VCBC #33 arrived.

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Posted By: Julie Vognar

Adam Warshaw does a nice job of tearing Broadway Rick apart.

Long article on Allan and Ginter by Purdy. (Would be better in color...)

But nobody can beat Dennis Purdy on Hager! (that's why #7 is sold out!)...WAIT A MINUTE! That's #9. #7 was "Smoke Detectors..." (graded cards.) Somebody who knows more about printing magazines than I do please tell me: Why can't he REPRINT #7? It's not a baseball card. ("It's not a holy relic.")

Something new: our old classified ads are being retired; if you have more issues of ad coming, you can write a new one. In fact, if you subscribe, you can write a new one free. (I have never gotten the slightest response to my ads in VCBC. Why? I don't ask for outrageous stuff.)

I sure seem to be stuck on quoting movies. In the last two days, "Casablanca," "Planet of the Apes," "Amadeus."

Betz is using the Mayo Ward (retired) as an intro on the Table of Contents page. Unless it's a different one next month.

Hey, monthly! That's some progress!

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Posted By: Bob Lemke

I finally got my VCBC #33 Oct. 30. The Broadway Rick's Scam Zone article has a factual and potentially damaging statement to wit: "Its (BRSZ) ads are fixtures in Sports Collectors Digest." That is patently untrue. Broadway Rick's has not advertised in SCD in more than a year and a half. I won't hold my breath waiting for a retraction.

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Posted By: Jaime Leiderman

Received two magazines again...

Sent an email to Don Betz last month but the problem wasn't resolved.
I think other board users are having the same "problem"

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Posted By: David

I got two copies as well. Will send a copy to an eBay or other as winner as free advertising for the mag.

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Posted By: David

The words in the above post are all correct, just in the wrong order. Shake them up in in your hands and pour them out and they may come out better.

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Posted By: Rob

Can I ask you where do you order this magazine from? Robert

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Posted By: Julie Vognar

Call Don Betz, 1-800-417-7670. or write him at P.O. Box 1345, Hunt Valley, MD 21030. Or fax 410-252-7232.

12 issues, 49.00. A free, 20 word classified ad with your subscription--but, like I said, I never got a response (perhaps because for so long, the magazine appeared so irregularly).

WARSHAWAW: You'd better tell Betz to retract the Broadway Rick ad appearing recently in SCD. It would be the polite thing to do.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

I wish you'd emailed me before going to this board over an honest error; would have been a little politer (word??). Nonetheless, no offense was meant or taken. I knew BRSZ advertised in SCD; your note confirms that. What you are complaining about, is that BRSZ no longer advertises in SCD. As I understand your comment, therefore, the sentence "Its (BRSZ) ads are fixtures in Sports Collectors Digest" would be 100% accurate had it read "Its (BRSZ) ads WERE fixtures in Sports Collectors Digest". I will ask Don to issue a retraction and correction to accurately recite the fact that SCD used to run BRSZ ads but no longer does. In order to be 100% complete, perhaps you could tell me: Was there an editorial decision by SCD to stop accepting his ads or did BRSZ simply stop advertising in the magazine of his own accord?

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Posted By: Paul

I wish I had the problem of getting 2 copies of VCBC. Mine still hasn't arrived.

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Posted By: Bob Lemke

Obviously a retraction is in order. As written your article implies SCD continues to run ads from a person whose hobby reputation has been thoroughly trashed when in fact we were protecting our readers from him more than a year and a half ago. It is obvious from his snide comments that Betz wishes to continue the unprofessional SCD bashing that Dennis Purdy engaged in when he owned the magazine. I have no idea whether he chooses to advertise in our publications or has been prohibited from doing do. I do know that if I were still sitting in the publisher's chair, he would not be allowed to advertise until he quit the senseless sniping.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

I don't know what sniping you are talking about nor am I involved in any such activities. I recalled seeing big BRSZ ads in SCD and mentioned it in passing in an article that picked no bones with SCD or its staff. Since SCD seems to prefer a past tense statement, I have asked VCBC to issue a correction, as stated in my prior post. Regardless of whatever bad blood may have existed between the two publishers to which I am not privvy, Don told me he can run a correction or clarification in issue #35. Perhaps you should contact him directly to discuss the issue rather than carping on a bulletin board? He can be reached through the VCBC.com site.

I had also asked in response to your prior post whether or not SCD banned BRSZ or simply lost his business. Your latest statement implies that SCD consciously stopped accepting BRSZ ads in order to protect the public from BRSZ, rather than for financial reasons or due to BRSZ stopping its ads voluntarily. Is this a correct conclusion to draw? Did SCD ban BRSZ from advertising in its pages? If SCD actively banned BRSZ from advertising, why? I would also be curious as to why nothing appeared in SCD about what BRSZ had done wrong if in fact BRSZ was banned from SCD. Perhaps you could clarify this as well?

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Posted By: David Williams

following up on BRSZ, what about other advertisers who seem to have mysteriously fallen from the pages of SCD in the last year? like a certain autograph seller that always took a full page ad within the first 5-8 pages? I hope it didn't take tracergrade's money to step in to keep them from advertising. and as with the question about BRSZ, why not a follow up from SCD, indicating that some of these dealers were unscrupulous and should be avoided? And that the product was sold through SCD?

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Posted By: Jaime Leiderman

Ahhhhhh....... Just like the old times with Lipset "bashing" SCD & Krause in his newsletter.
Don´t remember well but he was banned for some time from the "good old" SCD.

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Posted By: David

For my newsletter, this is exactly when I went from a monthly to a twice-monthly. I needed the extra issue for the retractions and corrections. This accounts the newsletter's name changing from "The Vintage Collector" to "The Vintage Collector and Rebutal" to a simplified "Get Off My Back And Write Your Own Damn Newletter If You're Going to Be So Damn Picky." When it was recommended that I go to a weekly so I could have spelling corrections, I figured it was time I quit while I was behind.

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Posted By: Bob Lemke

Adam . . . Of course I realize you're not involved in the sniping from VCBC, that's all on Betz and Purdy. There are at least a couple of cheap shots against SCD/Krause in every issue. People who live in glass houses, etc. I don't know whether BRSZ was banned or chose to cease advertising; that's between him and the publisher. I do know that on the advice of our attorneys we do not mention in our pages when an advertiser is banned. Back in the day, I had no such compunction, but it is a different world today.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

Not to bash my fellow blood suckers, but I think your attorneys need to grow some 'nards. If a story is true and substantiated (as was the BRSZ story), there is no viable legal challenge to it. I for one want to know when a leech (Leach? or is that Tommy only?) is feasting on my fellow hobbyists. I was pleased to see SCD hitting some of the newsworthy and controversial issues in its last few issues--seems to be a good direction to take things, from an editorial perspective.

regards, all

Adam

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Posted By: Tom Lawrie

Bob,

You do realize that the story in VCBC was written by Adam Warshaw (an attorney) and not by Don Betz, right? While obviously Don is responsible for what appears in VCBC's pages, his own voice would probably come through in an editorial as opposed to a story under another author's by-line. I live in Baltimore and talked to Don about the story a few times; I believe he printed Adam's story verbatim, and so the comment about SCD was not a slight by Don towards SCD. I think if you look at the more "unflattering" stories since Don purchased the magazine, most have been submitted by other writers and are generally well-researched.

Under Dennis Purdy, VCBC's attacks were usually written by Purdy in a pretty sarcastic tone, with facts and opinions intermixed. I don't think you can really equate the two editors.

Take care,
Tom

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Posted By: runscott

I have read every issue and you can see the evolution of the magazine.

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Posted By: Bob Lemke

I realize the BRSZ story was Adam's. What I'm referring to can be found on the bottom of Page 46 and on Page 33. This is typical of the cheap shots taken in each issue.

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Posted By: runscott

But I took the shot on page 46 as a compliment to SCD, assuming that the estimate of how long it takes to do #4 was off by as much as was #3. (I wish)

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Posted By: Paul

Do any of you have Don Betz's email address? I'd like to find out where my VCBC is. I see from this thread that Julie got hers October 11th, and I think we live in the same state. This is nuts. Thanks.

Paul

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Posted By: Robert

I was going to order this magazine but with all you people having problems getting your issues I think I will have to past on this. No sense paying for a subscription and not receiving the magazine. Rob

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Posted By: jeff s

Paul, I think your copy was sent to Scott. Oh, maybe it went to Jaime. Or, I guess it could've gone to David.

So many options...

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Posted By: Julie Vognar

is betz' email address. His phone number and address are further up0 thge thread, also from me.

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Posted By: Julie Vognar

I get my VCBC priority mail--first he said he was going to send me one, because he liked the way I made a living (reading to an old lady who can't move), and then I sent him enough money for my remailing 8 issues--$28.00. And added $3.50 when the rates went up. I must say, I've never had such wonderful luck with priority mail before! It used to take me a month and a half to get my VCBC.

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Posted By: Andy Baran

VCBC e-mail address

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Posted By: Paul

Thanks Julie and Andy.