Updates

     Morning everyone, just a quick note that I'm still here, this project is still going on, and we(the wife and I) would like to wish everyone who visits a Merry Christmas. I know the message is quick and to the point however once Christmas and New Years is over, hopefully everything will be back on track and my want lists will be posted.

     I did hear a bit of noise this past week from some of the local sport card shop guys that card values may be going up in 2016 due to Kansas City and the Mets doing what they do best. They predict both teams will be highly looked at as their the two that are responsible for gaining new interest in baseball(which is always a plus) in 2015. Rise in values is a good thing but those don't matter to the project as it's a non-profit project put together to complete the collections and try and preserve baseball cards as a whole.

     I get asked alot by people why I do what I do when all they are, are pieces of cardboard. That might be so but to me they hold a deeper meaning. Their a link to my childhood back to a time from my point of view things were simpler. True we had just came out of Vietnam and President Johnson resigned before he could be impeached, but things were simpler for the most part. There was no government bailouts or countries finding each other offensive or Americans suing each other over stupid stuff(french fries? really?). Then again there was no internet really back then either(it was all dial-up). Fibre-optics was around but was strictly business intranets only, the general public had no access to that. The point is whenever I check my email and see shootings going on in Los Angelas or Trump offending someone(both not new), I log out of gmail, break out the walkman, open google sheets, and log cards. It helps me forget how messed up this country is in 2015 and how much more messed up it'll be in 2016. Even as I'm writing this I'm listening to New Kids on the Block Christmas tape while trying really hard to remember what Christmas means to me as being a product of the rebelious generation instead of harping on facebook about happend this past week in California. Most call me old fashioned while others say I have a mental illness if I believe and think that way. I usually nod and say thank you for the compliment.

Merry Christmas everyone and have a Happy New Year,

Matthew Vacanti aka: The Card Collector

Still Here

I'm still here in case anyone was curious, but we've suspended collecting any cards due to the Relay for Life season that starts March 8th and lasts till October 1st in the virtual world Second Life. I'm also seriously sitting down and seeing what it would cost to build the card catalog I want.

Stay frosty,
Matt

Hello everyone, letting everyone know we're still here and we didn't crash or die or anything. Sat down with the wife and we went through three boxes and a bag of cards and it looks like I almost have a complete set of 1990 Topps. This included the box of cards my parents didn't get the chance to send me when we were in NY. I'm also seriously considerin moving the lists and the card counts back over to here and post extras to the SCF to sell or trade for other cards.

Came close to winning a bid on a 1948 Topps Reggie Jackson on Listia the other day. Auction closed out at over 3,000 credits. I was all O.O

That's it from me for a bit, more then likely won't post lists till after all the cards are done(so another 5 boxes) before we know what's extra and what isn't. Keep those donations rolling, we're always accepting cards no matter the condition.

-Matt

Morning everyone, your friendly card collector here. Checked the mail yesterday and someone sent me a dual-pack of 2008 Upper Deck cards so thank you to whoever sent us those as they help the collection grow. I still have alot of boxes to go through to add and it looks like I might have left the one complete set of 86 Topps cards at the old house in NY so the next buyer will have a lucky find. With that said, it's been fun getting the cards onto SCF and getting credits to get other cards but it looks like I'll have to add the wish list to the blog as it won't let me link it from SCF for some reason. We still have the idea to build the card catalog, just a matter of doing it. There's a few things here in TN that need to be worked on first before building the catalog, but it will get done. Was taking with the wife about the point of the collection and we've both agreed the blog's the first step. It lets our readers know what the status of the collection is and any news related to the collection. Did a google search for The Card Collector and apparently under 'bcardcollector' shows eight results. The first being this site, the second being our activity on Sports Card Forum and the others were results of 'b' 'cardcollector' that had nothing to do with what we're doing so Google did spider the site(which I'm happy about). Discovered SCF has it's own blog area and we're still deciding wither to keep this one here or cross completely over to the SCF blog or keep both or.. I dunno. Stay Frosty everyone, Matt

Morning everyone, I know it's early am here in TN. Some things to report before I go jump back into the cards. Firstly, I listed the three packs of hockey cards on Sports Card Forum and someone snatched em up before the day was over so I'm glad they went to a good home. In my neck of the woods, I've processed 513 cards since unloading the lists onto Sports Card Forum and using the pricing tables I set up from the last update, the collection currently stands at a worth of $1,588.22 after 513 cards. This is happy news from a collectors standpoint but at the same time I realize I'm using a price table that I created based on what I feel aspects that make up a card are worth and it'll change ten cents per year. I was going to post a long rant about values in general and the market but thought better of it as it doesn't belong here. I continue to stress that the collection is 100% non-profit and that all cards in the collection have either been donated or purchased from sites like listia where there's no monetary value, so if you have any cards sitting around and either don't collect anymore or don't know what to do with em, donate em to the collection. You can't write em off on your taxes or anything since we're not 503C3 certified, but you'll feel the satisfaction that there's someone out there willing to start and complete a complete record of baseball cards from the 1800s to the present and will never sell the collection for any reason. If anyone has any questions or comments, I'm open to anything. Stay Frosty, Matt

Update

Made it to TN in one piece and we're safe and sound. Now to tackle the oodles of cards I have sitting next to me. Still not sure wither to have them on the Sports Card Forum or toss em back into a spreadsheet. I can control variables easier with a spreadsheet but having them on SCF gives the cards exposure. Also came up with a simple price guide of sorts. It takes in all aspects of a card rather then the popularity of a player. If anyone finds this guide usefull let me know and I'll keep it updated.

Price Guide - Last Updated 8/10/2014
Condition
89¢ for poor
+10¢ for Fair/Excelent
+20¢ for Near Mint
+30¢ for Mint

Rarity
+$5 for Super Rare
+$3 for Rare
+$1 for Uncommon
+0 for Common
-20¢ for Very Common
-30¢ for Super Common

Age
+10¢ per year(except the current year) - Current year minus target year=age value

MISC
+0.10 for extra set(ie: Stadium Club) & Checklist
+0.30 for MFGR out of business, Leaders/League Leaders, Draft Picks, & Managers
+0.40 for rookies
+0 for Topps, Upper Deck, etc..


This is the guide I will be using when evaluating cards to be listed on SCF as either personal collection or trade for other cards to complete collections. I know this doesn't fit every type of card out there but it's better then guessing or using ebay or paying Beckett for prices.

That's it for now.
Stay Frosty, Matt

Changes

Hello everyone, as some may notice I've changed the layout a bit while I'm waiting for the first to come around. All our stuff is packed up and ready for the uhaul but I have left some of the card boxes out so I could go through them.

Back to the changes. On the right side under the counter is the new widget. It allows everyone to follow the blog by email or RSS curtesy of Feedburner. The widget also shows how many are following the blog via Facebook, Twitter, and Feedburner. Yes this means I have a dedicated Facebook for the blog. I don't have a dedicated Twitter yet as my personal twitter has all my furry, baseball, and GTA contacts on it and don't feel up to changing everything over.

This brings me to my next point. I've changed the Contact Me page around and have linked the collection and lists to sportscardforum.com I discovered this site after my last post and the site will allow me to buy, sell, and trade cards for either forum dollars or USD. I forsee this as a better avenue of getting cards for the collection.

I've also changed the About Me page to the Mission Statement page as this blog has become the main hub if you will of what I do in the world of baseball cards. The goal has now permanantly switched to archiving all the sets of cards from the 1800s to present. The blog/collection is also reiterating that it is 100% non-profit and will now work off card/fund donations. I'll still more then likely utilize Listia and sportscardforum.com to getting cards, but if anyone has a set or a bunch of cards lying around collecting dust, instead of tossing them into the trash, donate em here to the collection. Those that donate to/help The Collection will be listed on the new Special Thanks page.

I think that covers everything. I believe I'm taking the blog/collection into a positive direction as baseball cards are that magical link to america's past time. Back to a time when going to our first game was crisp and fresh and exciting; like opening presents on Christmas day or Birthdays or some other really happy memory.


Stay Frosty,
Matt