30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Why doesn't this guy just fade off into the sunset?

I don't hide my love for Don West.  In fact, I consider him a hobby hero.  The guy would entertain me and my buddy into the wee hours during the 90's.  In short... the guy was hilarious with hilarious with his overdramatic and exaggerated sports card and memorabilia claims.

But his partner in crime... Ken Goldin is another story.  Since he filed for bankruptcy and his company (Score Board) left tons of collectors waiting for unfulfilled redemptions back in the mid 90's, I've always considered him to be shady.

In my biased mind, Mr. West was sort of the village idiot, while Mr. Goldin was the sleazy car salesmen.  I was entertained by one and annoyed by the other.

Well... guess what?  Goldin is back...


And this time he's running an auction site, which happens to be selling the original document that banned Pete Rose from baseball back in 1989.  The document is signed by Rose, Fay Vincent, and Bart Giamatti... who passed away eight days after the signing.

If you're bored, I encourage you to take a few minutes to check out this video:


You'll get to hear Goldin's explanation on why it's "the single most significant document in the history of baseball."  Seriously... those are his words exactly.  Don't get me wrong... it's a pretty cool piece of history, but hardly the single most significant document in the history of baseball.

Have you ever watched Don West during his Shop at Home years?  What'd you think?

Like I said... I loved him.  But it's hard not to feel bad for some of those grandmothers who would call in to buy their grandchildren's Christmas presents.

Happy Tuesday and sayonara!

15 comments:

Commishbob said...

I watched him from time to time. I always wondered about the saps who bought his junk wax at the prices he was selling it for.

I always liked it when cards would fall off the little tiered displays he'd put them on.

Hackenbush said...

I think I remember him. He'd offer like a million cards, say they were worth $300 but he was selling them to you for only $40. And I'd say to myself, if he's selling them for $40 they're only worth $20. Hard to believe people fell for that.

The Big Kahuna said...

It was bad enough when he was on shop at home but it got much worse when he was on TNA wrestling. That annoying voice......I CAN'T GET IT OUT of my head. On the bright side he has left TNA and went on to "other supposedly better" things.

cardjim said...

I have to agree fuji, West was entertaining. but, Goldin had to be the most annoying person to ever disgrace the ball card business.

jacobmrley said...

I am an insomniac who had very few cable channels in the 90's, of course I saw Don in action. He was a GEM MINT 10!!!

Chris P said...

I've seen Don's Wild West Deals on youtube for a chuckle. I loathe both of them personally, but Goldin is way worse than West. Trying to sell BCCG "GEM Mint" Michael Jordan rookie cards when it's just those crappy North Carolina cards, and 87 Topps Baseball, it really insults your intelligence. They would outright LIE to your face about stuff they were selling. Couldn't imagine anyone buying their crap (except Goldin did hawk UDA stuff on his show if I recall)

Postcards Never Sent said...

As an insomniac, I've always had a soft spot for Don West. There has been a great discussion regarding Goldin Auctions and Ken Goldin at http://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=155017. At the National, I saw him standing around the wares for his first auction. Some of the items were quite impressive, but not my cup of tea.

Fuji said...

It's hard not to feel bad about the people who were talked into buying their trash. I understand that it's up to the consumer to do their research, but I'm sure a lot of these people had never collected cards.

Fuji said...

I agree, but I think it's easier for us to say that, because a lot of us have been collecting for years. My concern is for the 90 year old grandmothers buying their cards for their grandchildren.

Fuji said...

LOL... I actually enjoy Mr. West. It's Mr. Goldin that bugs me.

Fuji said...

Both of these guys played a huge role in getting people to open up their wallets. But for one reason or another, I can handle West... but Goldin is a completely different story.

Fuji said...

I agree 100%!

Fuji said...

Yeah... there's no doubt about it. Both of these guys were in the wrong in terms of being ethical.

P.S. totally remember them trying to pass off those UNC cards as Jordan rookie cards... shame, shame, shame.

Fuji said...

Thanks for sharing that link. I started reading the posts 40 minutes ago... and I'm only on page 7 of 26. It's pretty interesting.

Anonymous said...

Coming back here, Ken is doing well for running peoples pockets day one.