"So eventually our whole house will be filled with baseball catalogs?"
 

Actual quote from my wife when I informed her that I'm not ordering them and they are just sent when an auction is going on.

I've learned to keep just the Heritage and REA ones. I still have 20+ magazines in a room that will take some heavy lifting to get out of there.

The catalogues are impressive, my two boys usually think I’ve won something pretty nice when they arrive. Luckily, they’re not disappointed I haven’t, since it means we get to flip through and look at cool stuff.


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It’s ok to throw them out
 

If you don’t want them it is ok to throw them out. After all many are available online.

I keep the ones that have historic finds or great eye appeal and donate the rest to my local Salvation Army store for someone else to enjoy.

I've been throwing my old ones out. I live in an apartment, and space is at a premium.

That's what I thought about Mastro/Legendary until they were all removed.

Catalogs
 

I generally keep the ones with important pieces or finds but what I also keep Are catalogs that I have won items from. Not a big deal but something I do.

catalogs
 

I agree, it's easier to locate mist items on line. However, it doesnt always stay on the internet and with power outages, hacking and service interruption, my catalog never loses power. Lol

I have pitched a ton of catalogs over the years. Save 'em for awhile then realize they are taking up way too much space. Still have six or seven "Barry Sloate" catalogs from 2005 +/- though. You ran dandy little auctions, Barry.

Thanks David, they were fun. And as I always said, my catalog made an excellent bookmark to use for the larger catalogs.:)

Beautiful catalogs but I tend to prefer looking at them online. Plus it saves like a half a trees worth of paper. Those Heritage Catalogs are huge.

I too have thrown away most of the catalogs I was harboring. I used to keep catalogs depicting significant finds or cards I sold through the auction...but the internet doesn't take up space in my house...so now many go shortly after I receive them!

hint hint...stop sending them to me!!!!

I save catalogs that I never looked at on arrival. Imagine the thrill of ultimately finding something you really want and then the agony of realizing that the auction closed four years ago.:eek::eek::eek:

Frank- some of those auctions you think may have ended four years ago might still be going on, as a result of heavy bidding.

ha ha ha!

I have a lot of your old catalogs Barry. Still wish you had your auctions, they were ALWAYS enjoyable. It's not the quantity in the catalog, it's the quality!

+1. I toss out most of my catalogues also, but I wish I kept more of Legendary ones. Thankfully, I still have some of them.

Thanks Fred, but all things must pass.

recycled mine unless I sold something in the auction.

A long long time ago...
 

, probably around 1967 or '68 , my Uncle Sylvester threw away a National Geographic Magazine , after he and my cousins had read it two or three times.

..we still talk about it at family gatherings....

..

I just moved and seriously thought several times that I could die of a heart attack while carrying box after box of catalogs out of the basement to the curb for recycling pickup. I could just never bring myself to toss them over the years, they are so beautiful and full of great stuff, plus I had the space in the basement. But it's just not very smart to save them and let them pile up for no particular purpose when someday somebody's going to have to go to a lot of trouble to dispose of them. My God, those things are heavy, even a small box of them!

They're incredibly heavy, and I know because I tie half a dozen together and they weigh around 25 pounds. They don't have to be that dense- everything is pictured clearly online, but the AH's feel obligated to do so. They feel they must WOW their audience, when a smaller catalog would be more practical and save a lot of paper.

I agree...additionally the catalogs tend to be so big and heavy that I can't manage them while in the bath tub! I literally have to be seated at a table or desk to manipulate these monsters!

My dad was a professor, and the professor's second story office next to his was filled with so many piles of papers and books that the department brought in an engineer to determine if the floor/ceiling could withstand the weight.

I'm fortunate that there's a local museum/library that's specifically for one of my other hobbies. And they have access to a few others internationally, so if I wanted info about an auction listing, even one from a very long time ago, I could probably get it.


Our hobby should found/support something like that but realistically never will.


Hopefully I won't get the "bad gateway" error that wiped out my first try at this.

Not only do I recycle the ones i get, I opt out of receiving paper catalogs with every AH that offers that option.

As for online, did anyone play with the 'flippable' online catalog from LOTG? It was pretty cool: instead of having Simple Auction listings that you can find individually or on grids it was the actual catalog turned into an animated format you can page through like a book. I know some of the non sports auctioneers, like Julien's, have been doing that form of catalog for years but I don't recall one in our hobby.

catalog
 

I like leaving them in the gym locker room,or on a train...in hopes that someones picks it up and says " wow, that dude collects stuff like this..he must have an awesome collection "

This is why I hesitate to throw all of them away. I wish that I'd kept more of the Mastro / Legendary catalogs, along with a list of price realized. I know that Heritage has all that info on its data base, and I would find it handy, now and then, to have all that information for myself.

Wasn't there some third-party that had compiled all of the old Mastro/Legendary info along with a number of other auction houses for a pricing research website of some sort?

I finally did it. All my auction catalogs etc. have a new home at recycling ! Now that I finally got rid of them, they will become collectables. Have a lot more room and more muscles carrying these around.

When you look thru these auction catalogs the same cards come up over and over again. Buy-Sell and Buy-Sell again ( the same card ).

Some of the bigger, full page pictures from these catalogs are great for framing.

I recycle them, but I do remove pages I like and keep them in a binder especially for stuff you rarely see like a card's original artwork.

About a year ago a used book shop I went to was selling REA catalogs. They only had two, not particularly old ones, and they wanted $20 each!

I noticed the buyers premium in some of the older catalogs use to be 12% and now up to 23% !

Have you noticed any correlation between the weight of the catalog and the size of the buyers premium?

I finally got a point not too long ago where I stopped calculating the BP and started establishing what I want to pay in total, and make my max bid 70% of that amount. I know it's just a different way to look at the same numbers, but that shift was the first time I really acknowledged the fact that the BP, along with shipping and tax, have become a significant part of the price tag.

I keep all my auction catalogs for reference and source material no matter how old they are -roughly 30 years worth. The 1991 Copeland Collection or the Mastro Auctions or the Sotheby's 3 volume Barry Halper Collection -are all now pretty historic in their own right.

In one of these catalogs I spotted a 1940's Cuban card of Turkey Sterns and a photo featuring Carl Horner's mugshot...neither of which remain in my collection, but I do remember them.

Here's another reason for keeping auction catalogs: stolen or long-lost items do on occasion turn up in these catalogs. Hank Thomas can attest to this when he spotted his grandfather's Presidential-autographed Baseballs in a Ron Oser Auction.

And now state sales tax is added in many states ! So now you buy a $ 1000 item, with a 20% BP + 6% Michigan Sales Tax + Shipping and Insurance. Wow. That's another $ 300 .

Most of mine got recycled long ago. I still have some old Mastro and REA ones.

mags
 

Tell her it is better than having porn mags laying around...Jerry

She also complained that a counter many had been resting on appears to be sinking. I tried to assure her the catalogs would do no long term damage to our house, other than taking up a little space.

Auction catalogs are mostly a service for consignors. Everyone loves to see their items in print.

I throw most out eventually , but will keep ones that I bought significant cards from generally. Cool to look back at the write ups but it certainly gets out of hand to save all forever.

I keep REA and Heritage and a few others if I won something from them and I still have the Barry Halper Tone.

I've always enjoyed a good catalog (i.e. wish-book) or Baseball book in its hardcopy form. However, times have changed and I need to adapt.

I found out today that the Braves Media Guide will not appear in my favored form...which I saw coming, but, it will put a lid on my collection at 53.

I guess I will have to find a home for all my other Baseball Books as well, but I have not noticed much of a market for them.

I would be interested to know more about that Turkey Stearnes card???

BTW, I used to keep the catalogs from which I had won something. Now, I simply tear out and keep the page with that particular card's listing. Saves a TON of space.

The Baseball Book Market has really softened since the internet age took full effect. You are correct, the market, except for the really good books is minimal at best.

Rich I received news that the Braves had gone that route this week. They are the first MLB team to do so but I have also not heard if the Orioles are going to print one or not this year. Several NFL teams and most of the NHL have gone all digital.

I always felt that baseball teams would continue to print guides since they had 81 home games to sell them in their gift shops? Baseball and all books are tough sells these days. Hate to take them to Half Price Books but that may be an option!

Most all auction catalogs are discarded after an auction has ended. It seems that it would be worthwhile for a sports card auction company to take a poll of all the collectors that are sent their catalog to ask if they favor receiving a catalog as usual or having a reduction of the buyer's fee to x%. That percent would likely be significant enough to favor a halt in the expense of the producing and mailing catalogs. The company can make a decision based on customer's preferences.

+1 Catalogs are for the sellers anyway :) although I admit I do read most of the ones I get and many times see something which I didn't online.