Tom Bartsch is doing a courageous job trying to handle a vast number of responsibilities that once were parsed out to a substantial staff at Krause Publications, now F & W Media. Literally think of a dozen-instrument one-man band. He is in actuality not alone, but the word "literally" is so close to the truth it makes me wince.
The sheer amount of time it takes to list new additions with an accompanying photo to the Cat, as well as try to make reasonably accurate changes to the values is a Herculean task at the least. The time finally came for Mr. Lemke to retire from it, and the job was shoved in Tom's face by corporate----and you think you've got troubles?
As someone else mentioned, I am one who's had success contacting Tom to update the value of a card, not with opinions, but actual sales figures. He thanked me and gave me the impression he not only agreed but would update the Cat. The correct email address for Tom Bartsch is:
tom.bartsch@fwmedia.com
It isn't really demanding too much of yourself to do some of the research and make a concise contribution, for no remuneration whatsoever, if you see a glaring, inaccurate valuation---up or down.
You want your hobby to continue to thrive? Then DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT INSTEAD OF JUST GRIPE ABOUT HOW BIG SCD USED TO BE, OR THAT THE CATALOG IS REALLY BEHIND THE TIMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
To paraphrase a well-known urgent challenge of President Kennedy:
And so my fellow collectors, ask NOT what your hobby can do for you, ask what you can do for your hobby.
That's one of the reasons I wrote my book on post-war regional/food issues. To contribute something to the hobby, rather than wait half a lifetime for someone else to write such a book. And I didn't write just about items I have, either! Of the twenty chapters, I only own 0-3 cards of well over half the sets discussed. It has seemed easier to write the book than get a publisher interested in actually publishing it. That says something "rotten in Denmark" about what the print industry thinks of our once-booming hobby.
So, ponder the matter of what you could do to help our hobby, and yourself at the same time.
---Brian Powell