When I started writing The Baseball Card Blog in January 2006, I thought that investing emotion into the pursuit and appreciation of baseball cards was an idea whose time had come. In fact, I was a little shocked that no one had beaten me to the punch.
I've had a lot of fun writing over the past two years. I've enjoyed the publicity, reading your emails and letters, and helping rekindle the collecting passion in those who'd lost hope in the hobby.
So why am I addressing you tonight? I know what you're thinking, but no, this is not a swan song good-bye note. I'm addressing you tonight as a way to motivate myself into making this blog better. I'm as frustrated as those readers who are bored with the Great Goudey Trade-away. I've always approached writing this blog as if I had an audience, though never once have I taken any of you for granted. I've put a lot of work into maintaining the site and keeping the content fresh enough for readers as passionate and as worthwhile as all of you are.
I appreciate your interest and attention greatly. This blog has helped me meet a number of exciting people and has given me an insight into my collection and collecting habits. And as it turns out, I'm not as lonely and eccentric in my pursuit as I once thought.
When I started this blog, I didn't know how long I'd be able to keep it going. Two years is actually much longer a lifespan than I initially would have guessed.
So, is The Baseball Card Blog still alive? Yes. Is it currently in a good place? No. Can it be saved? You bet. Am I the one to do the saving? I think so, but there's a lot of re-tooling to be done.
You know, the more I think about it, The Blog could be simply the start of something much bigger. A Pack A Day is going great. And there are other ideas that never really got off the ground earlier in the year. So, despite the problems we have weathered, the future is bright for The Baseball Card Blog.
Here's to another two years. (All right, technically it's been 340 posts over one year, ten months and thirteen days.)
4 comments:
Good stuff. I'm a fairly new reader to your blog and enjoy it greatly. Keep up the good work.
Well, I hope you keep it going for sure. I really enjoy the site!
Ben, you probably don't get enough thanks for keeping The Baseball Card Blog going. So, I'll tell you this. This blog is what got me collecting baseball cards again. I think I found the site while looking for a picture of the 1978 Topps Bruce Boisclair card for a blog entry I was writing. It was a nostalgic entry I wrote about the block I grew up on. The 1973 and 1978 sets were the linchpin my collection hangs upon. I stopped collecting after about 1982, but reading your rememberances and reviews gave me the desire to check it out again. So now I'm deep into Topps Series 1 & 2, Topps Heritage and Allen & Ginter. I've started with this year's sets, and have been working backward. Thanks for the articles you've written, and keep up the good work! I have no doubt your blog is at least in a small way responsible for the uptick in the hobby this year.
What do you think of Beckett coming out with the "Graded Card" magazine now? Do you actually think it will lead to an increase in $$$ on the market for Gem 10's etc. One example is suddenly an Elway 84 Topps is now $1200 as a 10, when before it was $175 or so. The mag lists all sports. Check it out and email me back with what you think. Keep up the good work.
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