HobbyRat.com could become the new destination site for collectors

HobbyRat.com, which launched in June 2000, was ranked as the fastest-growing Internet site of any kind in the world according to PC Data Online.

"We have debuted as the Internet's first totally comprehensive collectible resource and achieved the rank for July of the Internet's number one collectible site as well as number one hobby site in terms of unique users,'' said CEO, Ray Cassano.

"We had over 2.5 million first-time users visit our site in the month of July which placed us as the fifth most visited auction site in the world,'' said Brent McDaniel, the company's co-founder and President.

Founded by two lifelong entrepreneurs and avid collectors, HobbyRat.com offers an array of products and services for collectors in a fun, colorful presentation that competes with eHobbies.com and collectibles.com for a share of the hobby and collectors market.

The HobbyRat.com site currently offers auction, retail sales, advertising, games with prizes, a glossary for the hard-to-grasp collecting-related terminology, and information about collectible events. Both business and individual collectors can buy and sell items in an auction or retail format.

According to Cassano, the site will also feature a children's section, chat rooms, a business-to-business section, up-to-the-minute collectible news, a registry where the finest sets in the world will be displayed in a museum-like format, and financing options for purchases made through the company's retail section.

"This is a $100 billion industry that continues to grow,'' said McDaniel. "It touches people from all walks of life, from the collector who sold a copy of the Declaration of Independence for $2 million after finding it in a frame bought at a garage sale for $2, to the fact that the number one show on public television [in America] is the Antique Roadshow, to the 150 million people who are collecting the new state quarters. The collectors' market is hot,'' said Mr. McDaniel.