Does BGS now stand for "Be Gone Soon"?

Yesterday it was announced that "Tuff Stuff" magazine would be discontinued. While i was never a huge fan of the publication back in the day, it is a bit sad to see something from my youth fold.

That got me to thinking about magazines and sports cards as a whole.

There really is no longer much of a "need" for paper magazines relating to sports card pricing. the print media is simply too slow to represent sports cards. eBay has made sports cards a NOW NOW NOW! type of commodity.

Take Football for example. Playoffs, one HUGE game from someone, and BAM! the sheep hit eBay and GOTTA HAVE IT NOW! and boom, up goes the price. a print magazine simply cannot compete.

Beckett Magazine. This publication has been the gold standard for sports cards for the better part of the last 25 years. dispute that all you like, but you know its true. That being said, i can see a time in the not too distant future that they start shutting down the operation, piece by piece, meaning sport by sport. With the "Plus" that covers all sports in one, being the last one standing, until that one runs out of gas as well.

BGS. Beckett Grading Service. Although not "First" on the scene, they are currently "King" of the modern graded card world.

i could see them having difficulties in the future. they are simply handing out way too many BGS 10's nowadays. i understand that the people submitting are better trained for what to look for when sending in their cards, but enough is enough already.

in 2006, just 5 years ago, a BGS 9.5 actually meant something. Now in 2010, a 9.5 is EXPECTED and anything less is FROWNED upon. in 2006 a BGS 10 was a DREAM, now its not commonplace, but sure isnt all that rare anymore.

This could lead to their downfall down the line.

For as much as people like to piss on PSA, keep in mind that they have a strong following of people that not only submit stuff to them, but PAY them just for the right to do so.

One would think that that would turn people off, but that doesnt seem to be the case, as PSA has such a heavy workload, that they have a hard time meeting their turnaround times that they tell you it will take to get your cards back.

Just some stuff to think about i suppose.