• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Get Sports Collectors Daily via EMail
    • Advertise with SC Daily
    • Write for Sports Collectors Daily
    • Write About Your Sports Collection
    • Where Can I Sell My Baseball Cards?
  • Hot on eBay
    • Most Watched Graded Rookies
    • Most Watched PSA 10 Cards
    • Most Watched BGS, BVG Cards
    • Most Watched SGC Cards
    • Most Watched CSG,CGC Cards
    • Most Watched Baseball Cards
      • Most Watched 2023 Baseball Cards
      • Most Watched 2022 Baseball Rookie Cards
      • Bowman Chrome Cards
      • Ronald Acuna Jr. Cards
      • Shohei Ohtani Cards
      • Mike Trout Cards
      • Fernando Tatis Jr. Cards
      • Babe Ruth Cards
      • Hank Aaron Cards
      • Jackie Robinson Cards:
      • Mickey Mantle Cards
      • Willie Mays Cards
      • Vintage Baseball Card Sets
      • T206 Cards
    • Most Watched Basketball
      • Top 100 Most Watched Basketball Rookie Cards
      • 100 Hottest 2022-23 NBA Rookie Cards
      • 100 Hottest 2021-22 NBA Rookie Cards
      • 100 Hottest 2020-21 NBA Rookie Cards
      • 100 Hottest 2019-20 NBA Rookie Cards
        • Zion Williamson Rookie Cards
        • Ja Morant Rookie Cards
      • Michael Jordan Cards
      • Kobe Bryant Cards
      • LeBron James Rookie Cards
      • Nikola Jokic Rookie Cards
      • Giannis Antetokounmpo Cards
      • Luka Doncic Rookie Cards
      • Prizm Basketball Cards
      • Panini National Treasures
    • Most Watched Football Cards
      • Most Watched NFL Rookie Cards
      • 2022 NFL Rookie Cards
        • Brock Purdy Rookie Cards
      • 2021 NFL Rookie Cards
      • 2020 NFL Rookie Cards
        • Joe Burrow Rookie Cards
        • Justin Herbert Rookie Cards
        • Jalen Hurts Rookie Cards
      • Josh Allen Rookie Cards
      • Patrick Mahomes Rookie Cards
      • Tom Brady Cards
    • Most Watched Hockey Cards
      • Top 100 Most Watched Hockey Rookie Cards
      • Most Watched 2021-22 NHL Rookie Cards
      • Most Watched 2020-21 Rookie Cards
      • Most Watched 2019-20 Rookie Cards
      • Connor McDavid Cards
      • Wayne Gretzky Cards
      • Bobby Orr Cards
    • Most Watched Soccer Cards
    • Most Watched UFC Cards
    • Most Watched Golf Cards
    • Most Watched 1 of 1 Cards
    • Most Watched Racing Cards
    • Top Sports Card Dealers on eBay
    • Most Watched Memorabilia
      • Vintage Sports Memorabilia
    • Vintage Sports Tickets, Stubs
    • Most Watched Autographs
  • Ending Soon on Ebay
    • Baseball Cards
    • Basketball Cards
    • Football Cards
    • Hockey Cards
    • Soccer Cards
    • Golf Cards
    • UFC Cards
  • Top - Ad

Sports Collectors Daily

Sports Collectors Daily

Sports collecting news - Sports cards and sports memorabilia industry news.

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network. 

  • Sports Memorabilia News
  • Sports Card News
    • Modern Sports Card News
      • New Sports Card Release Calendar
      • Shop Talk
    • Vintage Sports Card News
      • Affordable Vintage Cards, Collectibles
      • Old Baseball Card Sets
      • Old Basketball Card Sets
      • Old Football Card Sets
      • Old Hockey Card Sets
      • Vintage Pack Facts
  • Business/Industry News
    • Sports Memorabilia Business News
    • Sports Memorabilia Industry News
  • Around The Hobby
    • Editor’s Blog
    • David Cycleback’s Identification and Authentication Advice
  • Popular Stories
  • Sell Your Cards
You are here: Home / Rich Klein's Ramblings / Ramblings: Don’t Kill Cataloguing

Ramblings: Don’t Kill Cataloguing

December 3, 2014 By Rich Klein

Recently on Net 54 there was a thread discussing the new release of the vintage-only Standard Catalog of Baseball Cards.  This huge tome used to include just about any known baseball card set from every year but is now strictly 1981.  As a former editor of the Beckett Almanac of Baseball Cards & Collectibles, it’s a subject near and dear to my heart.

To me, cataloguing is still a very important part of the hobby. One major difference between 20 years ago and today is that the process, other than the new major manufacturer releases, has become much more hit and miss than it used to be. Part of that is the evolution of two major hobby publishers and part of it simply has to do with business.

Let’s begin with those Vintage Baseball Card Standard Catalogbusiness reasons.

Brewers Police set When I left Beckett, there were over 25,000 sets in just the baseball database. Granted, many of them were mainstream parallel and insert sets but a lot of them were what people called “oddball” issues; sets issued regionally or as a promotion for a company or product. Those sets were actively collected in the 1970s-80s and early 90s before the explosion of sets from the major manufacturers and an increase in licensing fees effectively killed many of them.

With that many sets already accounted for, does one more set really have an impact in either direction?  Does it really matter of a regional or oddball set or a secondary set from a card company never gets into a big price guide/catalog?

Truthfully, there never has been a way to quantify the value of adding any specific set to the Beckett database. But here’s the thing. One of the big differences was both Chet Krause (of Krause Publications back in the day) and Jim Beckett understood that hobby knowledge was very important and they were willing to spend resources to add to that everlasting information base. Today, with companies owned by businesses and not by hobby people, that world has changed. Some of those sets that used to be put into the database are nowhere to be found and in the long-term, that’s sad.

There is nothing “sexy” about adding another checklist into a database and I suppose if a set is a 2013 stadium giveaway, how many people around North America are really going to go after those cards in comparison to the latest, greatest autograph card out of the newest product?  These days, the collectors of obscure sets are somewhat few and far between, but they’re not extinct. I guarantee you that.  I get the dilemma publishers are facing, though, and on a business level that all makes sense to me.

Another issue with cataloguing, and that includes cards already in the databases, is keeping up with prices. A set such as 1914 Cracker Jack John Titus T206or the T206 John Titus (only player in the set with a mustache who has a bit of a cult following) had explosions this year in pricing but everyone left on the staff of those hobby publishers is so busy doing what seems to be ten different tasks at once, that they cannot always keep up with values. Heck, I had problems and I was monitoring the market very actively when I was in that role.

There are some sites which do work on constantly adding to the cataloguing purposes. One of the more fascinating processes is what COMC is working on.

We have written some about the COMC/Beckett split of 2014 that has forced COMC to basically create their own checklist from scratch using the cards they have in hand, getting contributions from users and getting information from the card companies.

Because of the breadth and width of just how many different cards they have scanned, there is a wealth of information already on their website (and it’s free) and they are using many resources to build the best possible catalog they can create.  However, they are learning what a daunting task it is.  For COMC, because of the nature of what they provide, catalog information is a key and thus they just might end up as the best source in the hobby or until someone decides to spend quite a bit of money and begin the process again almost from scratch.

I also think it will end up being an online venture thus there might eventually be a good way to determine the value of each and every listing in a data base.  I’m not sure what that is, but I hope some of the sets that might be slipping through the cracks eventually do find their way into easily accessible databases because all of it, in some way, helps chronicle the history of card collecting.  It’s also important for collectors who like to chase sets outside the norm and in my world, those people are a great part of the hobby at large.

Those are some of my thoughts as a former cataloguer and we’d love to hear yours.  You can reach me through the email address below.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Facebook Messenger

Related Stories:

Beckett Releases 2018 Football, Hockey Price Guide Books 2018 Beckett Almanac Released Hobby Fixture Bob Lemke Passes Away Ramblings: Creating Comprehensive Card Catalog Isn’t Easy Ramblings: Imagining the Hobby Without the Internet Ramblings: Reader Reaction

Filed Under: Rich Klein's Ramblings Tagged With: Beckett Almanac, Beckett Price Guide, Chet Krause, COMC, Jim Beckett, Ramblings, Standard Catalog

Primary Sidebar

Our articles may contain affiliate links. When you click on links to merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network. 

Shop Sports Cards on Ebay
  • Football
  • Basketball
  • Baseball
  • Hockey

High End Cards and Memorabilia

  • BBCE Authenticated Boxes, Packs opens in a new window
  • Graded pre-War Card eBay Auctions
  • PWCC Premier Auction
  • PWCC Fixed Price Marketplace
  • Graded Rookie Cards on eBay opens in a new window
  • Authenticated Photos on eBay opens in a new window
  • Graded Tickets & Stubs opens in a new window

Bargain Corner

  • Michael Jordan cards $5 and less opens in a new window
  • Kobe Bryant cards $5 and less opens in a new window
  • Mickey Mantle Cards Under $150 opens in a new window
  • Graded T206 Cards Under $150 opens in a new window
  • Pre-War Cards Under $100 opens in a new window
  • Pre-1980 Graded Baseball Cards $10 and Less opens in a new window
  • Pre-1980 Graded Football Cards $10 and Less opens in a new window
  • Vintage Graded Basketball Cards $25 and less opens in a new window
  • Vintage Graded Hockey Cards $10 and Less opens in a new window
  • Complete Sets $20 and Less opens in a new window
  • Baseball Hall of Famers for $5 or Less opens in a new window
  • Football Hall of Famers for $5 or Less opens in a new window
  • Hobby Boxes Under $30 opens in a new window
  • Pre-1986 Rookie Cards Under $1 opens in a new window
  • Buy Boxes Directly from Topps opens in a new window

RSS Auction Report

  • One of a Kind Collectibles Rare Autograph & Document Auction Ends October 12, 2023
  • Detroit City Sports Premium Auction Ends October 8, 2023
  • PWCC Weekly Sunday Auction – Ending October 1, 2023

Footer

Categories

  • Around the Hobby
  • Business/Industry News
    • Sports Memorabilia Business News
    • Sports Memorabilia Industry News
  • David Cycleback's Identification and Authentication Advice
  • Editor's Blog
  • Featured Articles
  • Hobby Shop Talk
  • National Sports Collectors Convention
  • Popular Stories
  • Rich Klein's Ramblings
  • Sports Card News
    • Modern Sports Card News
      • New Sports Card Release Calendar
    • Vintage Sports Card News
      • Old Baseball Card Sets
      • Old Basketball Card Sets
      • Old Football Card Sets
      • Old Hockey Card Sets
      • Vintage Pack Facts
  • Sports Memorabilia News
  • Uncategorized

Sponsor Links

  • Sports Card Forumopens in a new window
  • Buying Vintage Sports Cardsopens in a new window
  • Game Used Jerseysopens in a new window
  • Championship Rings For Saleopens in a new window
  • Vintage Basketball Cardsopens in a new window
  • NBA Signed Itemsopens in a new window
  • Autographed Baseballsopens in a new window
  • NASCAR Autographsopens in a new window
  • Vintage Graded Baseball Cardsopens in a new window
  • Player Picturesopens in a new window
  • Vintage Football Cardsopens in a new window
  • Sports Collectors Storeopens in a new window

Pages

Ending on eBay Soon
  • Baseball Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Basketball Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Football Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Hockey Card Auctions Ending Soon on eBay
  • Vintage Sports Memorabilia on eBay Ending Soon
Top 100 on Ebay
  • Top 100 Most Watched Baseball Rookie Cards on eBay
  • Top 100 Most Watched Basketball Rookie Cards for Sale on eBay
  • Top 100 Most Watched Hockey Rookie Card Auctions
  • Top Authenticated Vintage Unopened Sports Card Boxes, Packs on eBay
Most Watched on eBay
  • 100 Most Watched Graded Rookie Cards for Sale on eBay
  • 100 Most Watched Tom Brady Card Auctions on eBay
  • 50 Hottest Hobby Boxes at Auction on eBay
  • 50 Most Watched Golf Trading Cards on eBay
  • 50 Most Watched Wrestling Trading Cards on eBay
  • 75 Most Watched Bowman Chrome Cards
  • Most Popular Bobbleheads on eBay
  • Most Watched 1/1 Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Basketball Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Complete Baseball Card Sets at Auction on eBay
  • Most Watched Football Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Football Rookie Card Auctions
  • Most Watched Goudey Baseball Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Hockey Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Racing Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Soccer Cards for Sale on eBay
  • Most Watched Sports Autographs on eBay
  • Most Watched Sports Jerseys on eBay
  • Most Watched Unopened Sports Card Boxes, Packs on eBay
  • Most Watched Vintage Sports Memorabilia on eBay
  • Hottest Panini National Treasures Cards on eBay
  • Hottest PSA 10 Cards for Sale on eBay
  • What’s Hot on eBay
Sports Memorabilia
  • Sports Card Bargain Bin
  • Sports Memorabilia Auctions Ending Soon on eBay
About Sports Collectors Daily
  • Advertise with SC Daily
  • Contact Us
  • Get Sports Collectors Daily via EMail
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
Sell Your Cards
  • What’s It Worth
  • Where Can I Sell My Baseball Cards?

Copyright © 2023 SportsCollectorsDaily.com | Web Design by Wickam Groupopens in a new window