John R. Slight (61) and Kamala Sara Slight (58)
Residence: Escondido, CA
Dealer Name: Sun Diego Collectibles, Inc.
Ebay selling ID: sundiegocollectibles (VCP masked ID is t***c) Link: https://www.ebay.com/sch/sundiegocollectibles/m.html?_trksid=p3692
Prevoius Ebay ID used by John Slight: wiwag (When It Was A Game)
Ebay feedback received as a seller: over 31,500+
Ebay feedback received as a buyer: 30,600+
John and Kamala Slight have been prolific submitters of cards to PSA for years. The majority of the sales on Ebay by sundiegocollectibles are and were cards that were sent to be graded by PSA by either the Slights, the Slights using an alias, or an agent. The Ebay ID of sundiegocollectibles was created in 1999. John Slight along with Craig Kreider were co-owners of the infamous When It Was A Game, Inc. (WIWAG), which began in 1998 and ended in 2003. Both men were charged with and plead guilty to mail fraud involving the selling of fraudulent cards online. Hobby veterans will be able to better describe what transpired during the WIWAG/PSA scandal. I do not know what plea bargains were arranged nor for how long.
Kamala Slight is named as the CEO of Sun Diego Collectibles, Inc. with no mention of her husband John Slight. Kamala Slight's name is included in the thread title due to her being the listed CEO. Whether she has any knowledge of John's involvement in her company selling altered cards is unknown.
The FBI has already been involved with a successful ruling against John Slight and would probably be interested in knowing that he is involved in the altering and fraudulent selling of graded altered cards.
An observation on my part is that Slight has successfully remained under the radar for years by choosing to deal in mid grade level cards of star players and still maintain decent profits when sold. A good baseball analogy would be that he chose to hit singles rather than swing for home runs. Much of what he sells would not raise a flag as being altered. I have also observed many cards that were left as is and included in with altered cards submitted to be graded. That was a good strategy to use since a large portion of cards sold appear to have not been altered and are mid grade. These cards may only generate a little profit, but still a profit. I have also found that the majority of his purchases are of raw cards which is very time consuming to trace. Some of the cards that I was able to track down were not trimmed but were cleaned up by removing ink spots or scuff marks that occured during printing.
I have no idea how many altered cards that he has sold since a good percentage are not. As is the case of other card alterers, the fact that he has been outed as being involved in card doctoring should make one have reasonable doubts on anything previously sold by or currently for sale by sundiegocollectibles.
January 17, 2003 news release regarding When It Was A Game, Inc. (WIWAG)
January 17, 2003
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
San Diego, California
United States Attorney
Carol C. Lam
For Further Information, Contact: Assistant U. S. Attorney Melanie K. Pierson
(619) 557-5685
For Immediate Release
NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY
United States Attorney Carol C. Lam announced today that a local firm and its
officers plead guilty before United States Magistrate Judge Louisa S. Porter to
the felony charge of mail fraud in connection with the sale of fraudulent
sports cards. The firm, When It Was A Game, Inc. ("WIWAG"), has offices in San
Diego, California, and from 1998 to the present was engaged in the business of
buying and selling both graded and ungraded sports cards. Co-defendants John
Slight and Craig Kreider are the co-owners of the company.
The quality of a sports card can be graded by an independent grading company on
a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest quality. A card that is graded as
a 10 is typically sold for over twice as much as a card graded as a 9. When an
independent grading company assesses a sports card, it assigns a grade to the
card and seals the card and a label indicating the grade, in a plexiglass case,
called a "slab". The seal on the slab is intended to be permanent.
In connection with their guilty pleas, the defendants admitted that they would
sometimes remove cards that had been graded as 10 or 9 from the slab and
replace them with lower quality cards. The lower quality cards would then be
sold by the defendants in the slabs which bore the label falsely stating the
higher grade. The defendants intended to deceive buyers into believing that the
lower quality cards were actually of higher grade, thereby fraudulently
inflating their value.
Specifically, the defendants further acknowledged that on August 21, 2002, they
submitted an Upper Deck SP Authentic Series sports card of Bonzi Wells to an
independent grader. The card was marked by Upper Deck as card number 0946 of
3500 cards produced. This card was graded as a "10", placed in a slab bearing
certification number 40077235, and returned to the defendants on September 11,
2002. Thereafter, on September 22, 2002, a Bonzi Wells card, bearing
certificate number 40077235 from the independent grading company and allegedly
graded as a "10" was sold by the defendants to an individual in Spring, Texas.
However, the card that was in the slab when purchased by that individual was a
lower quality card, number 0594 of 3500.
The next appearance date for the defendants is June 25, 2003, at 8:30 a.m.
before United States District Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz for acceptance of the
plea and sentencing.
DEFENDANTS
When It Was A Game, Inc.
San Diego, California
Incorporated in California, 1998
John Slight
San Diego, California
Craig Kreider
San Diego, California
SUMMARY OF CHARGE
Mail Fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341
Maximum Penalty (for individuals): 5 yrs. in custody and/or $250,000 fine
Maximum Penalty (for corporation): $1 million fine
AGENCY
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Slight's Online Store:
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Altered Cards
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PSA Cert #45070584
PSA Set Registry: none
1966 Topps Mickey Mantle #50
Value gain of $1,199.86
This card was purchased by VCP masked buyer ID t***c (John and Kamala Slight) from Ebay seller bbcardstor as a PSA 6 for $349.99 on November 21, 2018.
VCP link: https://vintagecardprices.com/card/baseball-card-values/1966-Topps-Mickey-Mantle-50/167960/PSA/6?grader=PSA&grade=6&sale_type=&limit=999999
Same card was sold by Ebay seller sundiegocollectibles (John and Kamala Slight) as a PSA 8 for $1,549.85 on November 28, 2019.
VCP link: https://vintagecardprices.com/card/baseball-card-values/1966-Topps-Mickey-Mantle-50/167960/PSA/8
Yellow circles are print, fiber, or chipping identifiers.
Red boxes identify trimmed bottom and right edges.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PSA Cert #43340218
PSA Set Registry: none
1959 Topps Roberto Clemente #478
Value gain of $272.15
This card was purchased by VCP masked buyer ID t***c (John and Kamala Slight) from Ebay seller mitchellscards as a PSA 6 for $135.00 on March 02, 2019.
VCP link: https://vintagecardprices.com/card/baseball-card-values/1959-Topps-Bob-Clemente-478/64858/PSA/6?grader=PSA&grade=6&sale_type=&limit=999999
Same card was sold by Ebay seller sundiegocollectibles (John and Kamala Slight) as a PSA 8 for $407.15 on August 08, 2019.
VCP link: https://vintagecardprices.com/card/baseball-card-values/1959-Topps-Bob-Clemente-478/64858/PSA/8?grader=PSA&grade=8&sale_type=&limit=999999
Yellow circles are print, fiber, or chipping identifiers.
Red box identifies trimmed left edge.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PSA Cert #25738017
PSA Set Registry: none
1960 Topps Roberto Clemente #326
Value gain of $600.75
This card was purchased by VCP masked buyer ID t***c (John and Kamala Slight) from Ebay seller jamieslim2 as a PSA 6 for $105.80 on February 21, 2016.
VCP link: https://vintagecardprices.com/card/baseball-card-values/1960-Topps-Bob-Clemente-326/164260/PSA/6?grader=PSA&grade=6&sale_type=&limit=999999
Same card was sold by Ebay seller sundiegocollectibles (John and Kamala Slight) as a PSA 8 for $706.55 on May 26, 2016.
VCP link: https://vintagecardprices.com/card/baseball-card-values/1960-Topps-Bob-Clemente-326/164260/PSA/8?grader=PSA&grade=8&sale_type=&limit=999999
Yellow circles are print, fiber, or chipping identifiers.
Red box identifies trimmed left edge.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
PSA Cert #28326028
PSA Set Registry: none
1966 Topps Jim Palmer #126
Value gain of $57.91
This card was purchased by VCP masked buyer ID t***c (John and Kamala Slight) from Ebay seller purdysstuffofhistory as a PSA 6 for $42.89 on August 30, 2017.
VCP link: https://vintagecardprices.com/card/baseball-card-values/1966-Topps-Jim-Palmer-126/167885/PSA/6?grader=PSA&grade=6&sale_type=&limit=999999
Same card was sold by Ebay seller sundiegocollectibles (John and Kamala Slight) as a PSA 7 for $100.80 on December 22, 2017.
VCP link: https://vintagecardprices.com/card/baseball-card-values/1966-Topps-Jim-Palmer-126/167885/PSA/7?grader=PSA&grade=7&sale_type=&limit=999999
Yellow circles are print, fiber, or chipping identifiers.
Red box identifies trimmed top edge.
