Ewert Exposed as Trimming Books: Redux

[Foolkiller]

Joseph (comicwiz) raised this very, very large problem that should be revisited.

 

At one show (I believe it was San Diego) I overheard Ewert and Burlato bragging about 600+ books they were waiting to get back from CGC while they were standing at the CGC booth. My assumption then as it is now is that they submitted their books through a single joint account.

 

i) Does CGC have a way to go back and dig up all of their submissions, whether they were submitted through a single (based on each individuals submissions) or under a joint account?

 

And;

 

ii) where does the investigation cutoff end -- ie. what about books that have been consigned through Jason to list through his eBay selling stint?

 

Its a well known fact that there are certain dealers that have been sending books on behalf of their customer to get "improved" -- to eke out a grade improvement shall we say -- and in doing so, the books made their way directly to CGC for grading. What is unclear is who these books were being sent to for the so-called improvements.

 

If, and this is a big IF, those books were being sent to JE either as "the improver", then that number I mentioned above will be a hell of a lot larger, and more than likely, a more nightmarish situation CGC might never have imagined

[Foolkiller]

Good quote from Steve Fishler of Metropolis

 

While there is genuine concern regarding books that may have passed through the hand of Jason Ewert, there is a silver lining here.

 

As far as the future is concerned, it is my hope that people, who may have been considering trimming as a means to an end (the 9.8 end), will look at this thread and think - maybe not. The risk is too high. That is the silver lining. However, we shall see.

 

Would like to thank Steve Borock for his response to this crisis. And it is a crisis.

 

It is clear that some things fell through the cracks at CGC. I feel confident that CGC is taking this seriously and have no doubt that the proper steps will be taken.

 

Stephen

[Foolkiller]

Scott's offer to pursue litigation, now it has to be considered a serious option.

 

Oh, and by the way, if anyone can find me two people who have purchased from Jason online (one from California and the other from whatever is currently Jason's home state), I will take this case. I would expect help from the other right-minded lawyers on the boards especially on the investigation side (I would need someone on the east coast to coordinate with dealers and customers there), but would be happy to act as lead counsel and file it in California

[Foolkiller]

I guess we'll find out Excelsior, if you are right...

 

Note to self. Sell off all High Grade High Value CGC comics cause the crash is a coming. Unfortunately, seeing that this thread is already on post 200 in something I probably already missed the boat on the best time to sell. Elvis and my investment has left the building.

[Foolkiller]

September 26, 2005 statement from Steve Borock concerning the issue.

 

I have been working on this all weekend (much to my daughters displeasure) and have found out many things, some good and some very bad. As promised, I will let you all know what information I have gathered and what I have done about it and what I am still doing about it very soon, probably by tomorrow at the latest. I know everyone wants to know what going on this very second, but I need to make sure all the information I have is correct before posting it.

[Foolkiller]

Josh Nathonson's statement on the matter

 

Some of you have asked for my thoughts on the whole Jason Ewert fiasco...

First of all, the practices that Jason has been accused of are clearly unethical and they are unfortunate. For my part, I have begun contacting buyers that have purchased items from Jason (through ComicLink) in the past year to let them know about the situation (they may not read these boards) and to also let them know that they can send them back to CGC for further review. I spoke with Steve Borock and he said that the situation has arisen for books graded within the last 6 months but that I should go back 9 months to be conservative. Steve said that he would take a look at the books for free so he is doing the right thing as always.

 

The question was posed as to how this will affect ComicLink or the industry as a whole - it is my view that it will not affect it much at all. The sky is not falling! I have not seen a slowdown in ComicLink sales since this has come to light and it appears to me that the amount of books that could be floating out there in a CGC label with undetected restoration compared with the amount of books that CGC has graded to date (600,000+) are relatively miniscule.

 

Everyone is fallable and as we have seen even the great and powerful CGC can make a mistake. However, we are all still much safer now because of CGC and Steve Borock and Mark Haspel's abilities as head graders. I have a large personal collection that I would not have started if not for CGC because there was much more doubt involved in grading and restoration checks before they arrived on the scene. The fact that in over 5 years only a handful of cases were found (this being the worst of it) is a testament to their abilities and the solidity of the graded comic industry as a whole. I love this hobby, which is why I chose to make it my living in the first place. Before CGC, high grade comics were already selling for multiples with a lot of uncertainty factored into the market. Now, with CGC, the multiples have not increased much and there is so much less doubt.

No service is perfect but CGC is doing the best they can and better than anyone else in the industry has done to protect buyers. I know they will continue to do an excellent job of decreasing the uncertainty in our hobby. I'm betting my collection and my livelihood on it!

 

Josh Nathanson

www.comiclink.com

[Foolkiller]

I'll tell you what, we damn well better see a CBG article about Ewert because this is a much bigger freakin' deal

 

Is this an official decree by CGC? If so, is this the only place where this announcement has appeared? I don't see it on CGC's main web page. Are there plans to disseminate this information to the general public, such as putting it on the CGC web site (under the "Headlines" or "News" section) or releasing a press release to CBG, Wizard, etc? I'm sure there are some people who aren't reading the FF # 3 thread that would (if they knew) take advantage of this offer. How will the general public be informed of this offer? Or is this word of mouth only?

[Foolkiller]

Further evidence each of us MUST SPREAD THE WORD TO EVERYONE WE KNOW!!!!

 

I was blissfully unaware of this thread until a contact in London (UK) told me to check this out. I am a high grade collector of SA Marvel and have purchased quite a number of CGC books either in the UK or from the US - including a number this year. This situation has knocked my confidence for six (a cricket term - I do not know the US equivalent). If I do have a trimmed dog in my collection, then at least I will have something to start the bonfire with on Fireworks night. I am assuming the odds are in my favour and I am okay since I have bought relatively few books this year compared to previous years. But what about going forward?

 

Would it be possibe for CGC to list the serial numbers of all books consigned to CGC by the "suspect(s)" in the last 9 months. I guess it may amount to a few hundred but, if in batches and on computer, I would have thought this list could be compiled in a few hours at most. Then collectors could check their collections themselves, maybe pull up images from Heritage etc, before asking CGC to check the books.

[Foolkiller]

Good points from Skybolt here...

 

I guess I should wait until Steve B. gives us all the details regarding this scandal, but I couldn't help wondering what steps CGC is taking to investigate this problem.

 

Are they:

 

1.) Comparing before and after scans from their database to catch the trimming? Or maybe from Heritage?? The only problem with this scenario is that I doubt CGC would've scanned many of these books in the past. Maybe the high dollar Church or key HG SA books, but not a 9.2 copy of Strange Tales #112. I guess having before and after scans of every single non-modern book (as was mentioned by another forum member) would've certainly helped.

 

2.) Confident that they can at least catch one trimmed book per every other submission through VIA. For instance, if there were more books caught like Showcase #30, then it could lead to a trail.

 

3.) Looking for obscure books that may have been used as guinee pigs at the start to perfect the trimming process and have it pass by CGC. As others have mentioned, you have to start small before moving on to the more expensive books. Perhaps some late BA issues that guide at $8 each and would only sell for $35 even if they came back as 9.6's.

 

4.) Talking to other dealers to gain additional information regarding submissions, scans, etc (including Jason himself, again). It does seem that Steve has at least contacted Josh at this point. I think that a unified collaberation among the dealers would certainly help resolve this situation.

 

I'm still pretty skeptic about the 6 to 9 month range of trimming, unless given concrete proof to prove otherwise. Just my 2 cents.

[Foolkiller]

Words of Wisdom from FFB

 

Tell it early, tell it all, tell it yourself.

[Foolkiller]

Tom Brulato's public statement.

 

Considering recent revelations regarding trimming of books offered for sale by Ebay seller EJAENTER ( Jason Ewert), I have severed my affiliation with Jason. I find this extremely difficult and sad as I considered him a good friend as well as an honest dealer.

 

I do not know the whole story behind these books and I probably never will. I asked the CGC to hold off on posting until I could get to the bottom of this situation and post myself. I have been told by the CGC that Jason is now the second person to ever be banned from submitting comics to them for allegedly trying to use their company to defraud comic buyers and sellers. Any books that I co-owned with Jason found to have trimming when reviewed by the CGC, I will refund the money, even though I will be losing about 60% on each book. Anyone who knows me well, will tell you I do not collect or even like restored books. I would not like for anyone to be stuck with one.

 

Any books I did not co-own, I will be glad to help try and secure a refund from Jason.

 

There was a extremely large economy submission sent to CGC from Jason that I have asked the CGC to review and to keep any books found to be trimmed. I do not want any of these books to ever reach the market place, even though I will lose thousands of dollars. My confidence in the CGC remains unchanged. I remember what it was like before the CGC. Books being caught for trimming now would never have been caught before even by the best dealers. I dropped out of the retail end of the hobby for the most part because of the undetected restoration. When the CGC came into the market place, I felt confident buying and selling again. I will continue to buy certified and raw books for my collection and for resale. I will also keep backing (as I did Jason) the “good” sellers in the hobby like Bob (High grade comics), Steve (Investment Collectibles), and others. I know people have more questions for me about this and I will answer the ones I can when you see me on the convention floor.

 

Tom Brulato

[Foolkiller]

Finally, Steve Borock's recent response to all of this.

 

While sad and unfortunate, this experience will ultimately be of benefit to the hobby. It is proving that certification works in assuring that books are accurately represented in the marketplace. This also shows us that the boards work. We can share our collective knowledge and experiences to improve the hobby. CGC is very proud to provide essential services to the hobby.

 

Over a month ago, when this situation first came to light, CGC began an extensive review process of all books in-house. Furthermore, Jason Ewert has been banned from submitting. He is only the second person CGC has banned. Anyone knowingly submitting books on his behalf will also be banned.

 

We are not releasing barcode information. We do have an obligation to all our submitters to observe our policy of confidentiality, and we cannot simply violate this at will. However, I will review any CGC certified book bought from Jason Ewert. We have every reason to believe that trimming of this type began within the last six to seven months. We will also monitor for any suspect books in the marketplace, and ask that they be returned to us for review.

 

This experience is a necessary step in guaranteeing our ability to detect sophisticated deceptive restoration. New safety measures have been put in place to reduce the likelihood of a similar situation arising. We are also consulting with Chris Friesen, who is the best restoration detection expert in our hobby. I must reiterate that Chris Friesen has never trimmed a comic book. Any insinuation otherwise is extremely offensive to me, especially since he and I worked together for many years to try to remove this element from our hobby.

 

We also realize how the help of board members and hobbyists assures the quality of our product, and we would like board member efforts to continue. We will be assembling a CGC Advisory Board to organize these efforts going forward. Please PM if you have an interest in participating.

 

-Steve

[supapimp]

Tom Brulato & Jason Ewert = Danny Dupchek

 

it's dupcak not dupchek, but it sounds like dupcheck when pronounced.

[Foolkiller]

bumping this so people who want to catch up (like Mark Wilson) can skip around a bit.

[BronzeBruce13]

 

NEW UPDATE:

 

Tonight or tomorrow I will be posting Jason's entire list of ebay sales I have going back 9 months even though CGCs ongoing investigation thus far suggests only a 6 month period of concern. I will not be posting the names of the winners of the books at this point as I'm not sure if that's right to do. However, at the very least, I plan on asking for a number of trustworthy people to assist me in contacting the 960-something ebay buyers and direct them to several posts here that will inform them of the Ejaenter debacle and the CGC/Brulato solution mentioned above.

 

On another note, it turns out that Steve's/CGC's first statement was only an initial one and there is more to come so we all should calm down a bit and let things play out. Steve mentioned that "instant gratification" is not something that can always take place with a complicated business issue that is still being investigated internally… even though we would wish it so. The investigation still continues. Jason had quite a few submissions at CGC and they are not done checking them all. Steve is not sure that CCG will allow him to reveal the specific number of books that were discovered after they are finished, but suffice it to say there were certainly more found and they are carefully looking at the rest. Steve would not reveal the specifics of what was discovered about the process that allows them now to feel that they can identify this trim with confidence. He feels making this public would only serve to educate others on what to try and overcome next. I got the impression he feels maybe too much information (partly my fault) was eventually shared about the Bats 11 trim.

 

To reiterate…

After this list is posted, anyone that owns any of these books is encouraged to send them back to CGC if they feel uncomfortable… or feel they owe it to a new prospective buyer to Re-Certify the book. I may make the list available (without names) in speadsheet format as well for circulation.

 

After we contact these buyers and forward this information to anyone that collects certified books we know, I feel its safe to say that we will have brought this information to the public (or those at risk) in a very complete and efficient manner. The remaining books that Tom owns currently, were sold privately, and those consigned through PedigreeComics.com and comicslink will be another matter I will look into helping Tom with. I have comiclink's purchases from Ejaenter recorded and I'm confident that Doug would cooperate in contacting his buyers of books in question as well.

 

Lets continue to direct our energies towards making a positive difference and "righting" any "wrongs" Jason has left us. I know its difficult right now to have as much faith in the hobby, CGC's resto detection, dealers in general, etc. but it comes down to dealing with who you trust, and armed with the forthcoming information, we will all be able to make informed choices going forward. I'm very encouraged by Borock and Brulato's response to my offer of help and the steps they are taking, and are willing to take to right the ship.

[Foolkiller]

[Aces]

[Forbush-Man]

Bumpity-Bump!

[Red Hook]

VERY nicely done, gentlemen!

[fingfangfoom]

 

For todays new CGC boarders, commenting on the current situation.