How can the hobby resolve some of its problems?
With great difficulty . . . the hobby has let bad behavior get out of control. The hobby, with some exceptions, has done a bad job of policing itself. Every show I’ve ever attended has dealers selling bad stuff. I’ve seen fathers beam with pride as they plunk down $495 to buy a 500 Home Run Club ball for their son. To me, the Mantle sigs were way off. I feel guilty that I didn’t say anything. The organized hobby needs to police itself someho. There are too many different agendas attached to making a living at this hobby. Who’s going to kill the goose that’s laying the golden eggs? There’s this conspiracy of silence going on, so that as long as people are making significant money, the crooks will be ignored or cover for each other or stay silent. Today, though, the problems have gotten exponentially worse because of the faceless storefront called the Internet. This is the free and open marketplace at its best and worst. The hobby runs with virtually no rules, so it becomes like the bad
