Yes, I read Card Trade, the monthly, dealer-only rag put out by F&W Publications. No, I don't understand why they approved me for a subscription, either, but here we are.
I was perusing the April edition this afternoon and it struck me: the frustrations that you and I shared last summer (in the posts titled What Do Collectors Want? and The State of the Hobbyist) are also felt by dealers. They have seen their net profits continuously shrink year to year, their competitors tank, collectors come and go from lack of interest and manufacturers fail to respond in meaningful ways.
One of the issues the mag addresses is the idea of the 'lax collector' (ie, me), and how to attract them back into the fold. When I last spoke with the manufacturer from New York City, they were unconcerned with bringing the lax collector back, that we represented a small chunk of the overall audience not really worth targeting.
Angie Venturini's article in CT presents a very different viewpoint, one that's decidedly optimistic. To paraphrase: if you (were you a dealer) just show or tell lax collectors how great cards are today then they're sure to jump back in. I feel like that's only partly true. Sure, the lax collector is hard-wired (or was at one point) to collecting. Cards probably pop up in their thoughts and dreams when they least expect it (hey, they do for me...).
But most of the cards produced today really aren't that great. And isn't that what the lax collector would be coming back to? Sure, there are exceptions, and relics and autographed cards are, I admit, though begrudgingly, cool to pull in a pack. But how many more sets can do game-used cards as enticement? There hasn't been evolution in the hobby since the invention of the relic card. This is where manufacturers falter: they can't evolve. Collectors know it. Dealers seem to know it, too. We want something unique. Something new.
Manufacturers shouldn't just be interested in the lax collector. They should be using them as lab rats for new product. Who better to recommend a product out of the gate or cry bullshit on a crappy one? Anyway, enough of the diatribe.
One last thing about Card Trade. They have a small blurb in there about Tuff Stuff's desperation move against Beckett. Going forward, Tuff Stuff will be known as Tuff Stuff's Sports Collectors Monthly. To quote the publisher, Scott Kelnhofer: "Basically, we want people who see the magazine on the newsstand to have a better understanding of what the publication is about." I love that. Here's what that really means: We never had a problem with our publication until Beckett crowded us with their new monthly, so we decided to make the front cover of our pub look almost exactly the same as our competitor's. Can't fault them for trying.
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- 1990 - 1994 Countdown: #7. 1994 Score
- White lined sphinx video
- Altered photos
- Porch record for sphinx moths
- New sightings on the porch
- How Much Is My Card Worth?
- 1990 - 1994 Countdown: #8. 1990 Donruss
- Link of the Day
- Beach walls
- Punk Baseball Cards!
- Glacier Country
- Baseball Card Game: Casting Agent
- 1990 - 1994 Countdown: #9. 1992 Topps
- A few last odds and ends
- Desert mysteries
- Jonquil Jog 5k
- Generosity, Non-Violence & Non-Cooperation
- Gorilla Round Up
- Playlist - 26th April 2008 - Baked Goods
- ET's eat cheeseweed?
- More mantids hatching
- Beleaguered in Bombay
- Desert bees and wasps
- Kakapos: Pictures of Chicks
- Examiner.com & Some Other New Stuff
- Illuminated
- More from the desert
- Lizards from our desert trip
- Three Gorges Dam - 3D model for Google Earth
- eBay sues Craigslist... no really
- Drawing for a children's playroom
- $720 for 720 Mountain Gorillas - Update
- Mantis Hatch
- BREAKING NEWS: Mantids Hatching Now
- Komodo Dragon bites like a pussy cat
- Melbourne Art Festival
- Mantis Monday for 4-21-08
- Aphids and syrphid flies
- Desert isopod
- Nalgene Bottles, Bisphenol A and REI
- Thomas B Hildebrandt clarifies Northern White Rhin...
- Siberia Valley
- Home With Maya - 2 Weeks In
- TV: Silverback Titus to star in PBS Nature specia...
- Not one...not two....
- Desert walking stick
- Playlist - 19th April 2008
- Vanishing Land
- Two more Kakapo chicks! We're at 92 Kakapos!
- Cloning of Northern White Rhino seen as last hope ...
- Some beetles from last week
- Beach Dock
- Review of 'The Last Real Season' by Mike Shropshire
- More desert mantids
- Gravel-hoppers
- 1990 - 1994 Countdown: #10. 1991 OPC Premier
- I was on the longest streak. The streak was shooti...
- The dreaded bottle
- Florida Tree
- Steve on Resonance FM
- Name that monster
- Balloon buddy
- 1990 - 1994 Countdown: #11. 1991 Studio
- Playlist - 12th April 2008 - Funkology
- Seamour comic 59
- Dialogue
- 1990 - 1994 Countdown: #12. 1992 Pinnacle
- Bunjeeee!
- Life
- Streetlife
- Some Thoughts on Card Trade
- Lake Morton
- Desert greetings
- 1990 - 1994 Countdown: #20. 1992 Topps Kids
- Maya's Birthday Box o' Beer
- An illustration for Oskar
- An American Scene
- Maya's First Night at Home
- Jumping Spider
- Blue pollen
- Playlist - 5th April 2008
- Maya's First Day Home
- The grass tree
- Twizel
- Funnel Web Fright
- A Morning at Elephant Junction
- A Baby Story...
- cuckoo-o-tron
- 24 hours in...
- Walk
- Who is Maya Named For?
- Introducing... Maya Simone Saxe!
- 1990 - 1994 Countdown: #13. 1994 Fleer
- Dub Review - April 2008
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