SCD

Ripken

I happened to save 2 issues of SCD..one from '93 and the other from '95. Pulled them down & nearly fell over because of the weight. Each was over 200 pages! The current issue is 72. Amazing. I remember taking an hour or more to go through it each week..jotting down potential ads to respond to on the back cover and reading some pretty decent articles. Lots of great ads from familiar names that I haven't seen or heard from since. It's a far cry from the little thing we get today. This is one publication that really, really felt the brunt of EBay's power, which began asserting itself in around '97 or '98. Sort of a sad chapter in the hobby's history but SCD didn't do much to keep pace with the times either.

detroitfan2

Ripken,

I couldn't agree more. Doesn't take much time to get through an issue of SCD anymore. I haven't bought anything from a SCD advertiser in years. There's usually one or 2 good articles a month, which is what I enjoy.

I'm always amazed at how some of the dealers like a Kevin Savage (classy guy, by the way) are still surviving with their SCD auctions instead of with ebay.

Any thoughts, though, on what they could have done differently to "keep up with the times"? I can't think of much, other than I don't think a weekly issue is a necessity. Maybe bi-weekly?

Ripken

I think SCD should have seen the writing on the wall by the late 90s and evolved into a bi-weekly or even a monthly publication, leaning more toward news, auction updates, collector profiles, etc. It probably would have been more costly to produce and they may have had to add some real reporters and writers to their staff either free-lance or full-time, but the same old idea just isn't working. I'd be curious to know how many of those 1995 subscribers are still with them today (many of whom WERE probably with them in '85).

They could have kept prices around the same for fewer issues, upgraded the paper stock a bit and maybe included a better classified ad area. I'd certainly pay for something like that (or better yet, run it!). There's still a collector base out there hungry for current news, finds, hobby happenings, well-written card/history/memorabilia pieces etc. but no one is really filling it very well.

There's also a 'collector-to-collector' void that used to be filled in the back pages of SCD. I remember putting a 'trade' ad out there for older cards back in the 80s and getting swamped with replies. It's how I built my collection. SCD's rates went way up about 8-10 years ago and drove away a lot of little guys who wrote or answered those ads. The 'Sport Card Economizer' was a funky little publication I got for awhile...but I think it's gone too.

qualitycards

I still subscribe to SCD, done so for over 20 years. I used to love getting the issues in the '80's & 90's.
Would read it quickly first and see what I wanted to purchase (as the better items sold out quickly)
then I would read it a 2nd time for the articles & classifieds.
Nowadays, its an advertisement for the auction houses and even many of the articles are about the auction houses.
A lot has changed in this hobby, but I'm still glad they are cranking out the issues. This can't be said of Trader Speaks
Baseball Cards & Baseball Hobby News publications...jay

ctsoxfan

Exactly - if the current issue is 72 pages, I'll bet 50-55 of the pages are ads. I still get mine in the mail every week, but it is getting to where you find a worthwhile article once a month, not every week.

But, at least you get to see Mr. Mint's horrible advertising each and every week without fail...

gmoneystyles

anyone have any thoughts on their now defunct grading? The cards that I have seen graded by them looked pretty solid, and I've thought of springing for a one or two on a couple of occasions.

WinPitcher

SCD graded cards ....were they the ones being sold thru grade and trade? I heard bad things about them towards the end. I forget now exactly what I heard. I too have a few SCD cards and mine look nice as well.

jimtb

I've been subscribing for over 20 years. It's a habit. These days I can flip through it in 10 minutes; in the 80's I would spend two hours searching every ad. Ebay has killed it, along with most card shows.
Jim

aro13

~"anyone have any thoughts on their now defunct grading? The cards that I have seen graded by them looked pretty solid, and I've thought of springing for a one or two on a couple of occasions."~

I have had great crossover success with SCD grading and am happy with the cards I still have in their holders. SCD seemed a lot tougher on the back centering than any of the other companies. I was dissapointed when they got out of the grading game.