Fellow list members:

Pity the poor slobs who have recently coughed up $300 to $500 for a 34-year-old
1971 baseball set on eBay. Strat-O-Matic has announced it will create a
super-advanced version of the season! Hallelujah! :-)

The appeal of the 1971 season has been well-documented in this group, so I won't
repeat the reasons why I've wanted SOM to create a set from this year. But I am
happy to see Strat do the right thing and give its customers what they want,
instead of kowtowing to the "collectors" who didn't want to lose the value of
their "investments." That type of thinking was what led to the so-called
past-season teams set of 1962-76 clubs originally being reproduced on cards 60
percent of their original size. The collectors were happy, but nobody bought the
card set. Strat-O-Matic's future depends on providing for the needs of its
paying customers, not those who buy 30-year-old season sets just to lock them up
in safe-deposit boxes. Hey, I myself have spent about $100 on original 1971
teams (including something like $50 just for the Tigers' extra players), and I
couldn't be happier now that I can get the whole set, and with super-advanced
features to boot.

Ah, but don't toss out those original cards yet. The new 1971 season isn't going
to be out for another year. :-)

Here's Strat's official release on the news:

http://www.strat-o-matic.com/sphere/1971.htm

Also noted on the release is that Strat is taking a poll on which pre-1954 team
it should create for a 2008 release. The only one mentioned that attracts any
interest from me is the 1919 season. I'd like the chance to pit the then-and-now
White Sox against each other. Anyway, you can vote on your own choices.

On another topic, my 2005 teams arrived already, so if you ordered early and
haven't gotten yours yet, you should soon.

-Gary K.

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