I Must Be Missing Something...

Okay, so the hot button topic of the last week...AGAIN...is Beckett and all the good and bad things they have contributed to our Hobby. And there have been many arguments supporting them (to a point) to being outright against them (to a point).

I have made comments to bloggers on both sides of the issue. Needless to say, I can see both sides clearly, and to an extent, I agree with a number of their arguments. I have already posted where I stand in all of this, and nobody is going to change my mind one way or another about what I think about Beckett Media, their products, their website, or the company and the people who work there. I'm not ashamed to say I bought the latest Beckett Baseball magazine. I will say I wish there was a bit more in terms of articles other than a Phillies pictorial and the Donruss interview, but other features make up for it.

So my questions to all the bloggers who either are cool with the number one source in the Hobby or think that they are the problem with today's Hobby are these:

• Why haven't I read any blogs that either slam or support the competition (if you're not familiar with them, I am referring to Tuff Stuff or Sports Collectors Daily...or is it weekly)?
• Have they become irrelevant sources in the Hobby?
• Is Beckett the only company worth criticizing because the company has the most recognizable name in the business?
• In your critiques of Beckett, are you also putting the other two publications on notice?

I will say in full disclosure that I have not bought a Tuff Stuff magazine in more than eight years, because it is a multi-sport magazine, and all I care about is baseball. But I will read the magazine from time to time when I am at the grocery store. And I did buy their Topps Baseball and Football special editions when each reached their 50th anniversary (in 2001 and 2006). When I get to certain card shops that carry them, or even at a show, I will buy a Sports Collectors Daily (it's the one printed in newspaper format instead of a magazine).

Even though I don't pay much attention to their guides, the articles in Tuff Stuff are very informative, and a couple of the columnists are wells of knowledge about the Hobby. And while the SCD paper has more auction advertisements than any other publication out there, you can't get better information about the history of the Hobby and its pioneers anywhere else.

Are these other two publications not even worth the time of day to discuss or debate? What do you all have to say for yourselves? Please leave comments about this issue. I would love to hear what you have to say.

After this, all I want to talk about are Topps baseball cards.

Sincerely,

JayBee Anama