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T.S. O'Connell = Get a New Day Job

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  • Stone193Stone193 Posts: 24,351 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>"...I guess it just means one has to be all the more careful in their dealings..."

    //////////////////////////////////////

    Hi Mike...........


    Sadly, that maxim is what got us to where we are now.

    Telling folks to "be careful" - when they don't even know
    what they are looking out for - simply doesn't work.

    Government - law enforcement - needs to do what folks
    cannot do themselves. The FBI has well recognized this
    and continues to make good efforts; even if we don't
    see the results everyday. >>

    I hear ya storm - I thought of that when posting.

    That's why my focus is on items that keep me out of harms way to a degree - PSA graded cards for 2 sets and the rest - well - not the kind of stuff that's usually faked - BB board games e.g.

    It's kind of nice we have places like this and others to get info - at least - in the attempt to try to steer clear of the sharks.

    Thanx
    mike
    Mike
  • ArchaninatorArchaninator Posts: 822 ✭✭✭
    .


  • << <i>What more can I say that I haven't already said?

    The decision to accept or not accept the advertising of any party (at F+W/Krause/SCD) is not made at the editor's level, much less the consultant's level. Sure, anybody who is morally outraged at the decision of a publisher to accept survival versus demise is free to resign in protest. But if you can honestly say that's what you'd do in a similar situation I will bow to you as a superior person (or perhaps you simply married well). I have a "day job," I have voluntarily associated myself with Collect.Com Auctions because I enjoy dealing with (most) others in the card/memorabilia hobby.

    As an activist in the Sixties (actually it was a great way to get chicks), I learned that while sound and fury makes headlines, real change comes from within and it doesn't happen overnight.

    Aside to LSU Bill: Sounds like you know how to throw a barbecue (can you really call it a barbecue without red meat?). My daughter and I try to travel to a college football game every year. Last tiome is was Ole Miss, this year it's Florida State. The current schedule (good lord willing and the creek don't rise) is West Point, then LSU. Care to make me an offer to switch to LSU in '10? >>



    Which Ole Miss game did you make last year? Did you enjoy it? Hotty Toddy!
  • tennesseebankertennesseebanker Posts: 5,428 ✭✭✭
    Aside to LSU Bill: Sounds like you know how to throw a barbecue (can you really call it a barbecue without red meat?). My daughter and I try to travel to a college football game every year. Last tiome is was Ole Miss, this year it's Florida State. The current schedule (good lord willing and the creek don't rise) is West Point, then LSU. Care to make me an offer to switch to LSU in '10? >>

    In the south,barbeque is the meat, and not the event of cooking the meat.
    image

  • AUPTAUPT Posts: 806 ✭✭✭
    Therebelas -- Actually, we didn't get to a game in 2009. We went to the Florida game in '08 and watched them Rebels nearly upset the reigning #1 Gators. It was a super, super experience. We had wheelchair seating for my electric and got there plenty early so we had time to hit the Grove and tour most of the campus. Some of the most memorable moments, oddly, were of the extreme hospitality of the visiting Florida fans. When we started setting up the ramps to get my chair out of the PT cruiser, half a dozen Gator fans ran over from their tailgating and lifted it out. When we needed a lift to get over a curb to the CSA cemetery, they took time out from their chest-painting to again give me a lift.
    We had perfect weather, a super game and an all-around all-time favorite father-daughter weekend. When I was cheering my lungs out on the final Ole Miss drive I realized if I died then and there, I would die a happy man. The only thing I didn't get to do was pay my respects to the University Grays; the building that houses the staned glass tryptych tribute was locked up.

    Tennesseebanker -- You'd be horrified to see what tries to pass for barbeque here in Wisconsin. It's quantity over quality, sauce over smoke and sides thawed out from five gallon plastic buckets.

    To all -- Many of you are still clinging to the mistaken notion that I have any influence at F+W/SCD or that I need the few nickels I make as a consultant there. I know nobody above the publisher level and could no more get a corporate suit on the phone than any of you could. I have an eminently satisfactory "day job" and became involved at Collect.Com Auctions as a way to keep my hand in at the hobby that has been part of my life for most of 50 years.
  • WinPitcherWinPitcher Posts: 27,726 ✭✭✭
    Bob

    You are a voice within the hobby. A rather loud one. What is stopping you from
    screaming somewhere, anywhere that what CC is doing is wrong?


    Steve


    edited typo
    Good for you.
  • storm888storm888 Posts: 11,701 ✭✭✭
    Folks Who Bite Get Bitten. Folks Who Don't Bite Get Eaten.
  • tunahead08tunahead08 Posts: 1,056 ✭✭✭


    << <i>You'd be horrified to see what tries to pass for barbeque here in Wisconsin. It's quantity over quality, sauce over smoke and sides thawed out from five gallon plastic buckets. >>



    That explains it, Mr. Lemke is a damn cheese head! Sorry, Minnesota here image I was fortunate enough to live in Texas for about 2 years though... there I learned what real barbeque is. Now it's tough to try and eat any so called barbeque here.
  • gumbyfangumbyfan Posts: 5,159


    << <i>You'd be horrified to see what tries to pass for barbeque here in Wisconsin. It's quantity over quality, sauce over smoke and sides thawed out from five gallon plastic buckets. >>



    This couldn't be more true for the majority of what I've seen in this state. People look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them I smoke pork shoulders for 13-15 hours for my pulled pork sandwiches.

    They also think I'm kidding when I tell them they'll get cut if they come near me with bbq sauce when I'm using my smoker.
  • AUPTAUPT Posts: 806 ✭✭✭
    OK, that's it for me on this thread. We've wandered far afield from the original topic. Nothing else I can say is going to change anybody's opinion.

    If you want to ask a serious question, raise a real concern or make a worthwhile suggestion, PM me. I promise you'll get a response.
  • schr1stschr1st Posts: 1,677 ✭✭
    Bob, why don't you respond to what Steve said? Or do you not think what CC does is wrong?


    Sunday June 07, 2009 12:45 PM (NEW!)



    Bob

    You are a voice within the hobby. A rather loud one. What is stopping you from
    screaming somewhere, anywhere that what CC is doing is wrong?


    Steve





    << <i>OK, that's it for me on this thread. We've wandered far afield from the original topic. Nothing else I can say is going to change anybody's opinion.

    If you want to ask a serious question, raise a real concern or make a worthwhile suggestion, PM me. I promise you'll get a response. >>

    Who is Rober Maris?
  • storm888storm888 Posts: 11,701 ✭✭✭
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  • MintacularMintacular Posts: 1,138 ✭✭✭
    He doesn't want to continue this conversation obviously or else he will need to think long and hard about whether or not to challenge SCD and would rather just go about blindly, collect his paycheck, "feed his family", and forget about the fact that some of those funds come from innocent collectors who trust that SCD is a nice business that would never allow a known crook to advertise on their home page.

    Furthermore, when some get involved in the business side of things, it is easy to lose your moral bearings and making $ trumps your original love for the hobby. Sad but true.

    You probably come up with all sorts of justifications too. Example: "Well, as long as Aunt Bea thinks she has a Mantle auto from Coach's Corner, does it really make a difference? I mean they look pretty much the same, right? Plus, she got it for a real nice price, etc."
  • MintacularMintacular Posts: 1,138 ✭✭✭
    Dear Mr. O'Connell,

    As an avid and passionate collector, I am very concerned that SCD is allowing our hobby to be compromised when it allows fraudulent companies such as Coach's Corner to sell fake cards and memorabilia.

    Due to tough economic times and many other factors, our hobby is shrinking each day, and has been for quite some time. One of the most alarming reasons is a growing distrust regarding the authenticity of its products. Many collectors look to bedrock companies like SCD for hope and assurance. When they see you have lost your way, confidence is eroded.

    In short, our hobby has a great and illustrious past and can return to prominence if its original fan base reengages in the excitement, fun-factor, and veracity of this industry.

    T.S.--you can take one large step in making this happen by speaking up for the collector because at your heart we know you are more dedicated to the hobby than the company you work for.

    Thanks, A Concerned Collector

    I was thinking we could all copy and paste this into our email account and send it to him. Then, again, it's probably wishful thinking. Suggestions?
  • GriffinsGriffins Posts: 6,076 ✭✭✭
    Mintacular-
    That is all very well, but it seems abundantly clear that TS O'Connell cares neither about collectors nor the overall good of the hobby. What would make more sense is to take Bob Lemke's methods from the '60's and be more of an activist. As such, a letter to the advertisers of SCD would be more effective. Rob Lifson has already stated that he has ceased advertising due to CC ads, I'm sure if other advertisers were persuaded to do the same it would speak with a voice that T.S. seems to have long since lost.
    Assuming he had it in the first place.

    Always looking for Topps Salesman Samples, pre '51 unopened packs, E90-2, E91a, N690 Kalamazoo Bats, and T204 Square Frame Ramly's

  • storm888storm888 Posts: 11,701 ✭✭✭
    "...As such, a letter to the advertisers of SCD would be more effective...."

    ////////////////////////////

    It is always much faster to use a tactical-nuke and notify the advertisers
    in ALL of a corporation's publications that you will boycott their products
    UNLESS your target publication stops accepting ads from alleged criminal
    enterprises.
    Folks Who Bite Get Bitten. Folks Who Don't Bite Get Eaten.


  • << <i>Therebelas -- Actually, we didn't get to a game in 2009. We went to the Florida game in '08 and watched them Rebels nearly upset the reigning #1 Gators. It was a super, super experience. We had wheelchair seating for my electric and got there plenty early so we had time to hit the Grove and tour most of the campus. Some of the most memorable moments, oddly, were of the extreme hospitality of the visiting Florida fans. When we started setting up the ramps to get my chair out of the PT cruiser, half a dozen Gator fans ran over from their tailgating and lifted it out. When we needed a lift to get over a curb to the CSA cemetery, they took time out from their chest-painting to again give me a lift.
    We had perfect weather, a super game and an all-around all-time favorite father-daughter weekend. When I was cheering my lungs out on the final Ole Miss drive I realized if I died then and there, I would die a happy man. The only thing I didn't get to do was pay my respects to the University Grays; the building that houses the staned glass tryptych tribute was locked up.

    >>



    Well, I'm sure the Ole Miss fans would have been even more hospitable had they been around the old CSA cemetary. We would not have been painting our chests, however.

    You got your years messed up; else, I'd be wondering how you've already made it to a 2009 Ole Miss football game considering I'm counting down the seconds until kickoff 9/6/09 at 2:30. The game in Oxford where we almost beat Florida was in 2007; in 2008 there was no almost about it. We went to Gainesville and beat them.
  • ROCKDJRWROCKDJRW Posts: 1,330 ✭✭✭


    << <i>"...As such, a letter to the advertisers of SCD would be more effective...."

    ////////////////////////////

    It is always much faster to use a tactical-nuke and notify the advertisers
    in ALL of a corporation's publications that you will boycott their products
    UNLESS your target publication stops accepting ads from alleged criminal
    enterprises. >>



    I know it is a huge task but would any SCD subscriber care to type up the Email addresses of the advertisers? I think this may be our best hope. If not I will try and hunt down a copy and type up the info.
    Collect Ozzie Guillen Cards
    Unique Chicago Cards
    Wrestling Cards
  • BasiloneBasilone Posts: 2,492 ✭✭
    AUPT wrote on 6/7/09:


    << <i>To all -- Many of you are still clinging to the mistaken notion that I have any influence at F+W/SCD or that I need the few nickels I make as a consultant there. I know nobody above the publisher level and could no more get a corporate suit on the phone than any of you could. I have an eminently satisfactory "day job" and became involved at Collect.Com Auctions as a way to keep my hand in at the hobby that has been part of my life for most of 50 years. >>




    Well....two days later it appears Mr. Lemke landed his old gig again.


    Lemke Returns as Standard Catalog Editor
    June 09, 2009


    The return of Bob Lemke to the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards, the hobby “bible” that he edited for most of its 19 editions, has been announced by Dean Listle, sports publisher for Krause Publications.

    Lemke began laying the groundwork for a comprehensive baseball card reference catalog and price guide the day F+W predecessor Krause Publications entered the sports card and memorabilia publishing field in 1980 with the introduction of Baseball Cards magazine on national newsstands. The price guide for major baseball card issues from 1948 through 1980 that was included in that magazine introduced the hobby to a value guide that offered both buyers and sellers real-world price data. Previously available card pricing data often quoted values well below the current market, allowing the buyers who promulgated those guides to buy cards cheaply and resell them at large profits, or, conversely cited artificially inflated values to legitimize the prices quoted on sales lists.

    The stated goal of the Standard Catalog since its first edition in the mid-1980s was to provide the card collector with a reference that would allow him to identify any card that he held in his hand, and learn its true market value. The “big book” grew every year as collectors and dealers embraced the concept.

    In 1998, Lemke delegated his responsibilities in periodical publishing to others and devoted full time to editing the Standard Catalog. He continued in that role until the 2007-dated edition went to press, then retired. He continued to contribute additions, corrections and enhancements to each subsequent edition while the title was under the stewardship of editor Don Fluckinger.

    Effective immediately, Lemke returns to the Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards as editor of the vintage major league and vintage minor league sections of the book. In that capacity, he will be responsible for maintaining and expanding the database for all baseball cards and related collectibles produced from the 1880s through 1980, and overseeing the updating of pricing data in those areas. The modern-card sections will continue to be the responsibility of the SCD/Tuff Stuff price guide staff.

    “I hope to quickly re-establish the dialogue between catalog staff and collectors and dealers around the hobby that have been crucial to the success of the catalog,” Lemke said. To achieve that, I’m making it a priority to reinstate the Standard Catalog Update”columns that were a frequent feature in Sports Collectors Digest during my earlier tenure.

    “Of course in this age of electronic media, I’ll also be using an on-line blog to exchange information with contributors at every level.”

    Persons with information relative to the vintage sections of the Standard Catalog can contact Lemke at scbcguy@yahoo.com. His online blog can be found at boblemke.blogspot.com. He can be reached by mail at P.O. Box 8, Iola, WI 54945.
  • tunahead08tunahead08 Posts: 1,056 ✭✭✭
    Happy to see that Mr. Lemke is going back to the Catalog... wish he would be doing all of it though and not just the vintage. In the years after he left it really went downhill, with major omissions, changes that made it harder decipher sets, and tons of errors.
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