activity and trading in high-value collectibles"

Siphoning money from collectors pockets seems to be strategic through their dealer network, including card doctors (demand for trading of high grade cards).

The video Vintage Card Curator posts appears to be creating artificial supply of PSA 10's for numerous cards...

Word of dealers being rewarded with favorable grades...

Overlooking or not doing their job correctly "grading" altered bleach white "high-value" cards...

Talk of PSA/Orlando meeting with Dick Towle who restores and alters card stock...

I could keep going....

If all the altered slabbed PSA cards were exposed it would be a real storm going against everything PSA claims to do honestly so I think its fair to say they're rigging the marketplace and doing collectors a disservice in the long-run, for short-term profit/gains... Just carry on staying stupid collectors and everything will be fine!

I'm not sure how PSA could use negligence as a defense if its a directed negligence (even through bad policy) from the top-down... The amount of money paid to grade some SINGLE high dollar cards probably easily far exceeds a graders annual salary on a daily basis.

[corndog]

Adding this new thread started to this thread since it is the catch-all thread for card doctors.
New thread link: https://www.blowoutforums.com/showthread.php?t=1355413



Dennis Wayne Pevarnick
Residence: South Lake Tahoe, CA
Dealer name: Baseball Card Investments
Ebay ID: bbcinv
Masked VCP ID: v***i

69 year old Dennis Pevarnick has been buying and selling cards for decades and is a high volume submitter of cards to PSA. His "store" at card shows is named Baseball Card Investments or bbcinv. He is/was on the list of PSA Dealers. A great majority of his sales of graded cards is offline through card shows. In researching his purchases and sales, there are plenty of "after" photos with very few "before" matching photos and there are many "before" photos with few matching "after" photos. Pevarnick has been careful to not leave an online paper trail but every now and then he slipped up which allowed me to find a few cards that he purchased, altered, had graded (always by PSA) and then sold through his Ebay store bbcinv or consigned through an auction house. When painstakingly searching through his Ebay feedback received as a buyer, there are seemingly more purchases made of raw cards with some being lots and even one verified complete set of raw 1948 Bowman Football. The same situation occurs in that I can find the "before" purchase but no "after" sale. When wading through his large volume PSA cert runs, many of the graded cards are in Set Registry collections without a traceable online transaction associated with it.

As with fellow card alterers Charlie Barokas and Craig Roehrig, there are not going to be many cards to post in here due to the limited ability to conduct investigative searches. This is mostly due to Ebay making the decision to mask buying IDs. The time involved just to uncover a handful of proven altered cards is astounding.

It is difficult to track Pevarnick's online activity. He is a high volume PSA card submitter and specializes in 1948 Bowman Football and Baseball, 1933 Goudey and 1935 Diamond Stars. Any card that he has ever sold that was submitted to PSA by him is now in question as to whether or not it is altered. We're talking thousands of cards.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PSA Dealer (although curiously no longer on the shrinking list of dealers):



___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

ALTERED CARDS:

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The raw purchase:



Feedback left to seller from bbcinv:



Feedback left to bbcinv from seller:



Sale through Heritage Auctions in VCP:



The card:

PSA Cert #42913269

PSA Set Registry: none

1948 Bowman Jim Pollard #66

Value gain of $2,165.00

This card was purchased by Ebay buyer ID bbcinv (Dennis Pevarnick) from Ebay seller nutsyfagin61 as a raw card for $115.00 on October 26, 2018.
CardTarget link: http://www.cardtarget.com/cards/36438

Same card was sold by Heritage Auctions as a PSA 8 for $2,280.00 on April 18, 2019.
VCP link: https://vintagecardprices.com/card/b...6/102140/PSA/8

Yellow circles are print, fiber, or chipping identifiers.
Red box identifies trimmed bottom edge.






___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PSA Cert #42913121

PSA Set Registry: none

1948 Bowman Pat McHugh #25

Value gain of $95.99

This card was purchased by Ebay buyer ID bbcinv (Dennis Pevarnick) from Ebay seller probstein123 as a PSA 5 for $44.00 on July 08, 2018.
VCP link: https://vintagecardprices.com/card/f...5/160331/PSA/5

Same card was sold by Ebay seller bbcinv (Dennis Pevarnick) as a PSA 8 for $139.99 on July 13, 2019.
VCP link: https://vintagecardprices.com/card/f...5/160331/PSA/8

Yellow circles are print, fiber, or chipping identifiers.
Red boxes identify trimmed top and right edges.





___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

PSA Cert #40706961

PSA Set Registry: private

1948 Bowman Chris Iversen #10

Value gain of $90.99

This card was purchased by Ebay buyer ID bbcinv (Dennis Pevarnick) from Ebay seller sportsmommachris as a PSA 6 for $24.00 on February 06, 2018.
VCP link: https://vintagecardprices.com/card/f...10/87368/PSA/6

Same card was sold by Ebay seller bbcinv (Dennis Pevarnick) as a PSA 8 for $114.99 on December 14, 2018.
VCP link: https://vintagecardprices.com/card/f...10/87368/PSA/8
CardTarget image link: http://www.cardtarget.com/cards/20546

Yellow circles are print, fiber, or chipping identifiers.
Red box identifies trimmed right edge.






___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

This bbcinv purchase is just one reason Pevarnick's cards are hard to locate:

[3124508 on COMC]

PWCC continues to sell cards for Will Jaimet as well.

[Pink Pussycat]

Originally Posted by auburn35

Thanks for sharing this.
You would think these attempts by Collectors Universe / PSA to wipe away all their history with PWCC and the other fraudsters will be a focus of the Civil litigation and hopefully the Federal investigation.

It is incredibly telling, and hopefully the FBI is compiling this wiped out/deleted history in building its case against PSA. This blatant hiding of information will strike a big blow, provided the FBI is capable of retrieving these communications.

I know it seems as though nothing is happening with PWCC, Probstein and Small Traditions still going strong, and PSA submissions reaching record highs. The "business as usual" aspect is beyond frustrating, but hopefully the FBI is digging deep behind the scenes as we speak.

Since collectors and flippers seem to have no standards and only dollar signs in their eyes, the FBI represents the only hope to put a dent in the massive fraud/corruption enveloping the hobby.