Internet experience with respect to collecting?

[erstevens]

The internet makes so much information available to anyone. Back in the late 80s/early 90s, as a fairly isolated collector, I had three places to look for information on vintage cards. One was a major price guide. Beckett was the standard, but I had an early SCD version. This wasn't much of a read. The second option was the latest issue of SCD. While SCD did have ads for pre-WWII material, at that time most of SCD seemed to focus on the prices of 52 Topps high numbers. The third option was Larry Fritsch's one-of-a-kind catalog. That thing included sets that weren't in the price guides and seemed to never appear in SCD ads. I thought the prices were high, but I really wasn't informed enough to know the market.

Today, eBay alone has far more information that all those sources combined. Just look at the current auctions, BINs, and completed transactions. Throw in the websites that people have put together, and even a casual collector has more information than a typical dealer did back in the day.

[Rickyy]

I don't think I could have made as much an inroad in my type card collecting without the internet.... this year alone I have already acquired some items that would have taken many shows over many months/years, combing through publications etc to even locate...let alone purchase.

[toppcat]

The internet makes it much easier to collect obscure cards and to check pricing but I sure do miss the old swap meet type shows. There is no way I would have the collection I have today if not for Ebay and BST boards here and in a couple of other places.

[perezfan]

Rob:
Really enjoyed your column! Very well written, and got my memory going....

We have quickly learned to take Ebay for granted. I remember (not all that long ago) getting a monthly flyer from dealers like Bob Rosenthal and Carl Laron. These flyers were so unsophisticated, they contained just single-line descriptions of each item, with no photos. So a typical description for a Pennant might read...

1950s Cincinnati Reds 3/4 size with Mr. Red wearing a crown and flying on a bat above the stadium. Some cracking to painted graphics but no rips/tears. EX++

The ease of collecting has accelerated immeasurably in the past 8 years. Ebay has driven lots of these "flyer guys" out of business, but some have adapted well (Bob McCann, Everything Baseball, Jim McCorkle and the like). It is true that certain things we believed were rare are actually quite plentiful. Thanks to ebay, lots of prices are now lower than they were back in the '90s.