I only collect vintage Mantles and have depended more upon VCP for more accurate prices before making my purchases or trades.
Prior to VCP, I used your SMR for pricing, but as mentioned by others, it is rarely on the mark.
More realistic, up-to-date pricing would certainly be a plus.
I would rather have a couple more free grading vouchers with my renewal each year, than to receive the SMR every month, if the cost of the SMR isn't funded by the advertisements.
No matter what, it looks like you're headed in the right direction concerning the improvement of pricing.
<< The correct answer is Since we all know that printed materials are dieing a slow death you should: 1: Print the paper version quarterly so we will still have a rough idea of prices if we find ourselves at a show. 2: Place more emphasis on quality articles in the printed version. (So I have something to read on plane flights) 3: Start to update the on-line pricing weekly or even faster. i.e. VCP. Place much more importance on the on-line side of SMR! >>
I too agree with this sentiment; however - auction prices are not necessarily reflective of the whole market. Many cards change hands at shows & shops, typically for more $ than ebay (in particular) - that upside of the market must be captured somewhere/somehow.
I would prefer a printed SMR with no pricing (just market news, buy and sell ads, classified section, and even more informative articles on the hobby) and an updated weekly price guide online.
"Since we all know that printed materials are dieing a slow death you should: 1: Print the paper version quarterly so we will still have a rough idea of prices if we find ourselves at a show. 2: Place more emphasis on quality articles in the printed version. (So I have something to read on plane flights) 3: Start to update the on-line pricing weekly or even faster. i.e. VCP. Place much more importance on the on-line side of SMR!"
While I am still undecided in using PSA, and clearly not an expert, I do admire any of its corporate leaders weighing in on this message board and trying to improve a changing industry.
I look forward to hear more from you Mr. Orlando !
It's called an SMR = sportscard market report for a reason. That is for card prices. While the articles have improved over the years and I do enjoy them, I really think the SMR print version needs to remain a price guide first and foremost.
I'd like to see B or C. Try to improve the pricing in the guide with more current realized prices, like VCP. Some kind of average for past sales.
The current smr prices in the magazine or on the web are very out of touch.
It would be of great help to see a monthly listing of realized prices from ebay sales or from major auctions. Maybe a page or two of that info would be helpful.
Why not publish two guides, one for cards the SMR, and one for memorabilia : bats, balls, tickets, etc.... I don't collect any of that stuff and it just takes up 25 pages of space in the SMR to me. Do prices really change on signed bats and balls of deceased players that much to warrant a monthly appearence in the SMR guide?
The Sept. 2008 SMR is 200 pages, a mini phone book. 25 pages consists of bats, balls, and autographs. Another 98 pages of card prices for sport and non-sports cards, 47 pages of advertising, and 30 pages of articles. Ace the bats, balls, etc.... less advertising pages, slightly more price breakdowns of some sets and the SMR would be a solid 170 pages. Then make a quarterly collectibles magazine at 100-125 pages to cover the not card stuff.
Also, for Football cards alone, you don't list prices for a lot of highly collected sets like the '70 Glossy, '70 Supers, '69 4 in 1's, '68 Stand-ups. Yet for Basketball, you list prices for the '72 Icee Bears, and '71 Topps Trio's. The sets you do have prices for in the SMR magazine doesn't make a lot of sense. Trust me, there's as much buying/selling activity in the Football insert set areas as the Basketball sets.
Another thing to consider is many don't have access to the SMR online prices unless they join PSA and pay a yearly membership. Hardly a smart way to expand the collectibles field when you limit access to information.
To a casual collector, they may buy an SMR on the newsstand and get interested in graded cards. By putting up the $99 or $169 membership barrier, many casual collectors will never become hard core collectors. We need to expand the interest in collectibles, not limit it to members only.
Looks like everyone else wants A. I'd prefer a tweaking of B or C.
A) To have the SMR prices updated more quickly on the web, perhaps weekly, and reduce the size of the SMR dramatically. In other words, focus more on articles and news with the printed version and, perhaps, remove pricing entirely since the print will always be behind the web anyway.
Comments
1st of all, thank you for considering my input.
Option A seems to be the way to go.
I only collect vintage Mantles and have depended more upon VCP for more accurate prices before making my purchases or trades.
Prior to VCP, I used your SMR for pricing, but as mentioned by others, it is rarely on the mark.
More realistic, up-to-date pricing would certainly be a plus.
I would rather have a couple more free grading vouchers with my renewal each year, than to receive the SMR every month, if the cost of the SMR isn't funded by the advertisements.
No matter what, it looks like you're headed in the right direction concerning the improvement of pricing.
Sincerely,
PoppaJ
But I think hardcover pricing should be included at least every 6 months.
Currently, there are about 2 articles and the rest is ads and pricing. So A.
My Sandberg topps basic set
My Sandberg Topps Master set
Since we all know that printed materials are dieing a slow death you should:
1: Print the paper version quarterly so we will still have a rough idea of prices if we find ourselves at a show.
2: Place more emphasis on quality articles in the printed version. (So I have something to read on plane flights)
3: Start to update the on-line pricing weekly or even faster. i.e. VCP. Place much more importance on the on-line side of SMR! >>
I too agree with this sentiment; however - auction prices are not necessarily reflective of the whole market. Many cards change hands at shows & shops, typically for more $ than ebay (in particular) - that upside of the market must be captured somewhere/somehow.
Bosox1976
Thanks for asking!
TGF Collection
TGF Sports
Dave D.
"Since we all know that printed materials are dieing a slow death you should:
1: Print the paper version quarterly so we will still have a rough idea of prices if we find ourselves at a show.
2: Place more emphasis on quality articles in the printed version. (So I have something to read on plane flights)
3: Start to update the on-line pricing weekly or even faster. i.e. VCP. Place much more importance on the on-line side of SMR!"
While I am still undecided in using PSA, and clearly not an expert, I do admire any of its corporate leaders weighing in on this message board and trying to improve a changing industry.
I look forward to hear more from you Mr. Orlando !
cheers
It's called an SMR = sportscard market report for a reason. That is for card prices. While the articles have improved over the years and I do enjoy them, I really think the SMR print version needs to remain a price guide first and foremost.
I'd like to see B or C. Try to improve the pricing in the guide with more current realized prices, like VCP. Some kind of average for past sales.
The current smr prices in the magazine or on the web are very out of touch.
It would be of great help to see a monthly listing of realized prices from ebay sales or from major auctions. Maybe a page or two of that info would be helpful.
Why not publish two guides, one for cards the SMR, and one for memorabilia : bats, balls, tickets, etc.... I don't collect any of that stuff and it just takes up 25 pages of space in the SMR to me. Do prices really change on signed bats and balls of deceased players that much to warrant a monthly appearence in the SMR guide?
The Sept. 2008 SMR is 200 pages, a mini phone book. 25 pages consists of bats, balls, and autographs. Another 98 pages of card prices for sport and non-sports cards, 47 pages of advertising, and 30 pages of articles. Ace the bats, balls, etc.... less advertising pages, slightly more price breakdowns of some sets and the SMR would be a solid 170 pages. Then make a quarterly collectibles magazine at 100-125 pages to cover the not card stuff.
Also, for Football cards alone, you don't list prices for a lot of highly collected sets like the '70 Glossy, '70 Supers, '69 4 in 1's, '68 Stand-ups. Yet for Basketball, you list prices for the '72 Icee Bears, and '71 Topps Trio's. The sets you do have prices for in the SMR magazine doesn't make a lot of sense. Trust me, there's as much buying/selling activity in the Football insert set areas as the Basketball sets.
Another thing to consider is many don't have access to the SMR online prices unless they join PSA and pay a yearly membership. Hardly a smart way to expand the collectibles field when you limit access to information.
To a casual collector, they may buy an SMR on the newsstand and get interested in graded cards. By putting up the $99 or $169 membership barrier, many casual collectors will never become hard core collectors. We need to expand the interest in collectibles, not limit it to members only.
Looks like everyone else wants A. I'd prefer a tweaking of B or C.
I'm taking the contratrian position I guess.
My 2 cents.
Rich
Actually no, I've never said that in my life. You're an idiot.
"A" has my vote.