RETRO Responds to WATA Co-Founder Mark Haspel

The embattled WATA executive's response to past reporting at RETRO leaves more questions than it answers. Below is his statement, an analysis of it, and a series of critical follow-up questions.

Statement from RETRO

September 5, 2021

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In no collectibles industry on Earth is it permissible for a grading-house grader to grade their own games or sell games they graded. It’s a non-starter—inconceivable. So when WATA co-founder Deniz Kahn told the New York Times in 2020 that to protect against conflicts of interest, employees of his company could nei…