Sad Commentary About Sports Collectors Digest

[commando]

Re: Sad Commentary About Sports Collectors Digest

First post here, and dredging up an old thread in the process....

I agree with the obvious consensus that SCD has not evolved with the times. Every now and then, I'll go back and read a few issues from the 80s (when it was a newspaper format), and marvel at how many informative articles were jammed into each issue -- and, if you think about it, there was a heck of a lot less to write about 20 years ago.

Granted, the paper was loaded with advertisements selling hundred-lot bricks of Dave Magadan rookie cards. But that was part of the fun... Scanning countless ads to buy 100 Magadan rookies for $60 on page 42, while another clueless dealer on page 14 was charging $75! The nerve!

The internet has stolen most of SCD's thunder, and really, nothing can be done to change that. Free instant information, free networking, and free browsing is a hard opponent to match.

[David]

Re: Sad Commentary About Sports Collectors Digest

A problem may be that it's a weekly. If it was bi-weekly or monthly it could have more meat to it.

[athletics61]

Re: Sad Commentary About Sports Collectors Digest

I have been a subscriber to Sports Collector's Digest since 1988. If it wasn't for that publication, I probably would have only collected baseball cards (besides my other hobby of collecting coins). I thank that publication big time for allowing me to build a big collection of game worn baseball jerseys. For several years, I anxiously waited to receive the freshest issue via "stale mail" to read the articles and scour the tons of ads. I can recall the frustation of tardy mail deliveries, and going the route of having the publication sent by UPS, just to get to the freshest ads ASAP.

Nowadays, I get the issues by "stale mail" again, and I just look through the skinny issues once and toss it on the coffeetable. The internet has definitely taken a lot out of this publication. I also believe that the editors need to do something or this publication will become extinct. Going back to a bi-weekly publication would be a start.

Right now, my subscription is up in March and it looks like my 20 year run will close.

Don

dthedos@columbus.rr.com

[soxbats]

Re: Sad Commentary About Sports Collectors Digest

I too am a 15 year plus subscriber and have also decided to let my subscription lapse.

However, I have a suggestion for SCD. Let subscribers post 1 free classified (of a limited number of words) per issue. While this may undermine this forum's sales page and cut a bit into profits, it will drive readers back to the publication and their website. The best part of the mag was going to the back and looking for that obscure listing. If they don't do something radical like this, the periodical will be dead within 5 years.

Also, we all need to understand that there are significant game used items sitting in the collections of people who have no interest in the internet. I know that is shocking in this day of Francona chew on ebay but I cannot tell you how many people I have purchased from as a result of ads placed in SCD or local papers. We all have dealt with the children that are selling their parent's collection for them online.

The death of this periodical cuts off an important source of contact to these collectors. SCD has missed the boat time and time again when dealing with the internet and sites like this have stepped into that breach. Its time that they think radically and try to use content to drive subscriptions. Unfortunatley as people have turned to new mediums to gather their knowledge and interact SCD has been left behind. I hope it is not too late.