Dr. James Beckett: Sports Card Insights

Bruce Sutter has passed at 69 years of age - Hall of Fame reliever and Cy Young winner - a worthy tribute to another star who has died too young.

Mike had enough good questions for at least two of my 15-minute (or less) shows - consider going to his Golden Age of Cardboard for the whole video interview - thanks Mike!

Mike saved up some tough and fresh questions for me and asked them on his longer YouTube format - this is an excerpt - go to Golden Age of Cardboard for all of Mike's stuff - thanks Mike.

Sports card show hospitality rooms are a distant cousin of today's trade nights - Rich and I talk about the relative strengths and fun of each after-show concept.

The last part of Hobby Hotline last Saturday (check out the show in its entirety including video on YT) dealt with the growth percentages by sport that were published by eBay - and how to interpret them. 

I was joined by Brad Bethune and Victor Roman for last Saturday's Hobby Hotline and the conversation ranged from the recent Industry Summit to the effects of Hurricane Ian on Florida collectors.

Rich and I explain why cards came in series back in the day - was that really simpler for collectors?  Or is today's approach better in these impatient times?

The Industry Summit in Las Vegas had record attendance from local card shop owners and online retailers this year (actually last week) - I gave a short talk of which this is an abridgement. 

Today is my mom's 97th birthday - 1961 was a pivotal year in my collecting and my mom (and dad) had a big part in that - thanks mom - Happy Birthday!

A very complicated and misunderstood set that is worthy of further scrutiny.  I was a serious collector of this set collecting it in the 1970's, and one of the first collectors to do so, so I was eager to discuss with others who also love the set.