Sample mockup page for the All New Beckett Graded Card Registry

[GehrigFan]

I realize most people on this forum already have their favorite Grading Company, and the point of this post is not to change your mind nor start a forum war on Grading. I simply asked Leon for permission to post a sample image of the All New Beckett Graded Card Registry (BVG and BGS).

I didn't want to post until I felt comfortable with the progress being made, but at this point, I can say that, barring a major unforeseen problem, the new Registry will go live in this first quarter of 2013.

The entire project was created from scratch, based on collector's opinions about our old Registry, other collectibles' Registries, and what people have said they wanted to see in a new BGS/BVG Registry.

I'm sorry, with all the testing of the Registry site, I will not be able to come on here to answer every question. We are working 7 days a week trying to get it live as soon as possible and appreciate the incredible patience you have had with us. I can safely say that it will have an entirely new look and feel.

Following is a mockup (fake Registries and names, not actual data) of one of the pages to give you all a glimpse of what is coming very soon.

Sincerely,

Mark Anderson,
Director of Grading
Beckett Media LLC

[oldjudge]

Just what the hobby needs, another registry circle jerk

[Leon]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Just what the hobby needs, another registry circle jerk

They are just trying to make their product better Jay. No harm in trying to help the hobby. It's not hurting anyone. I am not personally a registry person but a ton of collectors are. More power to them. Good luck to Beckett in their newest endeavor too.

[sdkammeyer]

I am not really a BVG fan but kudos to them for offering Net54 a sneak peek and at least offering the collector's a say in the layout and what-not.

[cubsfan-budman]

i really like the color scheme!

[HRBAKER]

Originally Posted by cubsfan-budman

i really like the color scheme!

"It's got a good beat and it's easy to dance to. I'll give it a 92 Dick."

Good luck with your Registry.

[Matthew H]

I like Beckett. I think they're probably the most honest grading company.

[egbeachley]

It would be cool if they accepted grades from all 3 of the major grading companies.

[GehrigFan]

Trust me, that was on my wish list, but couldn't make it happen.

Originally Posted by egbeachley

It would be cool if they accepted grades from all 3 of the major grading companies.

[prewarsports]

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Just what the hobby needs, another registry circle jerk

Awesome!

I often refer to this hobby as a "whose got a bigger unit" contest, but I actually chuckled a little out loud at this one Jay!

[glchen]

I like the look. I think I would've preferred scroll bars to the See More button, but not sure if that's possible. Also wondering if all the different types of registries besides Players Sets are in the Total # of Set Registries link. For example, I know that Hall of Fame registries are very popular. Since Beckett is associated with JSA, it'd also be nice if there a HOF autograph registry or the like were possible. I'd definitely be interested to see the individual registries when it is available. I like the ability in the PSA registry to have multiple pictures so that you can include both front and back scans of a card.

Like another board member has said, it'd be nice if you could include multiple grading companies and even raw cards in a custom registry that accepts pictures, so that you could basically move your entire collection to one place.

[GehrigFan]

Are you referring to people using a Registry purely to brag about their collection being the problem? If that is the case, then there are other reasons to use a Registry. We had thousands of people use the previous Registry (which we are in the process of transferring over to the new one) and mark their collections PRIVATE, purely for the purpose of having a way to organize their collections, and no one else knows those registries even exist.

We also will have Custom Registries where you can create ANY "collection" that meets your needs, then make it public or private, and if public, even make it competeable so others can join in your chase to finish it. For instance, as a Ruth and Gehrig Collector, I could chase Basic (mainstream issues) or Master (includes oddball card items, etc. - basically everything but non-gradeable items like statues) sets for each. However, I don't care a bit about Ruth/Gehrig cards after 1950, and I don't care to compete with anyone, but rather just build my own collection. So I would create 2 Private Custom Registries and add all pre-1950 Gehrigs to one and Ruths to the other. It's just a way of tracking what I have, what I need, even helps with insurance as a third party record of your collection and the unique serial numbers and image uploads add to the proof of ownership.

Point is, I think Registries do a lot more than you think they do and I'd invite you to come see it when it's done. As far as just bragging through Registries, I guess I don't see the difference between people doing so through a Registry and those doing so on a message board?

Originally Posted by oldjudge

Just what the hobby needs, another registry circle jerk

[GehrigFan]

Interesting... we went back and forth on that. Nothing is settled for sure yet.

There are 4 Types of Registries - Sets, Players (Basic), Players (Master), and Custom. With Custom, you can create ANY Registry you wish to create and make it either public or private. There is no limit to the type of Custom Registries you can do. You can make a Custom Registry of the "Best Big Hair Cards of the 1970's" if you want.

Yes, you can upload both front and back images.

Originally Posted by glchen

I like the look. I think I would've preferred scroll bars to the See More button, but not sure if that's possible. Also wondering if all the different types of registries besides Players Sets are in the Total # of Set Registries link. For example, I know that Hall of Fame registries are very popular. Since Beckett is associated with JSA, it'd also be nice if there a HOF autograph registry or the like were possible. I'd definitely be interested to see the individual registries when it is available. I like the ability in the PSA registry to have multiple pictures so that you can include both front and back scans of a card.

Like another board member has said, it'd be nice if you could include multiple grading companies and even raw cards in a custom registry that accepts pictures, so that you could basically move your entire collection to one place.

[sdkammeyer]

Originally Posted by GehrigFan

You can make a Custom Registry of the "Best Big Hair Cards of the 1970's" if you want.

you might as well just put that one in right now
i'm sure the NET54 folks can come up with an amazing checklist!!

[E93]

Looks clean, organized, and well thought out. Good luck.
JimB

[buymycards]

Hi Mark, I appreciate all of the hard work and expense that you and your staff are putting into this project.

I see that you have separate serial number look ups for BGS and BVG products. What about when searching for a pop report for a particular set? Will both BGS and BVG show up in a search or will we need to perform separate searches for each product?

In the past I have had a couple of BVG cards that I could not locate on your site. The cards would not show up under player searches, set searches, year searches, or serial number searches. I wish I still had these cards so I could check them out on your new site.

Will you have a procedure in place for collectors to report errors and omissions in case some of the set info is not correct? My main concern is that the information is accurate.

Thank you very much for going forward on this project.

Rick

[MikeGarcia]

.. Beckett is pure heaven to us centering weenies ; subgrades make my knees weak....

[calvindog]

I like it. I think I'd remove the "My Contests" listings on the front page and just use links to those, perhaps up top. I think the front of any registry page should just be a little less busy. But otherwise I like this.

[Jantz]

Something positive to help collectors, I'm all for it!

Nice addition to Beckett's website.

Thanks Mark & thanks to your crew.


Jantz

[Rich Klein]

So:

This is good looking page --- and has lots of bells and whistles. Nothing wrong with that as long as the purpose stays unchanged.

Rich

[GehrigFan]

I should clarify - this is the MY Registry Homepage - so all of your Registries and Contests, not the Main Registry Homepage. It was purely meant to show the color scheme, general idea, contests, etc. But it's funny you mentioned it, because I decided Thursday I want to re-do the whole Main Registry Homepage for exactly the reason you stated - it is too much info right now. Thanks for pointing it out as it gives me more ammo to whip up the developers a little to rework that page :-)

Originally Posted by calvindog

I like it. I think I'd remove the "My Contests" listings on the front page and just use links to those, perhaps up top. I think the front of any registry page should just be a little less busy. But otherwise I like this.

[GehrigFan]

Thank you, Rick! Those serial number lookups are only for when we originally had just BGS, then around 2000 I think(?) we changed pre-1981 cards to BVG. The cards not pulling up either way means there is a database error we need to correct on them (like the job was not properly marked as shipped).

When adding to the Registry itself, you'll just type in the serial number and it *should* intuitively know what Registries it is eligible for.

Yes, we would treat any errors on a card by card basis. Bear in mind, there are cards and such that I approve to grade because I know they are real and people collect them, but Beckett doesn't catalog.Very rare, but it happens. Things like my 1942 Spanish Editorial Brugera Babe Ruth. It has to be entered into the Beckett PRice Guide first before being searchable.

Originally Posted by buymycards

Hi Mark, I appreciate all of the hard work and expense that you and your staff are putting into this project.

I see that you have separate serial number look ups for BGS and BVG products. What about when searching for a pop report for a particular set? Will both BGS and BVG show up in a search or will we need to perform separate searches for each product?

In the past I have had a couple of BVG cards that I could not locate on your site. The cards would not show up under player searches, set searches, year searches, or serial number searches. I wish I still had these cards so I could check them out on your new site.

Will you have a procedure in place for collectors to report errors and omissions in case some of the set info is not correct? My main concern is that the information is accurate.

Thank you very much for going forward on this project.

Rick

[GehrigFan]

Just updating for anyone interested that the Beckett Graded Registry is now Live:

www.beckett.com/registry

Thank you!
Mark

[AMBST95]

I went on the registry yesterday to add my one Beckett graded card. I actually found it pretty easy to use and like some of the visuals and stats it provided as far as how close to completion on the set, etc. It is definitely more pleasing to the eye than the SGC and PSA registries.

As far as the benefits of the registries. I like having another place I can go to where my cert numbers and images are stored. I know I back everything up on to a Google doc and images to photobucket, but I'm pretty anal about how my cards are organized and prefer the carbon copy with the TPG.