Ten years ago today, I was looking for a checklist for a Bowman set- I don’t remember which one. Through a Google search, I was directed to a site called Trading Card Database, and it would become a very important and enduring part of my hobby experience.
In 2000, I had an idea to create a series of interconnected websites, based on baseball teams, which centered upon visual baseball collectibles checklists. The annual Beckett and SCD catalogs had gotten enormous, and I knew seeing the items would help collectors immensely. The problem was, I didn’t know the first thing about setting up websites. I went through four or five individuals or companies who said they could create what I was looking for- but none of them could, for whatever reasons. By 2011, I had given up on the idea entirely.
I was more than a little intrigued when I stumbled upon TCDB, knowing that I had a whole slew of images that I had begun to use for my own site. Perhaps figuring that I was about to embark on something significant, the first card I chose to upload was a card I remember getting in a rack pack in my first year of collecting while vacationing in Wildwood, NJ in 1973 (when I was 8)- a 1973 Topps Duffy Dyer, a member of my new favorite team, the New York Mets.
Since then, I have not only posted items from my own collection, but from those of my good friends to document sets of all shapes and sizes- some checklists of which had never before been published. I continue to call upon them to present items that I hope are helpful to others, since that is the true spirit of the site. There are many times when I wish I had more hours in the day to scan and add gems from their collections.
I’ve had the pleasure of getting to chat with Admin at several National Conventions. He is a sharp guy, a computer programming savant, and I’m happy to see his concept get to where it’s gotten.
Contrary to the snarky remarks of some members who use terms like “point farmers,” I have never been uber-aware of my point status. In fact, I couldn’t tell you right now what I get for submitting a front of a card, a back of a card, or a checklist. When time presents itself, I just upload, and let the chips fall where they may. That said, I made a point of reaching 800,000 points as I hit my 10th anniversary for the sake of nice round numbers.
And yes, I know that some of my early scans don’t hold up to current standards. I have already begun to replace those when I can. Remember, some of them were scanned on a flatbed 20 years ago.
Looking forward to the next ten years of contributions.