What a waste of paper....

11235813

Just got the new SMR....read it in under 10 minutes and then tossed it into the recycling bin.

If PSA insists on making SMR 95% price listings, then they should cut back to quarterly publishing (prices do not change that much month-to-month) and save the paper.

Davemri

RipublicaninMass

ditto

WinPitcher

Oh I dunno I enjoy the articles.


Steve

JeremyDie1

I only read the cover page through the plastic.

gemint

I recommend contributing an article. I'm sure if you submit a decent article, they'll publish it.

mrbud60

its all about the ad $$$$.

onlyanumber

<< <i>Just got the new SMR....read it in under 10 minutes and then tossed it into the recycling bin.

If PSA insists on making SMR 95% price listings, then they should cut back to quarterly publishing (prices do not change that much month-to-month) and save the paper. >>



do you ever have anything positive to say?

Or do you just go around kicking puppies and wearing an 'End is Near' sign?

70chip

If your done with it send it my way. I would like to flip through it.

wolfbear

<< <i>Just got the new SMR....read it in under 10 minutes and then tossed it into the recycling bin.

If PSA insists on making SMR 95% price listings, then they should cut back to quarterly publishing (prices do not change that much month-to-month) and save the paper. >>



do you ever have anything positive to say?

Or do you just go around kicking puppies and wearing an 'End is Near' sign?

WinPitcher

LOL too funny, I was going to post the same thing!!

i even PM'd someone and said exactly that.

1123 has yet to ever post anything positive that I can recall.


By the way to get SMR one usually joins up.

Welcome aboard 1123..


Steve

11235813

Steve,

You must have a very selective memory...I've said a lot of positive things about card collecting in general, just not about PSA (which as everyone knows I think is a very poorly run company).

Also note that whenever I criticize PSA, I do it constructively and provide suggestions as to how I think they can improve. I do not just mindlessly bash them. In this case I think that if they are going to publish SMR monthly, they should include far more articles, which are usually quite good, and far less pricing info. If it is just going to be a "price guide", then they should cut back to quarterly publishing.

Heck....I even got RipublicaninMass to agree with me on this one.....

gosteelers

I agree. I love the articles, could care less about the inaccurate pricing...

RipublicaninMass

<< <i>Steve,

You must have a very selective memory...I've said a lot of positive things about card collecting in general, just not about PSA (which as everyone knows I think is a very poorly run company).
>>



So why did you sign up? Have to have a memebership to get SMR, BTW I haven't opened one in a year!

storm888

I like the articles, the ads, and the sometime inserts.

IF we want grading/membership prices to remain
affordable, tampering with the publishing schedule
needs to be off the table.

grote15

The articles are often very interesting, and I'd also like to see more of them and less pricing info and ads (though I know the ads are what generate the revenue as any magazine on the newstand will indicate). I'd also like to see a quarterly, more substantial publication with more meat to it.

wolfbear

<< <i> whenever I criticize PSA, I do it constructively and provide suggestions as to how I think they can improve. I do not just mindlessly bash them. >>


Fair enough.

You're working for the common good of us all ...

perkdog

Personally I like the Collector profiles, its cool to read about some of these guys and their amazing collections. Hardly any difference in pricing every month doesnt help but I enjoy it.

TheVon

I don't like the SMR very much either. The ad's are usually my favorite part and the scans that go with the articles are cool too. That's about all I look at though.

wolfbear

It's like Hustler. The articles are the best part.

rube26105

me too paul,all the educational stories in em

bsidegrve

I do love all the cards I could never afford on the 1st few pages though

Carew29

Nice to see PSA hasn't given in to the tree huggers......

SidePocket

Great article on the 1914 and 1915 Crackerjack sets those two guys put together.

CDsNuts

I may be in the minority but I don't like the articles either. I know the key card in the 1979 Topps set is the Ozzie Smith and that it's impossible to find centered. I'm really not interested in somebody who's trying to put together an entire 1990 Leaf set in PSA 10. There's just too much common and/or insignifcant info in the articles. Every once in a while they'll do an interesting one, like the 1971 Topps Greatest Moments set, but considering there are only one or two articles per issue, that's not really frequent enough for me. I also hate the "articles" highlighting what happened at the latest big auction. I mean, the auction houses incessantly advertise the prices they get for stuff, so why the need for an entire article giving out the same info?

From what I can tell, all of the articles are submitted by authors who don't get paid, and the prices are never accurate. How good could the magazine be?

And numbers guy, this is not an original topic you came up with. There are no less than a dozen threads on how bad the SMR is if you do a search.

I know everybody is primarily anit-Beckett, but you all should do yourselves a favor and buy an issue of the Graded Card Investor. They actually rely more on market research to compile their articles and pricing. It's very well done and it looks like their trying to be mostly objective (not favoring BGS).

Lee

clydecoolidge

I liked the 1914 and '15 Cracker Jack article. A father and son-in-law putting together full sets of both was cool to read about (and that one took me more than 10 minutes to read, you must be a fast reader)

Now, as far as the content goes, I doubt that we are going to see more articles in SMR. For one, pricing takes up too much space and they're not going to get rid of paying advertisers, so I would think it's more likely that they would go the route of publishing less frequently (if they change at all, which I doubt). I prefer to save the stress for something worthy so I just go with the "it is what it is" mentality.

thedutymon

Good Morning,
OK Lee, you made your sale, contact Beckett and get your kickback, I just went on their site and ordered one. Will let you know what I think.
Have a Great Day
Neil

CDsNuts

Sweet, that's 25 cents into my pocket. Thanks Neil.

WinPitcher

Ok I'll bite man with numbers, perhaps you can link us to one thread you started that was positive.

And yes I think what I and the other poster meant was threads relating to PSA after all this is a PSA board.

With that said I'll settle for any positive thread.

Steve

11235813

<< <i>this is a PSA board. >>



So what? Does that mean you are not allowed to criticize PSA just because they own and host the forum?

I happen to think that they are a poorly run (but brilliantly marketed) company that does not provide customers good value or service for their money. If this changes, I'll be the first to give them credit, but right now I don't see them doing much that deserves praise.

The prices they charge are fairly high.
Their grading is inconsistent and often inaccurate, especially now with half-point grading.
Their flips are easy to forge.
Their holders are not tamper-proof.
They rarely return your cards in time specified.
The magazine they publish is uninteresting.
They do not back up any of their products or services with a customer-satisfaction guarantee of any sorts.

Explain to me exactly what about PSA I am supposed to be praising???

If I ran my business (a Sylvan Learning Center) the way PSA runs theirs, I'd have gone out of business a long time ago...

Post25

The articles are great. They should cut back on the pricing and publish more articles. Maybe list the pricing every other month.

MeteoriteGuy

<< <i>Ok I'll bite man with numbers, perhaps you can link us to one thread you started that was positive.

And yes I think what I and the other poster meant was threads relating to PSA after all this is a PSA board.

With that said I'll settle for any positive thread.

Steve >>



If you could highlight your history of constuctive critism I would appreciate it as well.

Thanks, Mark

Edit to add: Speaking to numbers guy.

11235813

Let's see...

At various points and on various threads I have suggested that PSA:

a) focus on making their flips forgery-proof by using watermarked paper and holograms
b) focus on making their holders tamper-proof instead of tamper-evident
c) improve SMR by increasing the number of articles
d) back up their submission time "guarantees" (now estimates) by offering customers vouchers or other financial compensation if their cards are not graded and returned in the specified time
e) provide more information about the qualifications and training process of their graders
f) spend more than 30-45 seconds (estimated by another poster) grading each card
g) provide a detailed report with each submission stating why a card received the grade it did as well as the name of the graders who graded it
h) return to whole-point grading, since the hobby doesn't need 17 grading levels
i) offer reduced price resubmissions if someone is not happy with the grade their card received

Is that enough constructive criticism for you????

Gobin

I'm sure everyone here understands the reason PSA publishes the SMR monthly is to charge more for advertising. Please don't be under the impression their doing it for us. The more CPM they get, the more they can charge the dealers. Its a business people, not a service.

clydecoolidge

After being on the Xbox and Sony boards during the 360 and PS3 launches, I'm so used to "flamers" that these boards don't compare. Which is a good thing. Of course you still have your occasional flamers that bash the company. Although I never understood why people spend time bashing a company on a message board. If I didn't like a good number of things about PSA, I wouldn't be here.

MeteoriteGuy

<< <i>Let's see...

At various points and on various threads I have suggested that PSA:

a) focus on making their flips forgery-proof by using watermarked paper and holograms
b) focus on making their holders tamper-proof instead of tamper-evident
c) improve SMR by increasing the number of articles
d) back up their submission time "guarantees" (now estimates) by offering customers vouchers or other financial compensation if their cards are not graded and returned in the specified time
e) provide more information about the qualifications and training process of their graders
f) spend more than 30-45 seconds (estimated by another poster) grading each card
g) provide a detailed report with each submission stating why a card received the grade it did as well as the name of the graders who graded it
h) return to whole-point grading, since the hobby doesn't need 17 grading levels
i) offer reduced price resubmissions if someone is not happy with the grade their card received

Is that enough constructive criticism for you???? >>




I didn't ask you for more of your moaning. You said "Also note that whenever I criticize PSA, I do it constructively and provide suggestions as to how I think they can improve." Please provide reference to this.

Carew29

Let's just take a closer look at his postive's

a) focus on making their flips forgery-proof by using watermarked paper and holograms
Great idea but they would pass the expense on to the customer in the grading fee

b) focus on making their holders tamper-proof instead of tamper-evident
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Great idea but they would pass the expense on to the customer in the grading fee

c) improve SMR by increasing the number of articles
------------------------------------------------------------------
Just get rid of it all together (IMO)

d) back up their submission time "guarantees" (now estimates) by offering customers vouchers or other financial compensation if their cards are not graded and returned in the specified time
--------------------------------------------------------------
Won't happen due to lack of qualified graders

e) provide more information about the qualifications and training process of their graders
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Won't happen. They don't want you to know. Because they are a public stock though,there should be some legal requirement for them to provide this information (Any business attorneys out there for comment?)

f) spend more than 30-45 seconds (estimated by another poster) grading each card
----------------------------------------------
Please see answer for Question D

g) provide a detailed report with each submission stating why a card received the grade it did as well as the name of the graders who graded it
-------------
Please see answer for Question A and B

h) return to whole-point grading, since the hobby doesn't need 17 grading levels
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Won't happen because Joe siad there was an overwhelmingly response to do this

i) offer reduced price resubmissions if someone is not happy with the grade their card received
--------------


Just my 2 cents

clydecoolidge

<< <i>Let's see...

At various points and on various threads I have suggested that PSA:

a) focus on making their flips forgery-proof by using watermarked paper and holograms
b) focus on making their holders tamper-proof instead of tamper-evident
c) improve SMR by increasing the number of articles
d) back up their submission time "guarantees" (now estimates) by offering customers vouchers or other financial compensation if their cards are not graded and returned in the specified time
e) provide more information about the qualifications and training process of their graders
f) spend more than 30-45 seconds (estimated by another poster) grading each card
g) provide a detailed report with each submission stating why a card received the grade it did as well as the name of the graders who graded it
h) return to whole-point grading, since the hobby doesn't need 17 grading levels
i) offer reduced price resubmissions if someone is not happy with the grade their card received

Is that enough constructive criticism for you???? >>



Probably a little too much. There's a Rolling Stones song that you would enjoy very much.

jrinck

I feel the articles are written at a third grade level. Seriously. It's like the authors are talking down to us as if we don't know anything. I get much more out of the articles in SCD.

They should just be honest and rename the thing "Ad Market Report" since that's all it's really good for.