Thursday, November 3, 2016

Tribecards Announces Retirement: The End of Tribecards

NOTE: The following post was written over the course of several months before the Indians had clinched the ALCS and long before the World Series. The outcome of the World Series, whatever that happened to be, had no bearing on the timing and/or content. My intention was to release this on Bob Feller's birthday. And, thus...



Dear Tribecards Friends, Family, and Fans,

I come to you today with my final Tribecards blog post.

I have written and re-written this post many times, trying to explain - perhaps justify - my reasons for hanging it up. I've struggled with finding the words to say that could allow you, my readers and friends, to understand the thought processes behind this decision.  There really are no words to explain, so let me simply say farewell.

I have been writing here off and on since August 10, 2007. Though the site started out as a place for me to create and post checklists for Indians cards and show cards from my collection, my true passion came by way of giveaways.

I suck at trading, always have. So, instead of trying to work out even trades (or trades at all), I decided that I would help further the hobby by giving away cards that were either duplicate Indians or were simply cards I didn't collect (basically, anything NOT an Indians card). That grew into much more.

I've had all kinds of giveaways. I think my favorites were the 12 Days of Christmas series. It was so much fun to try and put together packages with readers' favorite players and teams. I've enjoyed the Pack-A-Daily seasonal breaks, too, but as you are keenly aware, those were not really so "daily" as time went on. In fact, I still owe the managers the cards from those. Everything *WILL* get sent out. Just because I am not going to be posting anymore doesn't mean I am backing out of my duties to get your cards in your hands!

But, I am hanging up the keyboard here at Tribecards.

I have met some wonderful people through my blogging - some famous, some infamous, and some very near and dear to my heart. I will miss you - miss reading your comments and your emails.

I think that will be the hardest part of walking away.

Baseball card collecting is a close-knit family and the fact that we can take advantage of the Internet to meet up (virtually or in-person) and extend that family has been an absolute blessing to the hobby and to those who fall under its spell. Looking back, it amazes me to think of the folks that we have seen come and go. Some of you have become Facebook and Twitter friends. Some of you have become more than Facebook and Twitter friends. I have watched your kids grow up through this online world. We have seen births, we have seen deaths. We've gone through engagements and marriages, and we've walked through divorces and new loves. Those are things I will miss most.

As for the hobby, this blog, and all the folks who have stopped along the way to read it, you all helped take my collection from about 2000 cards or so to more than 15000 non-duplicated singles since 2007. Holy smokes!! Thank you so very much! I never would have thought that I'd have some of the coolest cards I've seen let alone the sheer number of them. I never would have amassed my collection without each of you that dropped some cardboard in the mail for me. Again, Thank You!

If you're reading this, I hope you are one of the folks I was, or am (since I am still sending packages out at the time of this post) able to help further YOUR collection.

Take care of yourselves. I mean that. Look out for one another in the hobby. Things get weird in our little cardboard world and we need to stick together. The real world is already crazy enough.

Keep collecting! I'll be around, reading your blogs and leaving comments. So, I hope to see you again soon.

Always,
--David (Tribecards)

PS - The release of this news on Bob Feller's birthday is purely intentional.

Note: There is a chance that the domain name (Tribecards.net) will lapse in the future. Posts can be found at tribecards.blogspot.com