SCD

Sports Collectors Digest (SCD): An weekly Hobby periodical published from Iola, Wisconsin. Started in 1973 by the Stommen family, it was purchased by Krause Publications in 1981. Krause was acquired by F+W Media, its current publisher, in 2002.

SCD has long billed itself as "The Voice of the Hobby" and mixes hobby news with features, collecting stories, athlete profiles and opinion. It's accompanying website offers content similar to the magazine, with a handy Auction Prices Realized database that is the only one of its kind in the hobby and a tool that has become very popular among collectors looking for prices on memorabilia and vintage cards. The site also offers videos, blogs, features and a forum.

Classified ads remain a staple of the magazine, although it is rare when classifieds fill a full page. Many collectors have relied on the SCD classifieds over the years to build and maintain their collections. Before the Internet, it was a major source for buyers and sellers in the hobby to network.

Recently, political pundit and cable TV lightning rod Keith Olbermann penned an exclusive series of stories for SCD about Topps proofs cards. Olbermann is one of the country's leading authorities on tobacco era baseball cards and rare Topps proof cards.

The thickness of the magazine has varied throughout the years, and could arguably be seen as a reflection of The Hobby as a whole. For example, the July 13, 1990 issue contained 332 pages; however, the January 22, 2010 issue was only 36 pages long.

Although, SCD has been hit hard by the trend toward selling collectibles on the Internet, it does maintain a loyal, albeit shrinking, subscriber base. Issues have shrunk, and the publication rarely features fresh editorial product. In recent issues, editors have recycled decade-old, previously-published interviews. Correspondents who provided columns and features were dropped for budgetary reasons and most of the limited editorial content is produced in-house.