Happy Pi(e) Day

 
Obviously...

(Pea-yay)

Up and coming, maybe...

And then there's this, of course...

Don't think there's anyone who's number was 3.141592654 though.

Extending Immortality

Here's a "completist" project I did a few weeks ago.  And by "completist", I mean I'm way too obsessed with variations of cheap 80's cards.

The Baseball Immortals set, otherwise known as 1980-87 SSPC HOF, is a total count of 199 players.  Card #1 thru 173 were printed starting in 1980.  An update in 1984 added 174 - 189.  Then 190 thru 196 were added in 1986 and the whole thing reprinted again. And finally, in 1987, the final three cards were added.  As a result, the set actually has four different variant backs.  Not all of them encompass all 199 cards.  Around the card number, there can be "1st Printing", and an MLB logo.  

They go something like this:

1st Printing & MLB logo - cards 1 thru 189.

1st Printing & no MLB logo - cards 1 thru 189 again.

No 1st Printing / MLB logo - cards 190 thru 199.

No 1st Printing / No MLB logo - cards 1 - 173 and 190 - 199.

So I already had a set of these in a binder, and then got most of another one to fill out the 1st Printing or not category.  I didn't figure out about the MLB logo part until afterward, and then pulled a bunch of those out of the original setup and relisted them to accomodate that.  Later I came into a good stack of the MLB logos and finally decided to reconfigure my binder.

Instead of three separate sets, I combined them all to show the backs together.  

Which means I started with two stacks of pages and a pile of loose cards, all in order.  

As you can see above, I put them in order by 1st+logo, then 1st only, then neither.  So the first paged ones could be put in the first column in the new sheet, then the 1st only's in the second column, and on and on, 3 by 3.  

To complicate matters further, there are five of what I'd call "real" variations in the colors used on the front of cards depicting the same player.  I mocked some of these up since they don't have images on the database and I don't own them all yet.

But since a lot of the last 23 cards only have two different backs, it works out OK.

That's where I'm going to leave it today.  Probably more than you ever wanted to know about this quirky Hall Of Famers set.  Anybody else now motivated to fill out the better part of them three times?  

Didn't think so.  It's just me.....

Tweaking The Look & Tallying 700

Welcome to my 700th post. 

I calculated a few years ago that my card related posts were about 100 less than the total posts, so this might be 600-ish in the cardboard sense, but it's easier to just watch the Blogger counter.

So I haven't changed much about the layout of the blog for a few years.  I added the buttons for COMC and SCF, linked to my latest card room post ("Meanwhile...), and changed around the graphics about rookie card propaganda and my profile.  But since I revamped the banner in 2018, and again in late 2019, not much has changed about the overall look.

Now I've gone from this:

To this:

The background (down the sides) is more muted, but cooler looking IMO.  It took some tweaking to get it to fill both sides.  I actually split the image of the cube and streched the middle out - it's actually black behind the post area.  Depending on your screen resolution, you might see beyond the cube (at like 1920 x 1080), but mine is set to 1600 x 900 in this capture.  Mobile users won't see much of the sides at all.

I'm also going to fiddle with the side items a little more.  Just have to finish editing this post to get back to the layout controls.  

Most of the links show up as the visited color - the muted red (which I adjusted to not be so washed out) - on my screen.  This offsets the list of other blogs and the Previous Transmissions nicely, but on the actual blog that you guys see, it's a LOT of red text. 

What do you think of the (new) look?

Here's the unmuted background.  I tried to put the card images in places that wouldn't be covered up by the titles so much this time.  And I used significant images from the last couple years, especially the masked Mantle, the Russian hockey cards, and the custom Hamlin.  The Rev'd Up in the top left corner is a rainbow collection, the Grant Jackson rookie was a long hunt that ended well, and the Paige Spiranac is a recent acquisition.  I realized last week that I haven't ever finished the Heritage Pairs series that I started in 2020.  Would you like to see it continue?

In honor of the milestone post number, I'm going to figure out some sort of giveaway, which I've mentioned before, I think.  I have so much stuff I'd like to move and I know certain people can use, but I want to limit - or at least give first dibs - to those of you that have been loyal readers and commenters.  The trick is matching you to the right stuff in an efficient manner.  Stay tuned....

I Am Now A Scanning Machine

OK, not quite like that...

I recently upgraded my ability to contribute images to the Trading Card Database as well as this blog and any other endeavors that use images of trading cards. 

Before, the normal method was a flatbed scanner, which in my case is the top half of my Canon inkjet printer.  Up to about nine cards would be loaded onto the scanner surface face down, covered with a piece of foam to darken the background, and then the lid is set on top. 

Then I use my Paint Shop Pro program from 1996.  Hit one button and it quickly sweeps the scanner bed and gives you a preview of what you've got set down.  Hopefully they stay aligned to the edges of the bed.  Then the scan area is designated, the picture mode selected, and the Scan button clicked.  A minute or two goes by while you wait for the scan to complete...bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Now you get the group image.  Each card you want to separate must be cut or copied and pasted into a new image file and cropped down, resized, and tweaked.

Quite often even when they don't move, the images are just so slightly rotated (shown by red area in picture) that it's only correctable by overcropping the image.  The Database is a bit picky that you don't leave any space around the edges.

So I've contributed a decent number of images to TCDB, but it's not an efficient operation.  Until now.

I have seen several videos about Fujitsu scanners and their use for trading cards. Now I don't sell singles on any sites that I need to scan, so I don't upload to services like shown in these clips, but it works for manually putting images on the Database too.

I got the Fujitsu fi7030 scanner.  They retail brand new for around $550.  I was hoping to find one for much less on a Black Friday deal.  No dice.  Then I realized that this model has been around a while, so there should be some on eBay!  From a quick Google search (initially from any store), I found one on there for just over $300.  But a lot of the cheap ones are missing the feeder tray and/or the AC power adapter - and that's a deal breaker.  I found one that was complete and tested by the store that was selling it - for just over $275 - but with a Best Offer option.  They accepted my $250 offer!  So I basically got one for half price! They're about the size of an average fax machine if you're old enough to relate to that.

You simply call the program up to scan and load some cards in the feeder.  Set off the process by clicking the button on the configuration that you set up initially. Pardon my quick & dirty phone videos...

The scanner starts feeding cards and is done in mere seconds. 

The images of both front and back are captured for each card as it passes through the machine.  Sometimes it flips them around, but that's correctable with a couple clicks.

Then you "release" that batch of scans into the folder you designated, and voilà!  Your images are there.  For the most part, they are cropped right down to the edges.  (I have my scan area set to exactly 2½ by 3½ inches, so there's little margin left.)

You can now go to the database or wherever you need the images and upload them into place.  The whole process takes less time than the first page of flatbed scanning typically would!  Plus, you can add batches to the ones you just scanned and get hundreds of images in just a few minutes!  Unfortunately, this model only really does regular base cards.  I tried a thicker jersey card and it wouldn't make it through the feeder.  I did confirm with a few junk cards that it doesn't leave marks on cards from the feeder rollers or anything.  I might be able to set it to mini size scanning in order to do those. They'd just have to be done separately.  The bulk of what I need to do is regular stuff anyway.

Watch out database!  Here I come!  I bet Database champions like Billy K have something like this...

Might Be A Good Idea...

As you probably know, I'm not one to pay much attention to the hype on modern cards and their exorbitant prices.  The stars today don't quite have the mystique or reverance to me that vintage guys do.  Which is not to say that there aren't a few players that will be in the record books and lore for a long time to come.  

Every once in a while I have to acknowledge that as it manifests itself in cards.

So a couple months ago, I went into my collection...

It's down here somewhere...

Of course it's on the bottom...

Writing on the corner of a box is rather difficult.  My handwriting is better than this.  But anyway...

OK, pull that one out...

Series 1 on the left,... Series 2 next,...hmm don't have wrappers for Update.  Oh well...

Ah, bonus SP Ruth!  OK, should be about right here...

Pull that chunk out...

Right about here...

There he is!

That's a little better, considering...

Figured I shouldn't leave him in there with the set for much longer.  I could put him in one of those big lucite holders with the four screws like I have all my other big money cards.  (I know, no one uses those any more.)  

Anybody else I might be neglecting in my sets for the last decade or so who is now over $50?

My All Time Favorite Sets To Collect

Stole this idea from Night Owl in what would be a great Bat Around.  He kept his list limited to Topps flagship sets, though in more than just baseball.  Being primarily a set collector, my list is a lot more diverse than that.  Not knocking his choices at all - I said I'd probably include 1971 as well and maybe a couple of the others - but I got to 12 or so and there weren't any yet.

I made my list and then had to figure out what order they fall.  My analytical mind took over and I came up with a scoring system that breaks down some positive and negative aspects that influence the collectability of a set.

Categories include the fundamentals - Cool base card design, distinctive player photos, original inserts, whether it contains retired players.

I gave points mostly on a 1 to 3 scale, where 1 is weak, 2 is decent and 3 is great or very true for that quality.  A couple other categories got either 1 or 0 for true or false.  Those included whether it's a retro design, or the design is used for other sports, or if there are variations or parallels that make the set harder to do.  I did use half points in some cases.  That made it so there weren't as many sets tied with the same score.

Here's the chart (without the set names) for all you stat nerds:

So with that out of the way, let's get into the countdown.  I'm starting at the bottom.

16. 2002-03 Pacific Private Stock Reserve Hockey

One of the most elegant designs ever, this set kills itself in the rankings because of the inclusion of game-used jerseys as part of the base set.  And there are the typical batch of shortprinted rookies at the end, which I generally disregard, but have been seeing here and there for cheap.  There are a couple sets of inserts, but they're also kinda rare and are secondary to the base cards as far as I'm concerned.  I'm down to a few of the jersey cards, but finishing this whole thing is still gonna take a long time.

Base 3  Inserts 1  SPs -2  Rare inserts -1    Total 1

15. 2009 UD Philadelphia football

Love the old Philly football designs from the 60's, and this modern version honors them well.  The base cards are pretty basic, but clean.  This set is all over the place with inserts - Obama, Vietnam War, etc. and the minis with government figures, cars, planes, and players.  I scored a bunch of those minis at the National a couple years ago, otherwise, I might not mess with them.  I'm skipping the other inserts.  But there are short print RCs, veterans, and action shots that complete the base set and come few and far between.

Base 1.5  Retro 1  Retired 1  Inserts 2  SPs -1.5  Rare Inserts -1    Total 3

 

14. 2008-09 O-Pee-Chee hockey

One of the few hockey sets that I'm completely done with, it just holds a special place for me.  The design is not super fancy, but just works, and the set is really how most sets oughta be, even though there was an Update series etc.  It really wasn't too hard to finish.  Biggest thing was the sheer volume of base cards.  The inserts were small.  There were rookies, but they weren't short printed.  Just a very collectable set.

Base 1.5  Retired 1  Inserts 1.5   Total 4

13. 2013 Panini Hometown Heroes baseball

The one "no-logos" set that still makes the list.  (Though I did take off one point for that in a special category).  The checklist is cool in that there aren't just the HOF'ers or current stars, but a lot of fan favorite type guys.  The inserts are especially great too, even with the lack of insignias.  The problem with them is the parallel inserts that basically tease you and deny you a real insert.  I've got a whole handful of those (to trade).  If Panini would have kept up with this product and maybe Golden Age and America's Pastime, they'd be more popular than with just the recycled Donruss stuff they keep putting out.

Base 2  Retro .5  Retired 1  Inserts 2.5  Parallels -1  No Logos -1   Total 4

12. 1999 E/X Century (football)

The multi-sport sets occur back-to-back here, but I'm only working on the football version of this one.  These beauties are the first in a line of acetate sets that appear until 2004 in some degree of transparency under either Skybox or Fleer.  (They're tough to search for since some sites list them as "EX", "E/X" or whatever).  I like these the best.  I guess they must be expensive to make, since there aren't too many acetate sets out there in general.  These are 90 card sets with a few 12-20 card inserts (of which I'm only doing one so far until I find more of the others in dollar and quarter boxes).  Very simple and very pretty.  At some point I may dive into the baseball versions. 

Base 3  Inserts 1  Multi-sport 1    Total 5

11. 2002 UD 40-Man baseball / XL football

Though I'm generally excited by more old-timey designs, this is one of the coolest modern ones I've seen.  And both sets are massive as a bonus, but only with base cards.  It's Upper Deck's version of a Total set.  Base cards numbered up to four digits (regular numbers, not serialized.)  Gotta love it.  I threw in a bonus point for the photos, but I'm not sure if they're really unique or if it's just the expanded checklist.  There isn't much in the way of inserts beyond GU hits and a parallel base set, but the baseball version has these elusive Mark McGwire Highlight cards that are proving to be formidable to find, which cancels out their points.

Base 3  Photos 1  Inserts .5  Multi-sport 1  Rare inserts -.5    Total 5

10. 2002 Topps 205

This is about as retro as you can get.  Topps 205 is based of course, on the T-205 tobacco issue.  It's the same set that I'm collecting the New York Giants team set from.  So it's sort of Topps Heritage does 1909.  There are minis in several series (with the differnt brands on the backs), some that copy the whole base set, and some that are just sections.  There are also base and mini variations, and a short series of minis that are an extended series with alternate images - drawings, not photos.  (I gave one positive point for the variations.  My rules...)  Plus there are the modern versions of the Triple Folders with a card on each side of a bigger action or portrait photo.  If I hadn't come across big stacks of the minis from a couple very generous blogger/traders, I wouldn't be as deep into them as I am.  They're fun, but only because I had such a head start.  

Base 2  Retro 1  Photos 2  Retired 2  Inserts 1.5  SPs -2  Rare inserts -2 
Variations 1    Total 5.5

9. 2007 Sweet Spot Classic

Not to be confused with regular Sweet Spot.  This is the set with the base set serial numbered out of 575 (which is a bitch).  It is most famous for the Stitches autographs on simulated baseball panels that have faded badly over the years.  I ignore those.  I really like the base cards and single jerseys that have photos of the stars that you don't often see.  I'm almost done with the jerseys, just lacking about a dozen or so of the big ticket ones.  I'm not convinced they are actual jerseys (or bats, or pants, etc.) worn by that particular player, but that doesn't bother me much.  I'm way behind on the base set - only have a few dozen of those.  Finding a big lot of them for cheap is almost impossible since they're serial numbered.  I continue to hope.

Base 3  Photos 3  Retired 3  Inserts 1  SPs -2  Rare Inserts -2    Total 6

8. 2004 UD Legends Timeless Teams

Another one that's all about the retired guys.  (Hope Fanaticals can somehow bring this back to new sets someday).  A cool design that showed up again in 2008 UD Timeline.  This set is pretty much UD's version of Super Teams, but more modern subjects.  Grouped by year, the key players for champion teams are shown with very unique photos.  And there are stadiums on the back.  Not much in inserts except autographs and a parallel set, but they're not really needed.

Base 2  Photos 3  Retired 2    Total 7

5. 2016  6. 2018   7. 2014 Allen & Ginter

OK, so I knew A&G was gonna show up on this list somehow.  I just had to analyze all my favorite ones and see who came out on top.  (And I decided to put them all in so I wouldn't have a total of 13 sets.)

All five A&G sets (these three and '19 & '20) all score relatively the same, except for a few details.  2018 is my least favorite base design but had better inserts than the other two, while 2014 had a short print insert for about every one (the ones that came with the binders), so those points kind of offset.  The more mini inserts I liked, the better the score.  Most that weren't the usual animal or geological feature tallied points.  So the totals of all three only differ by a ½, but distributed a bit different.  That's why they're all together here.  And A&G short prints aren't a big deal, so they only got half the penalty point.

Base 2/2/1  Retro 1  Photos 2  Retired 2  Inserts 2.5/2.5/1.5  SPs -.5   
Total 8/8/7.5

4.  2005 UD All-Star Classics

There is another set issued in the same year that's called UD Classics, which is similar, but not the same.  Both have inserts that are hard to find, but the UDC's are serial numbered.  The All-Star Classics base design is one of the most elegant from Upper Deck.  This is back when they made separate products to review current stars and legends instead of making them inserts to the flagship set.  (Well Topps does the latter, but I digress...)  The inserts are 20 card sets of MVPs and different facets of the Midsummer Classic.  

Base 2.5  Photos 2  Retired 3  Photos 3  Rare inserts -2    Total 8.5

3. 1997 Upper Deck Legends football

I always say I'm the anti-collector in that I don't care about rookies.  This list is proving that the opposite is true.  I really like sets of retired players.  This one is simple, but uses additional pictures in the best way.  They're not "echo pictures" of the same shot repeated, but different photos - two on the front and another on the back.  I don't even pay attention to the inserts (which is rare for me),  I don't even think I've seen them in real life before.  The base set is just excellence.

Base 3  Photos 3  Retired 3    Total 9

1. 2020 & 2. 2019 Allen & Ginter

Yep, they win.  It's been a landmark decision to stop collecting Topps flagship sets and switch over to Allen & Ginter.  I know a lot of you don't like the newer versions of the product, but I've enjoyed them a lot.  I'm not so fussy about not knowing who some of these non-sport people are.  It's really all about the creativity in the inserts.  Yes, they repeat Natural Wonders, sharks, planets, food, etc. but the others just keep getting better.  9 Ways to 1st Base, Superstitions, Star Signs, - these are the ideas missing from flagship.  Where Monsters Live (glow in the dark!!), Canines, and the colorful assaults of History of Flight and Reach For The Sky are what I love about Ginter.  Never mind the X version from the dark side or the recent glossy sacrilege, Ginter is just my motivation to keep collecting new cards.  There isn't much else...

Base 3/2.5  Retro 1  Photos 2  Retired 2  Inserts 3  SPs -.5    Total 10.5/10

And that's my list.  

How many of these sets have you never seen before?  

How many did you collect too?  

Any of them your least favorites?  OK, maybe don't answer that one... :)

Let me know what you think.  And do your own lists - make it a true Bat Around!