Launch of The COMC Challenge: Help Complete Checklists
The last few years I was at Beckett, one of my three monthly columns was the “Almanac Set of the Month” in which I would write two to four paragraphs about some newly added set to the Beckett data base...
View ArticleCOMC Challenge: Can You ID One of the Other Cards From This Jumbo Retail Set?
We’d like to thank everyone who participated in our first COMC Challenge and we learned some things which will improve future segments. We’d also like to begin by congratulating John Ayres, the winner...
View ArticleCOMC Challenge: Sweet Caporal Doesn’t Always Mean Baseball Cards
We’d like to begin by congratulating the winner of COMC Challenge #2, Stephen Schauer of Cincinnati, OH who correctly completed the three-card 1997 Topps retail baseball set by naming Chipper Jones as...
View ArticleCOMC Challenge: 1997 Topps Mint
To begin we’d like to thank Scott Allen for being the winner of COMC Challenge #3. He earned 1.300 history points for providing a great link to a checklist for the N245 Actor and Actresses set. Those...
View ArticleCOMC Challenge: White/Silver Variations in 1994 Collectors Choice
Well, for the first time, we hit a stumper with our 1997 Topps Mint Challenge. We are no further along than we were when we began that discussion a few weeks ago. We still do not know if this was a...
View ArticleCOMC Challenge: Checklist for This Set of Negro Leaguers
When I was at Beckett and the primary editor of the Beckett Almanac of Baseball Cards and Collectibles, there were always some cards which bothered me because I wanted to get to catalog them and add...
View ArticleCOMC Challenge: 1951 Burger Beer Cincinnati Reds
First, we’d like to congratulate Brian Russ, the winner of the last COMC Challenge which asked for you to submit additions to Dennis Biddle’s Negro League set checklist. That set has been used by...
View ArticleCOMC Challenge: 1999 Topps Crystal
It’s been a few weeks since our last COMC Challenge as the company worked through some changes following the end of their pricing relationship with Beckett. In order to allow COMC to start with all...
View ArticleRamblings: Moon Shots and Nickname Confusion
A couple of autograph guests help send a show venue out with a bang and a table conversation leads Rich to ponder Topps' use of player nicknames.
View ArticleRamblings: Remembering Mike Berkus
Rich Klein recalls the man who was able to reach across all segments of the hobby while running the hobby's largest show.
View ArticleRamblings: Design Matters in Marketing or Collecting
A lesson for card manufacturers and designers based, in part, on past history.
View ArticleRamblings: O-Pee-Chee and Free Agency in the 70s
Free agency and the arrival of a new Canadian big league team made it look quite a bit different than its Topps counterpart.
View ArticleRamblings: Hobby Through the Eyes of the 1995 All-Star Game
Rich recalls a hot night in 1995 when the Baseball All-Star Game came to town and what the hobby was like that summer.
View ArticleRamblings: Few 70s Teams Resonate More Than Big Red Machine
Decades have gone by but to collectors, the Big Red Machine remains the 1970s gold standard.
View ArticleRamblings: The Pure Fun of Packs
Helping another collector's unique quest puts packs in Rich's pocket--and he's always OK with that.
View ArticleRamblings: Guides and Checklists Brought Order to Chaos
A recent political comment has Rich recalling another slogan that helped change the hobby for the better.
View ArticleRamblings: Holiday Show and a Question
A post-Christmas show report and a chat with a customer leads to a ramble down junk wax lane.
View ArticleRamblings: Stories Told on Cardboard
A trade, a chat, a visit to social media and a player's death conjure up all sorts of cardboard recollections.
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