Tuff (but not all) Stuff Magazine

Tuff Stuff bills itself as "The #1 guide to sports cards and collectibles". The magazine has several features which I should probably describe, at least, in some detail.

The front of the magazine is filled with ads which would be annoying in most other magazines, but to the collector it becomes another tool in filling their needs. These ads are the bonus I find this guide even though my main reasoning for purchasing is the pricing guide. Additionally, one may find many articles on collecting and they always do a good job of keeping the reader updated on newly issued products.

The main body of the magazine gives it's readers a fairly comprehensive "price guide" for most sports cards and several types of other sports collectibles. I would like to list the categories of price listings as that may help determine if Tuff Stuff is the right guide for you.

SPORTS FIGURES - ITEMS SUCH AS STARTING LINEUP AND HEADLINE TO NAME A FEW

HALL OF FAME GUIDE - LISTING OF HALL OF FAME PLAYERS WITH PRICES OF SIGNATURES ON VARIOUS ITEMS

AUTOGRAPH GUIDE FOR ALL MAJOR SPORTS INCLUDING BOXING, GOLF, RACING AND TENNIS

PRICES OF SPORTS CARDS IN BASEBALL, BASKETBALL, FOOTBALL, HOCKEY AND RACING


Behind the price guide, Tuff Stuff offers a listing of major shows and conventions. This listing is listed in the back the publication and is broken down by state. Each listing is fairly helpful to both buyers and sellers, giving date, location, times, vender fee schedules and contact information. I stress the word "major" as many in your area may not be listed. The last section of the magazine offers a classified section and advertiser index. The classified section is not a section you will get too excited over, as it usually only consists a page or two.

The magazine has several advantages and also several weaknesses, but evidently I have subconsciously weighed these over the past several years and decided the good outweighs the bad. I am a collector of older cards, mostly in baseball, but have plenty of interest in the other major sports also. Tuff Stuff only gives limited space to the cards prior to 1980, usually only one to three pages, leaving the lion's share of the guide to more recent issues. I find this a major weakness of this publication while it may be of little concern to many others who have little or no older cards. As I stated above the classifieds are of little use and the show listings are not inclusive enough for myself, for this I use my local newspaper.

I find it helpful that at the beginning of each major sport listing in the price guide section the reader is updated on which players are hot and who is not. Also my copy of Tuff Stuff does fit nicely in a suitcase or briefcase when I am out of town. I like to have a handy guide with me, as I tend to stop at various shops in other areas of the country when I am traveling. There may be other guides such as Beckett which would be of more use to me but I find it too expensive to purchase that publication because I would be forced to buy one for each sport.

Tuff Stuff does it's job, serving only as a "guide" in general. I also rely on the internet and years of experience in most purchase decisions. I may not recommend Tuff Stuff to a collector of older issues of a single sport but I do recommend this publication if you are a collector of more current issues or collect cards of multiple sports.