For the first time I have decided to go and take a look at what everyone else is looking at in the card space. So, I thought it would be a good idea to use Google to tell me what and why people are looking at these types of sites, and also what my experience is when I look at them. Coming from a collectors background, as well as the principal of Platinum Standard Grading (PSG), I thought my eye may be different to others and if you know me, you'll know I am very transparent about my appraisals. So in this blog, I will take a look at a couple of these sites each week and pass on my opinion. Then at least you will know where I stand (if you care) and may also learn some other cool stuff about the Card Collecting space.
This week I am covering off Sports Collectors Daily and also The Cardboard Connection.
Sports Collectors Daily offers a heaping helping of sports collecting news daily. They publish completely original sports-collecting news stories you won't see anywhere else. Rich Mueller, who spent over 25 years as a television sports anchor, reporter, and online journalist, is President of Sports Collectors Daily Incorporated and the editor of the website.
So this is a US site and has a heap of information across multiple channels. Memorabilia, sports cards, business and industry news around the hobby as well as a place to sell your cards.
I got excited when I saw the first picture was a PSA 1.5 Honus Wagner card. Not due to the fact that this is a $3.72m card, but the fact it is a PSA graded 1.5. As a collector of graded cards with a 1 grading, it is great to see what I see in cards is now worth the money they need to be. The Wagner is a special card and although the fact that it is a PSA 1.5, not a PSA1, is a little disappointing, it shows that I am not completely insane by collecting Graded 1 cards and one day it may actually pay off.
As we go through the site, it is a really good read and has a heap of news and articles. I can see myself coming back to this page at least once a week to catch up, and I can see that this will be somewhere we will be sending some graded cards to get the thoughts of the collecting world. The only negative I would have with this site is the amount of adverts and pop ups. It got a bit annoying but you have to feed the family.
Score 8/10 for me and this is good as I'm a hard marker!
The Cardboard Connection is the leading online resource for independent and unbiased sports cards, entertainment trading cards, and memorabilia collectors. We're motivated by our passion for the hobby and our desire to help other collectors enjoy their collecting experiences to the fullest.
Another US based site and a lot of baseball on this one. I love Baseball cards, especially old ones and especially Graded 1 cards. I have a personal Mickey Mantle collection which I love and to see some of those cards on this site makes me happy. This site seems to be a little more structured per sport and is well structured for searching and finding those cards you are looking for. There is non sport as well which is cool. WWE is a sport? Well we can argue about that one all day however there is a good section on the WWE and there is the ability to look at full sets.
This site seems to be not as "news breaking" as the previous one, but seems to have all the data that people need to understand cards, checklists etc.
I do not like the format of the site on my big screen, as the ebay adverts pretty much cover at least 50% of the screen at all times (must have a big family to feed) and the fact that if you're looking for news then this probably isn't the best place to do it. However, I am really impressed with the sheer amount of detail and the number of cards that this knowledge-base has is incredible.
Score 6/10 for appearance and 8/10 for knowldge-base (I am conflicted).
More to come next week!