Like the beginning of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), I almost feel like I have been part of the beginning of online cards, of a tremendously new experiment that will eventually explode. What happens when it does finally catch on throughout America? Does it replace cardboard as we know it now? I doubt that but I can guarantee it will be able to duplicate the excitement of pulls with other exciting events (short prints, special IPO offerings etc.). Then it will be become a part of our culture for collectors, just as buying packs in stores has become today. Soon the online IPO's will be the norm and every kid will be logging in with his dad on Monday mornings before work and school to check what new IPO's are out and put their orders in.

Growing up who cannot say they were some sort of baseball fan? It starts when you're knee-high, swinging some wiffle ball bat around the house. Then it progresses to the first real sport you can play with minimal contact that allows your parents to say, "There's my Johnny (or Susie)." Most all of us have been there in some form or fashion growing up. Then we each took one of several routes. But somewhere there was that baseball spirit within us that we kept burning with collecting of cards. Back then it was the cardboard and the sweet gum! However, who was more disappointed as a kid buying cards, the old man who paid you the allowance or you, the kid, buying the pack to reveal double prints of players who should not even have a big league card? The old man hates to see you blow your money that you worked so hard to earn the past week. You hate it because you did not pull a Reggie Jackson, Dave Winfield, Rod Carew, George Brett or Gary Carter card (my favorites in the late 70's). My old man would pull me aside and try to explain how every pack is random and there is no telling what you will get. So I would save up more to buy a box next time. I would take it all down and buy the box and then run home and hide in my room as I went through the whole thing. I would pull out my "gems" and put the other cards to the side and start making team sets or something. In the long run the cost was not worth the gain. I did not know it then but I certainly realize it now. eTopps has revolutionized the way cards are being sold, distributed, and released to buyers and collectors. For better or worse is yet to be determined but so far it is a sunny spot on a bleak hobby.

Apple pie was synonymous with baseball and the way of life for so long. I, however, did not buy into the utopia. I had my share of apple pie and yes, it was American, but I still felt that there was something bigger there that made up the American image as I saw it. Maybe it was buying packs of baseball cards at the Post Exchange on an American Military base in Germany in the 4th grade (1979, in case you're wondering). That was about as American as you could get. My boys and I ran to the PX to pick up some wax packs, get the gum and check out our favorite players. However, with the years came the building of card piles and heaps of year-old stuff. I have grown past the fun in collecting I once had and left them to a pile of wooden boxes, cardboard boxes and plastic containers sitting in my closet. To even try and categorize those things would kill me and take a year of my life that I would never get back. I do not have that now with eTopps and CardTarget. I have tools and the ability to see what is in my portfolio and how it is performing. My baseball card is a stock for all purposes. Whether you like it or not you are now the new collector/investor... which we probably need to come up with a sexy name for, like Collvestor or something wild like that. I like the whole idea of being considered an investor and collector in the same breath. It makes me feel like I have some control on what is going around. We actually do have a lot more power than we think but our problem is we are too divided. Maybe one day a group will form up like the phoenix and be able to represent us. Until then I am fine with voicing my opinions here or on the boards.

eTopps makes it so easy for us to collect who we want and when we want. I hate to say it but I don't like a lot of the players out there and would rather not get their cards. We are given the choice here to either get those cards or not. eTopps leaves it up to us and gives us the power to select our "team" as they call it.

Now we are certainly in the infant stages of eTopps. We have not become part of the "American Dream" yet. However, the NYSE was not established overnight. We went through the terrible depression after the "Roaring Twenties." It will take a period for everything to work itself out for eTopps. This year was a big step with the ECON and management coming to address the fans. You think 100 people in attendance is a small number? I would offer this to you - wait until next year. It will continue to grow. It will grow and spread like wildfire and one day you'll be sitting there looking at your port saying "Should I sell it and buy a house?" That is my American Dream. I want to be able to say I had fun, collected with a passion, and never regretted anything. So take care, have fun, and remember to invest wisely. Do your homework and research. One day you will reap the benefits and enjoy the American Dream, as our twisted eTopps brains will let us view it.