Has CollectorCrate Gone Out Of Business?

Has CollectorCrate gone out of business?  This is an excellent question, because nobody seems quite sure.  The CollectorCrate website hasn’t been updated for awhile.  Either has their social media accounts like Twitter and Facebook.  I’ve sent numerous e-mails to them, but have yet to hear anything back.  On their Facebook page there are a handful of complaints from collectors wanting to know what the hell is going on.  So far CollectorCrate has been silent.  This lack of communication from them is not a good sign.  The only bit of communication some people have received is an e-mail stating their package has been shipped.  But that doesn’t seem to mean much.  Its probably some automatic thing just leaving collectors waiting for something that won’t show up.  While going through some of the complaints, it looks like the trouble began in March.  By the looks of it, some collectors that purchased products from them were charged but never received anything.  A lot are trying to find a way to get their money back.  If CollectorCrate went up the tube, the customers are probably last on the list of people to get their money returned.  That is if anyone involved with this company gets any kind of financial restitution at all.

Going out of business is one theory.  Another could be that something physically happened to them.  Perhaps they aren’t able to get in contact with their customers.  The most recent date of usage on any of their social media accounts comes from 4/16.  On that date they retweeted the new Star Wars trailer.  People were asking about their orders before that though.  According to artist Brad Utterstrom, he sent the sketches to be used for April to CollectorCrate.  They were of Cal Ripken Jr., Anthony Davis, and Russell Wilson.  He sent them an e-mail to see if the sketches arrived, but hasn’t heard back.

Last fall CollectorCrate opened up shop.  For a fee, they would ship you a box of goodies on a monthly basis.  The box included packs of cards, boxes, and all kinds of neat little stuff.  It worked just like Loot Crate, but sports related.  They covered baseball, football, and basketball.  A few months ago they began to include exclusive sketch print cards.  Too bad this whole thing looks to have gone downhill.  I would’ve enjoyed seeing them make some exclusive figures and bobbleheads.  Its an interesting idea that I don’t think should be given up on.  A lot of cool stuff could have been brought to the hobby through this type of business.  Perhaps they weren’t seeing the response from collectors like they hoped.  Maybe collectors realized it was just better to buy a sealed hobby box for the price of a CollectorCrate.

As for right now, I wouldn’t be signing up given whatever has happened to them.  We need to hear something from CollectorCrate first.  DO NOT ORDER!!!

When Its All Gone

What do Mickey Mantle, Jim Thorpe, Wayne Gretzky and Wilt Chamberlain all have in common?  Give up?  None of them play anymore which got me thinking the other day.  What will Topps, Upper Deck, and Donruss/Playoff do when they run out of memorabilia of retired players?  For the last 11 years companies have been cranking out memorabilia cards of our beloved sports heroes and it hasn’t slowed down ever since.  Mickey Mantle only wore so many jerseys, Babe Ruth only used so many bats, and Jim Thorpe only signed so many documents.  It will be an interesting day in the hobby when Topps announces that they no longer will manufacture memorabilia cards of Mickey Mantle, not because nobody is buying them, but because there is nothing left for them to slice up.  I wonder how collectors will respond to a statement like that?  There is a good chance that the memorabilia cards that are in circulation could remain at the same price, but there is also a chance they could raise in price due to the supply being stopped.  What about today’s players?  Sports figures today have their jerseys, shoes, pants, and everything else inserted into cards while they are still playing.  Will there be any memorabilia for cards in the future once today’s players retire?  Perhaps the major card companies will have to start buying back some of their own cards just to create new ones once the supply starts to run out.  It’s just a matter of time before we get the answers to all of these questions.  Could this be an image of the future?