Regency Stamp Auctions In St. Louis

Don - I believe that you bring up an important point. If the folks that documented their alleged receipt of bad checks with the BBB had gone to the authorities we may be having a different discussion right now. I know that I would have.

I am still trying to understand why my consignment material was returned to me in February and others apparently did not get theirs.

We initiated the complaint process against David formally, along with a significant number of APS members, because of failure to pay. At no point during the investigations has anyone alleged or provided information that suggests other APS members associated with Regency Superior may have been responsible for the issues surrounding the complaints.

However, if you or anyone else is able to provide the APS with information relating to others who violated the APS Code of Ethics in relation to Regency Superior, you can file a complaint here: https://stamps.org/Complaint-Procedure

As Don and others have referenced, the APS complaints and discipline are a due process, which means any member must have a chance to defend the allegations against them. If a complaint is filed, it will be investigated.

A board member's job is not to be a rubber stamp yes man (or woman). Some businesses are in such bad shape they need to be shut down, not cheer-leading when there is no hope of survival.

eyeonwall,
The context was not the period of time when a strategic topic was being presented and debated; the context was after the decision was made and the plan set in motion. If some extraordinary need arises, BOD members can call for another meeting, revisit the plan, and possibly change the strategic direction. But to run around and undermine the company's direction publicly? Sorry, you're fired.

While I am not intimate with R-S BOD and their strategic plans; I assume that BOD members were a part of the decision to expand the auction scope to include other collectibles and the subsequent need to finance such a change. I also assume they understood the risks, understood the auction marketplace, and ensured that they had ways to measure if the plan was being successful or not.

Like others, I found the excuse about 'the state of the hobby' and medical issues stupid and a bunch of smoke blowing. If the state of the hobby was unknown by the BOD when they made their risk analysis of the expansion then they were clueless. (By 2010 even clueless people could see that the auction market was being greatly impacted by the internet.) Even if the actual reason for failure was 'the state of the hobby' and this decision was a 'Hail Mary' attempt to recover, then they should have understood this and had contingency plans. I won't even go into the stupidity of a business which is so unstable that losing a single person causes it to fail.

So I concur that the entire BOD is at fault here and not just David Kols. Anyone who was a member of the R-S BOD should have a large black stain on their career and be the ones who do not sleep well. And my opinion is that without question some hard questions should be asked and answered. Real answers, not some lame BS about 'the state of the hobby'. And any other company or organization which has these same people in decision making positions seriously needs to revisit their value. I agree that these people should not be able to simply walk away and shrug this off with a 'gee the state of the hobby' sucks.

But being clueless and/or making really bad strategic OR operational decisions is not a crime. The laws of this country afford protection to those who make business decisions, this is why everyone runs out and sets up corporations and LLCs.
Don

Please explain "the decision to expand the auction scope to include other collectibles and the subsequent need to finance such a change" Was there some recent change in their scope? For as long as I have been paying attention to them they included coins and space, so that change was many years ago.

"So I concur that the entire BOD is at fault here and not just David Kols." You are assuming he gave them all the info they needed and also that he followed their directives.

As a member of the BOD of a publicly traded company, I think you are missing out on the realities of both a BOD and a businesses. a BOD is not there to guarantee that the businesses wont fail. Which is what you seem to want. 'Contingency plans' don't always exist. Some time it is either 'do or die'. Here it ended up dying. So if by way of example the stamp businesses is atrophying, there are two possibilities, closing up or expand into other areas. BOD tried to expand. It didn't work. Why do you think it is a stain on them.

Hi joe1225us,
I did not say that a BOD exists to guarantee success; obviously there are no guarantees. But surely you are not arguing that BODs have no responsibility for their decisions (or lack of them), BODs certainly claim responsibility when their decisions are right.

Bad business decisions should be owned, whomever made them and at any level. In your real estate business I am sure that you have made some mistakes, we all have. Hopefully our mistakes have not greatly impacted others, the business absorbs any negative effects, and we learn.

And I concur that sometimes a business is faced with 'life or death' situations. It could be that the R-S BOD made a last ditch, high risk, 'life or death' decision without any contingency plans or discussing what might happen if it failed. I bet that if any of them had personally secured that bank loan there would have been plenty of contingency discussions and backup plans. But when it is someone else's money they are losing they get to just walk away and call it a day?

Clearly from a legal standpoint BOD members get a fair amount of protection from recourse; it is important that BOD members can execute decisions without a cloud of fear hanging over their heads. But this, in my opinion, does not relieve them from professional responsibility. I think each of us, no matter what our occupation, is responsible for the job we do and the quality of the decisions we make.
Don

I think the primary issue that many have is the company was likely using income from consigned sales to satisfy other debts rather than pay the consignees monies due. This was supposedly going on for a while since they were known for slow payments. This situation had should have been apparent to the Board and likely knowledge of the employees and others in the hobby. They were waiting for the miracle (company sold) that never happened. It was not a large staffed company with a bureaucracy to not be obvious.

People use the words "Board of Directors" but the composition varies. It can be no more than a few friends owning titles (who are likely just yes men or along for the ride) to more elaborate ones we see in larger corporations.

The challenge in a "small hobby" like stamps is that people are not going to turn others in or go against people with influence. So, I do not expect many whistle blowers except for people like Ken Lawrence, etc. The politics is prevalent in most every group (APS, etc.)

You can go back to when the SPA collapsed and the records were sealed. Nothing new.

Anything new to report on the Regency Superior case? APS activities? To get to the bottom of questions asked: You must follow the Money. Anyone doing this at present?

I have not seen anything new. It does seem as if the material dispersal is done. Several companies auctioned R-S material for awhile but I do not see any more of that. My hope is that people remember what happened but that is not human nature.

I second that!

Any update on Kohls' health? Has he miraculously been cured since time has passed?

I've been lurking on this thread for some time. Frankly, I'm surprised at the interest that it has developed. Auction houses hsve failed over time, in most cases stiffing their consignors. Does anyone else remember Roger Koerber Auctions in Michigan? Or, perhaps the Society of Philatelic Americans Sales Division? Basically, when you transfer your property to a third party, you assume a risk. A risk that is common to any and every business transaction. Sometimes that risk pays off, sometime you lose. That is the way the world works.

I believe the problem here was that Kols was millions of dollars in the hole, knew that he would never get out of that hole, still took material and either pocketed what was realized or the material could not be accounted for. Was it done knowingly either in part or in whole? Let each person be the judge.

Posted by Charles E. Cwiakala on the Frajola message board:


+++ David M. Kols +++


I've just been informed of the death earlier today of David M. Kols, who was the President of REGENCY-SUPERIOR LTD. The following message was posted by his wife, Penney:

"Today, I lost my sweet husband of over 31-years. It breaks my heart to say goodbye. We met at work 33-years ago, and have been inseparable since. For those who weren't aware, he has been battling terminal colon cancer for over a year now. I loved his spirit - when mine was down - he always remained positive. But, now it's over, and I am lost without him."