Finally, an update.

It’s official.  I’ve decided I’m not much of a blogger.  Just not that into it I guess.  I don’t know why.  Maybe it’s because I’m a little burnt out.  You know how you have ups and downs and highs and lows in collecting?  Well I’m at the trough and am looking for the recovery, the upswing.  Sorry for the business cycle references but that’s how my little mind works. 

Back to blogging.  It’s not that I don’t have much to talk about or say but rather that I’m always saying it.  Why write about it too.  I speak to my glove buddies very regularly and always have two or three trades going so there is a lot of back and forth.  I return close to 100 e-mail inquiries a week so that takes up a lot of time too.  I continually monitor the Forums and eBay but somehow don’t see half the great items that everyone else does – probably for the better.

I could talk about having the pleasure of looking at two more advanced book screenings.  Yep, two more glove books are coming out as well as Joe’s Nokona book.  I could talk about a bunch of us going to the National and raising hell and loitering in Brett and William’s booth.  We’re thinking of broadcasting or streaming live video from the National.  Maybe we’ll be posting on the Forum in real time for those who can’t attend.  One guy might even have a continuous PowerPoint slideshow of gloves showing on a screen.  We are attempting to draw more attention to the hobby because one thing is certain.  Prices are historically low and this is great if you are a collector.  I have added so many pieces to my collection recently that I can’t afford to keep up the pace.  I don’t know why I’m complaining as I’m a collector and not a dealer.  The problem is that it doesn’t stop coming and that concerns a lot of us as it appears that there aren’t enough new collectors to absorb all the gloves.  Quantity supplied seems to exceed the demand keeping prices low.  We are just thinking that it couldn’t hurt to help the demand curve shift to the right a little to bring the equilibrium prices back up to where they were.  Do we just chalk it up to the economy, high unemployment?  Well that’s a weak and overly simplistic argument.  Are more collectors unemployed or cash-strapped as of late?  Are they anticipating high tax bills?  I’d love to blame it on the latter but that’s probably a bit pre-mature.  It’s coming though.  I promise but I won’t go there…yet.

Anyway, I thought I would just write something to change that link on the site so you guys don’t have to keep looking at my ugly mug from the last post.  I had plans of making this section of the site a lot more dynamic than I have been but I’ll get rejuvenated.  I always do and when Ricky and Brett recently called me with two great items I needed, I have to admit, the juices got a flowin’.  More soon.

JD

5 comments to Finally, an update.

  • JD

    Thanks Brett. Regarding the Collector’s Corner, maybe they are just lookey-loos or maybe they just want to look at the catalogs or see everyone else’s profile. Maybe they want all the benefits but not the cost (the cost simply being participation). In Economics, we called it the Free Rider program (why do it when everyone else will) and it holds true for your Forum as well. This site and yours can only work properly with everyone’s involvement. Send in glove pics. Send in catalog pics. Post a note in the Forum. Everyone wants the benefit but aren’t willing to pay the simple price of participation.

    One thing is certain. You are only about the 25th person to complain about the non-participators. If it continues, I’ll just delete them and they will have to keep re-registering. As long as they fill out their profiles, they are welcome to stay. If they don’t, they will be removed. Simple as that. It is contrary to everything I have worked for to create that section for over a year. This has been the sentiment of a lot of people. Not just me. I’ll soon do something about it.

    JD

  • Agree with mostly everything you guys are saying. If I’m trying to sell something, I have a one year rule – if I haven’t sold it for what I’m trying to get, I’ll sell it for whatever it will go for at the point. Sometimes you gotta take a hit – that’s all part of buying and selling.

    We’ve done some great things to attract people to the hobby but for whatever reason, they aren’t biting. JD, I love your new site and the collectors corner but why do people sign up with a name and email and that is it. How am I supposed to know what they are interested in or what they are looking for? Seems silly to me.

    I updated the forum software because people complained they couldn’t figure out how to post pictures. Now it’s as easy as attaching to an email but they still don’t post. Hmmmpphhh.

    As for getting me kicked out of the National, I was thinking about getting shirts that say “Why buy a card you gotta protect in plastic when with a glove you can slide right into fun!” 😉

  • JD

    Hallelujah brutha! Well said. I was just trying to make it so my picture didn’t keep coming up when you hit that link. I love the idea. I often use 1′” webs at Little League Practice and always talk to the other coaches, dads and kids about them. They are great conversation pieces. I always have one or two in my trunk, which often lends itself to other random conversations. My office is full of gloves and bats and I always make the FedEx guy or UPS guy wait around to watch me open a box when I’m expecting something. They dig it. Random solicitors who come in often spark up conversations about them.

    Jerry, at the National, you and I are definitely gonna play catch in the aisles. We’ll see if we can’t get Brett and William banned from future Nationals : ) You are so right that glove collectors are mostly ex-card collectors who eventually saw the light.

    Thanks for the thoughts.

    JD

  • Mr. Mitt

    Now that my first rant is complete, I’d like to address another topic, if you’ll permit. New blood in the hobby. By all means, each and every person reading this should look within themselves and contribute whatever their capable of to advancing the glove collecting hobby. It’s with all of our interests in mind that we expand this “condition” and fascination with gloves.

    We have a magnificent opportunity to do this. Over the weekend, the NY Daily News wrote their latest installment in the ongoing saga of shill bidding and the connection with card grading companies. http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/iteam/ I’d wager that over 95% of glove collectors began with cards before advancing to gloves. If this soap opera truly gets ugly, where are all those disenchanted card collectors going to turn? Gloves would be an ideal alternative, if we extend a hand and market our segment of the hobby properly. Sure, not all card collectors are going to jump ship, but if we were to grab a fraction of a percent of the card collecting hobby, our numbers would skyrocket.

    With that, I’d like to propose a challenge. It would be wonderful if each glove collector help bring one new collector into the hobby by the time the 2010 World Series is complete and the Yankees win their 28th. Sorry, couldn’t help myself!!! Think of it, we’d double our collecting base in a few short months if each and every one of us bring in just one new collector. Convert a card guy, the time has never been better to do so. Spread the word to another father at a little league game. Convince him how cool a few vintage gloves would be in his man cave. Preach gloves, spread the joy, spend some time passing on the knowledge. Add one person to the hobby and the entire dynamic changes. Challenge other glove collectors to do the same and try to outdo each other. Who can bring in more collectors? Post the challenge on other glove websites, talk gloves at shows, bring a vintage glove to a ball game and answer questions to the countless inquires you receive. Contact local news media, they may do a story on you and your gloves (granted, on an unusually slow news day). Spread the word, gloves are good!

  • Mr. Mitt

    Your concerns are valid, but I’d like to add that most of the supply hitting the market over the past few months have been lower- to mid-level gloves. Until the last week, not many upper echelon models have become available. Sure, some private sales occurred and $1000+ gloves changed hands, but not many. Even on eBay recently, the “rarer” more expensive gloves that have popped up haven’t done exceedingly well. My opinion, which you may disagree with, is that those trying to move higher-valued items have not tempered their expectations. Asset values have significantly declined over the past two years, but somehow, sellers of semi-desirable gloves feel that their possessions are immune to these corrections. Collectors have to wake up and smell the coffee, collectibles are assets and are subject to declines just like other asset classes. Thankfully, I’ve been contacted by several collectors who want to move nice gloves. Unfortunately, I’ve passed on 90% of them because they believe they must make a profit on them. Where is it written that when turning over an item, whatever it is, that a profit is guaranteed? All of a sudden, capitalism is stricken from the books… well, perhaps this is occurring on a national level too and is permeating down through our society. That aside, this is happening with non-private sales as well. Finally some decent gloves hit eBay, but they are offered for “Buy it Now” prices far exceeding the items’ value or with reserves that border on insane. Though I concur with what Jim has noted, I wanted to add my frustration with the naïveté of other collectors, particularly sellers. If they don’t need to move a glove and are simply trying to make a profit, go for it. But if they are truly in financial straights and have to liquidate to cover expenses elsewhere, well, they need to be realistic about their prospects. There are buyers out there, no question. Jim’s confession of picking up oodles of gloves recently is simply an example of what many of us are doing, or trying to do. The buyers, however, are not going to overpay for items given the current circumstances. They’ve made adjustments to market conditions, it’s the sellers that now need to adjust.

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