Kurt's Card Care F'ed around and found out

[fabiani12333]

Via YouTuber hobby watchdog, Dan the Card Man: https://youtu.be/psDXEGfNR-g?si=afX4532E2eZd11QD

As many of you already know, Kurt of Kurt's Card Care fame recently had a PSA submission of cards deactivated. He had the balls to post video of him "soaking" one of them -- a 1953 Topps Jackie Robinson card -- and show the cert number. He tagged PSA in the post and naturally PSA had no choice but to act on it due to their Terms and Conditions, which stipulate no alterations are allowed.

Kurt was not happy about it and essentially blamed internet cancel culture in an article from Darren Rovell. Obviously, that's absurd, as he was the one who publicized breaking PSA's rules. He clearly wants to promote his products and services and have them become commonplace in the hobby. But card alteration and cleaning are supposed to be done in secret due to it being a form of fraud.

Dan makes a good point at the end of the video -- if a buyer had a choice between two copies of the same card with the same PSA grade, one unaltered or cleaned, and the other altered or cleaned with Kurt's products, the buyer will always choose the former. The reasons are clear -- authenticity and the fear of long-term damage.

[johnlocke36]

Why didn’t they deactivate the wemby 1/1 as well

[hermanotarjeta]

Good for Kurt.

Anything that makes anyone question the integrity of a graded card is a glorious thing.

[Boredlawyer]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

Good for Kurt.

Anything that makes anyone question the integrity of a graded card is a glorious thing.

I know your posting policy is contrarian hot takes, but seeing that the guy tanked his business, I wouldn't qualify that as "good" for him.

[jplarson]

https://www.blowoutforums.com/showth...1567921&page=7

Graded forum has a juicy version of this thread complete with culture wars and woke-ism. Yikes!

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by Boredlawyer

I know your posting policy is contrarian hot takes, but seeing that the guy tanked his business, I wouldn't qualify that as "good" for him.

I’d like to call him a “reluctant martyr”.

Any graded card should be assumed to be tampered with or altered.

It’s not my hot take, it’s how I approach the hobby.

I’ve seen it happen for decades and unfortunately the honest people who submit are going to go down with the crooked ones.

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by jplarson

https://www.blowoutforums.com/showth...1567921&page=7

Graded forum has a juicy version of this thread complete with culture wars and woke-ism. Yikes!

Good video from Rattle Pokemon:
https://youtu.be/MeGxFA8qcuE?si=m-dJrevI8p6xCEMK

[fabiani12333]

Originally Posted by Boredlawyer

I know your posting policy is contrarian hot takes, but seeing that the guy tanked his business, I wouldn't qualify that as "good" for him.

Did he really tank his business, though? If PSA can't detect card cleaning or alterations from his products, he'll continue to get plenty of business.

It seems like this is a bit of a existential crisis for PSA -- if graded cards are commonly being altered out in the open, it really puts into question PSA's business model.

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by fabiani12333

Did he really tank his business, though? If PSA can't detect card cleaning or alterations from his products, he'll continue to get plenty of business.

It seems like this is a bit of a existential crisis for PSA -- if graded cards are commonly being altered out in the open, it really puts into question PSA's business model.

If anything, he’s getting even more publicity.

[Bcr]

Originally Posted by johnlocke36

Why didn’t they deactivate the wemby 1/1 as well

The very first card they ever graded is famously altered but that is still active as well. This is just a publicity stunt.

[kyle1707]

Such an odd “hobby” we participate in

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by kyle1707

Such an odd “hobby” we participate in

Most hobbyists confuse their love of baseball cards with their love of finding ways to make money using baseball cards.

[Hail2TheVictors]

Originally Posted by Boredlawyer

I know your posting policy is contrarian hot takes, but seeing that the guy tanked his business, I wouldn't qualify that as "good" for him.

What am I missing here?

"Good for Kurt" would mean that he had this coming, deserved it, etc - right? If so, I'm 100% in agreement with Hermano (and that isn't a normal thing).

I have zero patience for anyone altering, doctoring, etc with cards. If you chose to make that your livelihood, you deserve whatever challenges lie ahead. And it sounds like this putz was so confident that he did himself in by tagging PSA on a post? What a moron.

So, yes, as Hermano said - "Good for Kurt".

[MiamiMarlinsFan]

Originally Posted by Hail2TheVictors

What am I missing here?

"Good for Kurt" would mean that he had this coming, deserved it, etc - right? If so, I'm 100% in agreement with Hermano (and that isn't a normal thing).

I have zero patience for anyone altering, doctoring, etc with cards. If you chose to make that your livelihood, you deserve whatever challenges lie ahead. And it sounds like this putz was so confident that he did himself in by tagging PSA on a post? What a moron.

So, yes, as Hermano said - "Good for Kurt".

Pretty sure that’s not what Hermano meant, but I could be wrongly. I think he wants Kurt to succeed to throw as much doubt into TPG companies and all graded cards in general.

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by MiamiMarlinsFan

Pretty sure that’s not what Hermano meant, but I could be wrongly. I think he wants Kurt to succeed to throw as much doubt into TPG companies and all graded cards in general.

This is more of what I meant.

Even though I don’t necessarily condone card altering, I look down upon TPG who can’t even do their jobs correctly even more.

I admire cybersecurity companies who actually challenge people to hack their protection systems.

PSA should be celebrating and encouraging Kurt’s and other’s attempts to fool them and to succeed undetected.

The fact that PSA reprimands him shows exactly how inaccurate and unreliable a company PSA and TPG in general is. They are threatened by folks like him becomes it undermines their reputation and integrity; it really opens their own flaws to the public, and they are MAJOR flaws.

So again, good for Kurt for publicizing this movement - PSA and other TPG better get their act together soon or the entire industry implodes.

Kurt is still a moron, so you are both correct.

[hammertime]

The real question is if he had been less of an idiot about showing off, would PSA (or anyone else) ever have known?

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by hammertime

The real question is if he had been less of an idiot about showing off, would PSA (or anyone else) ever have known?

For every idiot Kurt, there are thousands others who go undetected and continue to submit altered cards.

Everyone who has submitted a card for grading knows someone who can help enhance cards prior to grading.

It has been going on for decades.

[boxbuster7]

The only people to blame are the dingalings dumb enough to buy this guys product - if he didn't have an audience he wouldn't be around

Just discovered kurts last name is colone - maybe he should start an anti odor business for people that guy to card shows.

[hermanotarjeta]

Originally Posted by boxbuster7

The only people to blame are the dingalings dumb enough to buy this guys product - if he didn't have an audience he wouldn't be around

But his customers are making money using his products, they consider themselves winners.

[boxbuster7]

This Kurt guy was a DJ fulltime before the pandemic.

Explains a lot about his arrogance

[whitmm]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

For every idiot Kurt, there are thousands others who go undetected and continue to submit altered cards.

Everyone who has submitted a card for grading knows someone who can help enhance cards prior to grading.

It has been going on for decades.

And it's not like PSA actually caught him. He tagged them and had the cert number in the video. All this does it stops him from submitting cards to PSA under his actual name.

I'm not seeing how this actually does anything to hurt his business. Looking at his website, he's not cleaning and submitting cards for others. He's selling product and showing people how to do it.

And he's not the only out there selling this type of stuff. The show I went to this weekend had a different company set up, offering the exact same stuff.

[bub838]

Originally Posted by hermanotarjeta

I’d like to call him a “reluctant martyr”.

Any graded card should be assumed to be tampered with or altered.

It’s not my hot take, it’s how I approach the hobby.

I’ve seen it happen for decades and unfortunately the honest people who submit are going to go down with the crooked ones.

I agree with this. Cards have been tampered and altered longer than most of us have been alive. It’s akin to people finding out there was substance abuse and cheating prior to the steroid era. People want to bury there heads and presume there’s any sanctity in baseball.

It’s a game (and hobby) filled with scoundrels.

[bub838]

Originally Posted by Boredlawyer

I know your posting policy is contrarian hot takes, but seeing that the guy tanked his business, I wouldn't qualify that as "good" for him.

His business is probably booming with all the attention he’s getting. Unless his products can be reliably detected (and the tpg’s care) nothing is stopping him from relishing in the publicity.

[hermanotarjeta]

I would seriously respect TPG more if they encouraged people to submit altered cards to them.

They need to celebrate guys like Kurt, not ban him.

[larry25]

Some additional food for thought:

PSA does not equal the hobby or the industry, nor do all the TPGs combined; they are just a questionable/sleezy/greedy/money-grabbing part of it.

There are 100s of thousands if not millions of altered cards already in PSA holders, with a preponderance of those being higher-end items. Most people have no idea how extensive doctoring is and has been for decades.

And lastly, because this is America, people can do whatever they want with their own possessions. Yes, it is shady AF to not disclose alterations, but there are A LOT more shady things going down in American businesses, from Bitcoin to the stock market to credit cards and in virtually every market that exists.

Bottom line, PSA should be there to help, and they are with their guarantee, but watch your own back, collect what you like, and take it easy on DJ Kurt.