Anonymous Collector looking to "come out"

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Posted By: Derek G.

Hi everyone,

I have recently discovered this forum and this is my first post ever (on any forum for that matter). I have accumulated quite a few pre-war cards over the past 6 or 7 years (all online), have done quite a bit of research (again, all online), and absolutely love what I see here (online). The knowledge that some members have on this board is astounding. That said, I do have a few cards that I would love to share with everyone when there's a "show and tell" or to contribute some interesting facts about some cards that others might not know.

I'm about to ask a question that may seem quasi-moronic to some. Please don't hate me. I see that most everyone here has some fantastic scans of their cards and I was wondering what people do to scan their cards. Do you use a digital camera or a scanner or what? How about ungraded cards? Is there any fear that the scan might somehow damage the card (if you are using a scanner). I've never sold any of my collection, so I have never had a need to scan or take a picture of my cards, but I feel that the time is right to "come out". I don't want to be one of those collectors who hoards his collection and never lets others enjoy it (although I have for the past several years)! Any insight would be great!

Thanks, ~Derek

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Posted By: Steve Murray

Keeping scans (preferable) or digital camera photos of your collection is strongly recommended. You can pick up a cheap scanner for less than $200. I am not aware that scanning will cause any damage to a card.

Once you have scanned a card and saved in in your pictures it is recommended that you avail yourself of an service outside of your hard drive to store the cards. I use Photobucket. Then if you want to post a picture it is easy to paste a link to your post from Photobucket. It's free unless you want the "Pro" option that's about $30 a year.

Here is my Photobucket site. Take a browse through the various Sub-Albums and enjoy.

http://s52.photobucket.com/albums/g5/jacklitsch1/

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Posted By: Paul S

Derek, welcome to the forum. Since you've been reading here for awhile it's not secret to you that we wish more collectors would "come out" and contribute with questions, information and scans.

The general consensus is that scanning is better than digital camera pictures -- overall they are clearer, sharper and bereft of lighting problems. I wouldn't worry about scanning a card a few times hurting a card, even the flash of light. If the card is not holdered then you can always put it in a plastic sleeve or hard toploader, which is what I have most of mine in already. Make sure you scanner screen is clean, etc. One technique many people use for a nice looking scan is to turn the room lights out and leave the scanner top open. Myself, I leave the top closed, with a thin sheet of black foam between the back of the card and the scanner lid.

Post way, man!

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Posted By: Mark T

Only thing is, where is the for sale page? Just kidding.

Steve is correct, get a scanner. You will only scan the card once so there is no worries about it hurting the card. I can see if you scanned it 100 times but you won't need to do that. I find a digital camera to show glare on the card and its hard to avoid it. With a scanner you get a perfect picture of the card.

Photobucket is great, it is free and can hold many scans.I also use Picasa software to straighten out a card and to crop.

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Posted By: Derek G.

Thanks for your responses guys! For all of my online collecting, you'd think I'd be ahead of the game with scanning, etc.! I'm looking forward to sharing my collection with all of y'all! Also, do most of you actually go to card shows and the like? I feel like I'm a little out of the loop on some of the topics that are posted...maybe it just takes time, but it is a bit intimidating when some people know so much...I'm primarily interested in pre-war HOFers...I have some interesting one's that I'm sure some of you would love to see...or at least that I'd love to show!! =)

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Posted By: anthony

i use a digital camera because i dont have a scanner, never found the use for one but that may be changing soon...i also use photobucket which is easy to use and when posting a picture here on this site, it makes things even easier

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Posted By: Jimmy

I have found that a digital camera works best with graded cards and scanning works good with ungraded cards - you can also save time and battaries if you have a lot of ungraded cards by scanning.

Welcome to the board

Jimmy

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Posted By: JimB

Derek,
Welcome to the board. I look forward to your contributions. As for your questions, in general, scanners provide much clearer images than digital photos for cards because it is tough to get just the right angle with a photo and there is often a glare. I keep scans of my cards on the harddrive of my computer. Then they are easily accessible if I ever want to post an image. I mention this as opposed to something like photobucket just because if you are like me (somewhat of a computer neanderthal), then the simpler the process can be, the better. I imagine photobucket is probably pretty simple, but it is one more step to a computer idiot like me.
Good luck,
JimB

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Posted By: JK

Derek,

Welcome to the Board. Contrary to a few of the posts above, I think a scan will almost always come out better than a photo whether the card is slabbed or not - as long as you have a good scanner. Specifically, there have been other theads that have noted that the ultra thin scanners (such as the cannons) do not do a good job scanning slabbed cards (they tend to focus on the slab rather than the card resulting in the card itself being slightly out of focus). The thicker scanners, such as the Epson Perfections and the HPs should scan perfectly for you. Ive posted a scan below - done with an epson - I doubt you will find many photos better.

One other comment. You stated "I've never sold any of my collection, so I have never had a need to scan or take a picture of my cards."

Even if you never post a scan/picture, I highly recommend that you keep scans or photos for your records in the event the cards were ever stolen or lost in a fire, etc. If you have your cards insured, which I also recommend, you will need the scans if something were to happen. I scan my cards and keep the scans both on my computer at home and on a separate cd which I store at my office.

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Posted By: barry arnold

Welcome Derek!!
Your eagerness with equanimity is most refreshing.
With respect to scanning, I'll have to defer to JimB who is a computer nerd compared to me.

again, Welcome aboard.

best,
barry

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Posted By: T206Collector

...using a $50 Canon scanner I got at CompUSA a few years ago. We recently bought an HP printer/scanner combo, but it sucks for scanning cards, so I plug my Canon back in whenever it's time to scan some cards.

It doesn't hurt the cards and then, since I have great scans, I don't need to take them out of the box to look at them as frequently -- so that actually keeps them in better shape anyway.

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Posted By: Jason L

I would agree 1000% with JK in his post above. Although I use an Epson as well (admittedly older), I have no idea how he gets such amazing quality image quality. No matter how many times I try to scan in my SGC40 T206 Yellow Chance, I cannot get it to come out as a gorgeous Caramel Cobb!

I look forward to your future posts, both knowledge and scans!

Please do not feel too intimidated to post. While you may be new, it is possible to be a topical expert on something that no one else is...even the most gizzled vets learn something from time to time, I am sure. For instance, I am the most knowledgeable person on the Board regarding my family members who played in the 1940s! And, from what I can tell, I have some of the rarest Australian baseball cards in existence! That's my story until someone posts to the contrary...in which case, I will be delighted to expand my knowledge base!!! That's how it works.

Baseball and the world of collecting: a great way to spend your life. Bring as big a wallet as you can find, an open mind and a desire to learn, and a handful of top-loaders and you're all set!

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Posted By: JK

Paul,

Just curious, what type of cannon do you have? Is it one of the thin ones (I dont recall what the line is called, but they are probably less than an inch thick) or do you have a normal sized scanner (about 3-6 inches in height)? Ive never seen a thin one that focuses properly.

By the way, when I commented on having a "good scanner" above, I did not mean to imply it had to be expensive. Mine was around $100 new when I bought it a few years ago.

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Posted By: Derek G.

You've all been a great help! I don't believe I have ever owned (nor will ever own) an Australian baseball or cricket card, so, JasonL, I will let you keep that distinction as the "authority on rare Australian b'ball cards"...I have been working on a collection of the "earliest" cards of each HOF. I obviously don't expect to ever own the 1893 Just So Cy Young card (or the 1889 Cabinet that preceeds it) or any of the 1904 Allegheny Card Co. issues, but just coming close to completing this "set" would be a worthwhile mission. I do have a few E103's, some OJ's, some Zeenuts, etc., but I still have a long way to go!

Given that this forum is for pre-war cards, I am probably now the undisputed expert on this forum for Rickey Henderson baseball cards and collectibles. I doubt this will ever come in handy, but you never know.

I look forward to sharing my collection (and "expertise") once I have a scanner and some free time!

Cheers, ~Derek

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Posted By: Jason L

your Rickey knowledge will come in handy...I collect him (very modestly) I'll shoot you an email...

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Posted By: Phil Garry

Derek:

I also focus my collecting on the earliest graded collectibles of each BB HOF'er (pre-war & post-war. If you want to keep in touch via e-mail, maybe we can share some info.

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Posted By: Ricky Y

I use a cheapo scanner as well...as others have said sometimes its difficult to cature cards on a digital camera due to glares.

Looking forward to seeing some of your collection too. I collect cards now by type with a focus primarily on pre war now and tougher regionals from the 50's.

Ricky Y

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Posted By: leon

Scanners almost always give much better pictures of cards for the internet. Unwildy items are best left to the cameras. If you get a scanner make sure it's a USB high speed version 2 type. They are much faster than the others and only a little bit more costly. Personally I got another Microtek flatbed, about a year ago, and I love it. Welcome to the board too....