The New Card Target Thread

[frankbmd]

Card Target was purchased by new owners over a year ago. Since that time the data on the site has remained. Recent sales for the most part have not been added to the site with a handful of exceptions. It appeared that the site was circling the drain in an inevitable death spiral.

This morning however I clicked on my Card Target link and an entirely new website appeared. I was asked first to sign in using a social media account(?).
I have a couple of dormant accounts and try to maintain as low a profile as possible on such sites. Nevertheless I tried to sign in and was taken to another program, which did nothing but complicate the process and I gave up.

From the tabs on the new CT site it appears that the new site may be offering auction search functions in addition to the price history database from the old site. Whether the price histories have been updated will be updated going forward is unclear. I didn't get that far.

I did send a message from the Card Target website to explain my situation regarding my low profile on social media and why it was no longer possible to access the site without a social media link.

To my surprise in several hours I did get a response. The gist of the response was that the website programmers never considered the possibility that there were actually people who did not have or want social media accounts. They said that they would "look into" adding a traditional username/password option. We'll see.

I have zero followers on Twitter, I have never tweeted and do not consider myself a twit. Linked in serves no function in my retirement. I follow pictures of my grandchildren on Facebook, but that's it.

I am quite sure there are others like me, who value their privacy and identity on the Internet. I am also sure there are others here who are more inclined to the participate in the "wonders" of social media.

So I thought this thread could serve as a place for the forum to post comments on the new Card Target site. Have you signed in? Is the new site a lot different in terms of what is offered? Has the pricing data base been updated? What do you think?

[Jantz]

Your not alone Frank.

I noticed the new website as well, but didn't set up an account yet.

Net54 is about the extent of my social media.

[Luke]

I'm the same. I do have a facebook account, but I would be hesitant to sign in to a website that basically advertises that the users have old baseball card collections. Can't imagine anyone wanting to broadcast that.

[Sean1125]

Yup...

I don't sign in using any of those options. No username? No password? No problem - I don't participate.

[hangman62]

Frank
How do you normally handle that with your Facebook, My Space, SnapChat,and Twitter account ? LOL

[TUM301]

Originally Posted by Sean1125

Yup...

I don't sign in using any of those options. No username? No password? No problem - I don't participate.

Same with me, too much info and I`m out of there.

[ksabet]

I am 39 and 6 years ago quit Facebook and haven't looked back one day. If you look into some of their practices they are an evil company that solely does whatever it feels in order to make more money.

They set up ghost accounts for spouses even if you aren't signed up.
They manipulate personal feeds in emotion experiments.
They also can at any point use or sell the photos of your kids/grandkids without your permission...if its on their site its their property.


Rule of thumb...if its on the internet and its free...you are what they are selling.

[pawpawdiv9]

i have used CardTarget before...have not noticed the new site updates and etc.

[dougscats]

I'm like you, Frank; I don't have a social media account, not even Facebook. As Bartleby said, I prefer not to.

Coincidentally, I tried to go onto CardTarget yesterday as well, and ran into the same difficulties. I gave up sooner than you, though.

I hope CardTarget makes their site more user-friendly because I found them useful. I'll stay tuned here to stay abreast of proceedings.

[ALR-bishop]

Frank-- I often get notices telling me I have more friends on Facebook than I realize.... but you could not prove it by me

[frankbmd]

Well, I guess I am important, or even "magnificent" like mybuddyinc.

I just received a second email from Card Target which follows:

FYI, I have added the option to create a username/password. Let me know if you have any other issues. As an FYI we are still working through a technical issue that might cause the site to hang, so please be patient if the site gets stuck loading data.
Thanks again,

I haven't tried it yet, but the response time was jaw dropping.

I did not reference this site or this thread in my correspondence, so I guess I will just have to buck up and take all the credit, if it works.

Using my email address and a new card target specific password, I did get into the catalog and pricing. It is still a beta version and there are a few kinks, but I think that ultimately this will be a useful tool for forum members.

Now that we all can get in without tweeting, share your thoughts on the site itself.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I made the mistake of signing up for LinkedIn at some point, but no Facebook, Twitter, or anything else. I have no wish to be part of the generation of people staring into their little devices all the time. The next kid walking down the street or sitting in a restaurant I see NOT staring into one, I will adopt.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I made the mistake of signing up for LinkedIn at some point, but no Facebook, Twitter, or anything else. I have no wish to be part of the generation of people staring into their little devices all the time. The next kid walking down the street or sitting in a restaurant I see NOT staring into one, I will adopt.

Peter, I only stare at Net54 and your avatar.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

Peter, I only stare at Net54 and your avatar.

A fine avatar it is, no?

[mybuddyinc]

Being an "Old Foggy" I have absolutely NO social media accounts or interactions, or wish to have them. In my "grumpy old man" moments I'll argue it's a down fall of society. I hardly know what an app is.

So, no CT for me, I'm sure they'll do fine without me.

In fact, I guess I'm getting so old, that I forgot when I called Frank "magnificent" --- BUT ---- Frank --- You Are !!!!!!!!!!!!

[dlfallen]

My situation is the same as Frank's -- I'm only on Facebook so I can read about my grandchildren. My self-picture on Facebook is a baseball head. Frank has inspired me to add it here as my avatar . . .

[sb1]

I logged in using my email and a password, trying to use the new format was a bit slow and did hang up. When I did get in it worked very nicely and has quite a few more sets listed, although they don't appear to have much data in some of them. Time will tell what the site will become.

[Mountaineer1999]

I registered today and really like the layout. I like that you can view a gallery or list of each players cards. It does appear aome if the data is not yet updated but overall it has some positive features

[Bocabirdman]

Originally Posted by dougscats

I'm like you, Frank; I don't have a social media account, not even Facebook. As Bartleby said, I prefer not to.

Coincidentally, I tried to go onto CardTarget yesterday as well, and ran into the same difficulties. I gave up sooner than you, though.

I hope CardTarget makes their site more user-friendly because I found them useful. I'll stay tuned here to stay abreast of proceedings.

Nice Literary Reference.....Melville liked to write of the extremes....chasing the Great White Whale and a Scriveners with a work history at a Dead Letter Office.

[bwiller]

Greetings, and Happy Holidays to everyone. I am one of the new owners of Card Target and I wanted to say Thank You to everyone who has used and supported the site in the past, and for all the feedback and comments on the new site. For those users who have used CT in the past, thank you also for your patience as we built out the new site (and all the underlying "plumbing" that makes it all possible).

I appreciate the feedback both here on the board and that I have received via our feedback channel - my goal is to make sure the site provides a valuable tool for the card collecting community - and specifically those who collect (and appreciate) vintage cards.

I wanted to provide some quick feedback on a couple of the questions and comments we have received so far:

1. There has been quite a bit of feedback around the use of social media accounts for logging in. Unfortunately there seems to be a little misunderstanding around this - while social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) are certainly options, you can also use your Gmail (Google) or Microsoft (Hotmail, Outlook, Live, etc.) accounts - so they don't need to be "Social" logins per se. As some of you noted I did add the ability to use your own email address and password as well.
2. I am happy that some of you have noted the expanded content - by default, we catalog and analyze all four sports through 1989, although our focus is on the vintage side. We also analyze and report on non-graded cards which is also new. If you follow our Twitter feed or keep an eye on the News section of the site I will provide more detail on where we are at from the "review" process that we are using to tune our catalog and matching algorithms. (We will also use Twitter to update everyone when we add new sets to the catalog)
3. If you tried using the site in the first couple days and it did not respond, this issue has been resolved - it actually took longer to find the root cause than it did to fix it. If you tried the site and gave up, please have another crack at it.
4. Finally, as some of you have noted, we are still in the process of migrating the vast history of sales information over from the old site. While the old CT site only reported on a small percentage of sets, they were collecting information for all 4 sports and - so we are processing through that and adding data back every day.

So again, thanks for the feedback and patience. If you have some time this holiday season, I hope you check out the new site and provide some feedback.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year,
Bob

[Leon]

Thanks for the update, Bob. I always thought CardTarget was the best of the pricing services out there. Good luck and keep us updated.

Originally Posted by bwiller

Greetings, and Happy Holidays to everyone. I am one of the new owners of Card Target and I wanted to say Thank You to everyone who has used and supported the site in the past, and for all the feedback and comments on the new site. For those users who have used CT in the past, thank you also for your patience as we built out the new site (and all the underlying "plumbing" that makes it all possible).

I appreciate the feedback both here on the board and that I have received via our feedback channel - my goal is to make sure the site provides a valuable tool for the card collecting community - and specifically those who collect (and appreciate) vintage cards.

I wanted to provide some quick feedback on a couple of the questions and comments we have received so far:

1. There has been quite a bit of feedback around the use of social media accounts for logging in. Unfortunately there seems to be a little misunderstanding around this - while social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) are certainly options, you can also use your Gmail (Google) or Microsoft (Hotmail, Outlook, Live, etc.) accounts - so they don't need to be "Social" logins per se. As some of you noted I did add the ability to use your own email address and password as well.
2. I am happy that some of you have noted the expanded content - by default, we catalog and analyze all four sports through 1989, although our focus is on the vintage side. We also analyze and report on non-graded cards which is also new. If you follow our Twitter feed or keep an eye on the News section of the site I will provide more detail on where we are at from the "review" process that we are using to tune our catalog and matching algorithms. (We will also use Twitter to update everyone when we add new sets to the catalog)
3. If you tried using the site in the first couple days and it did not respond, this issue has been resolved - it actually took longer to find the root cause than it did to fix it. If you tried the site and gave up, please have another crack at it.
4. Finally, as some of you have noted, we are still in the process of migrating the vast history of sales information over from the old site. While the old CT site only reported on a small percentage of sets, they were collecting information for all 4 sports and - so we are processing through that and adding data back every day.

So again, thanks for the feedback and patience. If you have some time this holiday season, I hope you check out the new site and provide some feedback.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year,
Bob

[sreader3]

Hi Bob,

I have always appreciated the CT data-- especially T206.

I know the former owner spent countless hours over several years meticulously reviewing and editing the computer-generated T206 data to make sure pricing for every front/back combo was correctly reported.

As a "free" service, I have no expectation this practice will resume (reporting of even raw computer-generated T206 data has been largely dormant for the last 12-24 months) -- but it is a hope.

CT was once a great resource and it would be wonderful if it could reclaim its once exalted status.

Scot Reader

[pokerplyr80]

Frank, if a social media connection is necessary and you don't want to tie card target to your google or any other account you could always just create a profile on facebook or some other site with fake information. It should only take a couple of minutes.

[Sean1125]

Originally Posted by bwiller

Greetings, and Happy Holidays to everyone. I am one of the new owners of Card Target and I wanted to say Thank You to everyone who has used and supported the site in the past, and for all the feedback and comments on the new site. For those users who have used CT in the past, thank you also for your patience as we built out the new site (and all the underlying "plumbing" that makes it all possible).

I appreciate the feedback both here on the board and that I have received via our feedback channel - my goal is to make sure the site provides a valuable tool for the card collecting community - and specifically those who collect (and appreciate) vintage cards.

I wanted to provide some quick feedback on a couple of the questions and comments we have received so far:

1. There has been quite a bit of feedback around the use of social media accounts for logging in. Unfortunately there seems to be a little misunderstanding around this - while social media sites (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) are certainly options, you can also use your Gmail (Google) or Microsoft (Hotmail, Outlook, Live, etc.) accounts - so they don't need to be "Social" logins per se. As some of you noted I did add the ability to use your own email address and password as well.
2. I am happy that some of you have noted the expanded content - by default, we catalog and analyze all four sports through 1989, although our focus is on the vintage side. We also analyze and report on non-graded cards which is also new. If you follow our Twitter feed or keep an eye on the News section of the site I will provide more detail on where we are at from the "review" process that we are using to tune our catalog and matching algorithms. (We will also use Twitter to update everyone when we add new sets to the catalog)
3. If you tried using the site in the first couple days and it did not respond, this issue has been resolved - it actually took longer to find the root cause than it did to fix it. If you tried the site and gave up, please have another crack at it.
4. Finally, as some of you have noted, we are still in the process of migrating the vast history of sales information over from the old site. While the old CT site only reported on a small percentage of sets, they were collecting information for all 4 sports and - so we are processing through that and adding data back every day.

So again, thanks for the feedback and patience. If you have some time this holiday season, I hope you check out the new site and provide some feedback.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year,
Bob

Do you have a non-email login?

[CurtisFlood]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I made the mistake of signing up for LinkedIn at some point, but no Facebook, Twitter, or anything else. I have no wish to be part of the generation of people staring into their little devices all the time. The next kid walking down the street or sitting in a restaurant I see NOT staring into one, I will adopt.

LinkedIn is a pain in the ass, not sure how I got into that, but I get stuff from them on people I don't know and do not want to know. Being retired it is a useless thing to me anyway.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by CurtisFlood

LinkedIn is a pain in the ass, not sure how I got into that, but I get stuff from them on people I don't know and do not want to know. Being retired it is a useless thing to me anyway.

My previous company required us to be on LinkedIn. The whole company was a political nightmare. Corporate America sucks .

[ALR-bishop]

....was good to me. No complaints from here.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

....was good to me. No complaints from here.

It was only after 2 buyouts over 18 yrs that is sucked for me. I am sure many corporations are awesome. They just aren't a place I want to be again if I can help it. But if I have to I will go back. And to get back to topic, I am excited for the CT guys to be on their way to having a great service again.

[1952boyntoncollector]

I just used the website and it was great....I ordered some 1954 topps cards 7 months ago and they never arrived I just realized....ebay didn't have the pictures to find the cert numbers..but easily looked up the sale on cardtarget which had the pictures of the cards....site worked great.

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by 1952boyntoncollector

I just used the website and it was great....I ordered some 1954 topps cards 7 months ago and they never arrived I just realized....ebay didn't have the pictures to find the cert numbers..but easily looked up the sale on cardtarget which had the pictures of the cards....site worked great.

A purchase I made two weeks ago was already in the data base.

[HRBAKER]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I made the mistake of signing up for LinkedIn at some point, but no Facebook, Twitter, or anything else. I have no wish to be part of the generation of people staring into their little devices all the time. The next kid walking down the street or sitting in a restaurant I see NOT staring into one, I will adopt.

Sad but True.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I made the mistake of signing up for LinkedIn at some point, but no Facebook, Twitter, or anything else. I have no wish to be part of the generation of people staring into their little devices all the time. The next kid walking down the street or sitting in a restaurant I see NOT staring into one, I will adopt.

No doubt it's a new generation, and I am not in tune with a lot of it, but there is a retro movement going too. My 19 yr old daughter got a turntable (for 33s, 45s) for Xmas. She also just got a last generation VW beetle (2010) as that is the last year of the rounded look. It was her choice of any moderate car, new or used. Crazy stuff....