If 2007 was a great year, then this past year goes well beyond it from a personal level, how SCN has grown, and how my collection has improved.

SportsCollectors.Net in 2008

I think the numbers tell a pretty good story. I'm looking at the site's stats below, and I am completely blown away by all the great contributions we (as a group of thousands of dedicated collectors) have collectively made:

	Dec 31, 2008	Dec 31, 2007	Growth
Successes	483,735	378,537	105,198
Requests	670,300	527,214	143,086
Autographed Trade Items	29,167	17,841	11,326
Message Board Posts	201,851	132,334	69,517
Photos	21,581	N/A	21,581
Members	22,285	19,062	3,223
Premium Members	4,161	3,503	658

Every one of these statistics shows impressive growth across variuos areas of the site, but the one I most proud of that we added over 100,000 successes in year (27% growth). This was significantly beyond any of our previous years and way beyond my expectations.

This year we added some great new functionality like Collector Groups and Photos & Collections. I have plans for more great stuff on the way.

According to searches I did today on Alexa, Compete, and Quancast, SportsCollectors.Net is the most visited and active community for TTM autograph collectors. This is especially impressive since 95% of SCN requires a user to login, and these pages usually aren't counted by 3rd party services the same way as public message board sites (so our stats are significantly higher than what they list). Thanks to everyone for making this site such a valuable resource for collectors. This site has allowed me to share a hobby I find so enjoyable and allowed me to make so many new friends (too many to list here).

My Personal Life in 2008

The big news came in August, that my wife and I had a beautiful little girl. I can't fully explain it, but nothing in my life has been even close to the joy she has brought us. Every day is a fantastic new adventure, and I'm just happy to be along for the ride.

My Collection in 2008

Before August, I was writing players at a pretty good pace for me, had went to a few card shows, and bought a bunch of stuff on eBay using AuctionCapture. After the little one arrived, time has been limited and I have slowed down to an almost complete stoppage. Here are my success rates for writing players in 2008:

In April, I finished my autographed 1991 Proline football set. I had been working on it for over 15 years and this is the only fully autographed set I have ever completed. I've scanned them in my Photo Album.

pictured are John Elway, Jerry Rice, John Riggins, Bruce Smith, Walter Payton, Eric Dickerson

At a card show in May, I got Juan Marichal to finish my 1967 Topps NL Wins leaders below:

I have made considerable progress on my autographed 1978 Topps Basketball set. I now need only 41 out of 132 cards in the set. I picked up some tough cards, including finding an autographed card of deceased star John Willimason in a dime box at a card show.

Even though my collection isn't very focused (as I collect way too many different things), I was able to add some really nice multi-signed cards and vintage signed cards.

Closing out 2008

I just wanted to thank everyone again for all your support.  I want  you all to have a happy, prosperous, and safe New Year.

PRINT  |  PERMALINK        

Recent Topics

Month List