The Football Card Blog

Well, unless someone from Beckett takes the initiative and contacts me directly (good luck, I know), my verdict is in--I tired to be diplomatic, I tried to keep an open mind, and I still appreciate the thankless job that Eric has done--but the new site sucks (at least for what I want out of it), and I won't be re-upping my subscription with them, online or off.

I tried to get a simple checklist for a site today--I prefer to do my inventory in Excel--not only will they only show 100 cards per screen max, but the copy/paste ability of the new site will not work for my needs at all.

I don't want to organize collections on your site.  I don't want to wait 5 minutes for your tutorials that I shouldn't have to watch load (seriously, you had to make one on how to stop auto renewal of pricing subscriptions? If anything of mine auto renews, expect VERY angry emails and calls).  I don't want to trade (on your site), and I sure don't want to buy any cards or other licensed apparel from you--there are hundreds of better places for that kind of things online.  I don't see a "personalize this page" link at the top right of the homepage, and I really don't want to change my content around that much anyway.  And I really don't want an annoying splash page trying to tell me where to go to find what I'm looking for.

What I do want is to be able to pull up a full list of cards from a set, so when I'm busting packs/boxes, I can scan the list for the cards I see.  I want that list to load fast (unlike the old site) if it's not going to be dynamically updated throughout the month (like the old site), or I want it to be dynamically updated, if it's gotta be so database intensive--and right now, it's slow AND not dynamic. (And did I mention I can't get a full set list to display at once?)

Add in a whole bunch of content on the site that I just don't care about and a pricing model that is absolutely ridiculous (I get a "sports card" magazine subscription with pricing, have to pay extra to get the content online, and when online have to pay for each individual sport, AND pay extra if I want the newest pricing when it first comes out), and you've lost yet another subscriber.  I could handle some of the crap, but not all of it piled on.

Let me know when Beckett 3.0 is in the works--I promise I'll be a more vocal beta tester this time (if I remember to login to my account).  Better yet, drop me an email--I'm sure my company would love to pitch a proposal for solving this mess for you.

Well, finally broke down and purchased another hobby box of a 2008 product--in fact, two boxes, since I hadn't in quite some time, my local card shop gave me a bit of a deal.

Also, it might be the only 2008 product I collect this year--even Bowman Chrome, which I bought a ton of (too much?) in 2007 might be on the chopping block, depending on how the rookie class starts to look once the regular season gets under way. Right now, I'm not holding my breath--I still think what little superstar talent was in this draft was at positions that doesn't bode well for prospecting--so any additional 2008 cards I buy this year will have to be more for fun. Or of specific players.

I bought a bunch of Threads in 2007 as well (again, too much?), and did manage to pull a couple of the letter patches (Isaiah Stanback & Darius Walker--sold the Stanback, believe I still have the Walker), as well as a few other nice hits (Michael Bush Auto Patch card, Trent Edwards Prime Patch, Dan Marino Gridiron Kings Patch).

Anyway, since posts have been slow around here, I think I'll go at a slower pace for opening the boxes--not quite A Pack A Day style, but a few packs here, and a few there. Or I'll get bored in a few days and bust the rest, who knows?

Anyway, first two packs:

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You may have heard that the new Beckett.com launched this week.  You might also have heard that early reviews have not been positive.  In fact, a posting on their blog has generated 93 responses--which range from complaints, to thanks from other site operators for increasing their readership, and yes, a couple of complments mixed in.

Maybe I should have taken my duties as a beta tester a little more serious (that's right--despite the fact that I've been negative in the past, I was approved as a beta tester).  If I had taken the time, I could have told them that the site seemed slow--especially given that only beta testers were using it.  I also could have probably told them that they were making what should be a fairly simple concept, and making it waaaaaaaay too difficult (I have to agree with the commenter that chastised them for launching something that basically REQUIRES users to watch tutorials to be able to use it--that's just not good practice).

I don't fault Beckett for trying to improve things--their previous site sucked.  Unfortunately, it seems like they may have tried to take too big of a leap.  And maybe too soon.  And without looking before they leaped.  And into the wind.  Whatever you want to call it.

In the mean time, despite the mis-step, and all of the other problems I have with Beckett, I look forward to seeing where they go with the site, because I do think that it can be useful (for certain things).  I'm just not sure I'm willing to continue to pay for an annual subscription right now to see that progress.

**UPDATE** Eric's comment below reminded me that I did have one other point to make about the situation created by the new site--and that is to commend Eric for the job he's doing in handling the response, specifically in the post I linked to above.  I have a feeling that if 30+ people (probably even more off blog) started unloading on me in comments (even if some of them are warranted), I don't know if I could keep things as calm and composed as he has--although it is a problem I hope to have on this site at some point.

So, last week was the Pro Football (read: NFL) Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and Hall of Fame game.  Inducted this year were Redskins Art Monk and Darrell Green, coach and player Emmitt Thomas, Patriot Andre Tippett, Viking/Bronco Gary Zimmerman, and probably the original pass rush specialist Fred Dean.

But, as it seems like every year, there were players who many felt should have gotten in, but didn't.  Topping this years list for most people was wide receiver Cris Carter--who many felt was only made to wait so Monk could get in before him (despite Carter being better than Monk or Michael Irvin, who was somehow inducted last year in his first year of eligibility).

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OK, it's been almost a month, and no action here on The Football Card Blog.  So what's up with that?  A whole bunch of things have basically led me to just not really "feel it" over the last few weeks--from the Favre fiasco, to the disappointing rookie class this year, to some of the stuff I've been reading in the hobby blogosphere.

But, I saw some of the game Sunday night, and I'm starting to get back into it.  I've got my first fantasy draft coming up, I think the first set of 2008 cards that I might actually buy a couple boxes of comes out soon, and I've got a couple of other site related projects that are underway.

So, hopefully moving forward things will get a little more regular around here again.  If not, I promise a full refund!

On my way out the door for an extended weekend, but I wanted to get a post up before I left, since I haven't had much going on lately.

Getting back to the Football/Screen Stars themed Cards of the Week, this week featuring Charles Aaron "Bubba" Smith.  The first overall pick in the 1967 draft, Smith was considered a huge athlete in his day, playing defensive end at 6 foot 6 inches, and 260 pounds (today, that would be a little taller than average, but about average for weight).

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