Hobby Tips & Tricks - let's hear what you've discovered!

[Chillychow]

I was thinking this morning that it would be handy to have a cental thread where HI members can post their personal hobby Tips & Tricks that they've discovered over time. For instance, I JUST purchased the scanner that Jeremy recommended a week or two ago - thanks for that Jeremy! AND I was able to snag it for $199 at Henry's (here is the link below) with free shipping!

http://www.henrys.com/78527-EPSON-PERFECTION-V550-PHOTO-FLATBED-SCNR.aspx

I suspect there are many cool things that have been perfected when it comes to storage, shipping, buying strategies, photo hosting, card show selling and buying tactics, etc that could prove to be valuable information for the HI community.

So, with that being said, please feel free to post your best hobby discoveries below!

 

[Chillychow]

Card stands from base cards?!?!

Just came across this - props to Pheebs888 on SCF for sourcing the idea:

 

[Triple B]

I put my one touch cards in team bags and tape them sealed to prevent scratches on the cases.

As for buying, I do my homework here and go hunting at shows.

 

[bamlinden]

I remember seeing Jeremy (gomaz) flicking the one top crease of a penny sleeve to make it easier to put cards into.

Hard to explain, but you aim your finger at the top part (opening on one side) and flick. It will separate at the seam just a bit and make sliding the cards in easier.

I also have a reference card on my scanner so I know exactly where to place my card when I scan and what section of the scanner to scan. No cropping needed.

 

[sba]

If you ever have to move longer distance, consider leaving room in whatever transport you yourself are taking to your final destination for your best items. Your base cards/lesser inserts will hold up OK if you pack them well. But your 05-06 Cup Master set should probably be in the trunk of your car with you instead of the movers. Even if you have a large collection, a couple shoeboxes of your REAL great cards takes up very little car room.

 

[chakhae1]

I learned a few months ago that taking pictures or cards instead of scanning them is just as effective. I was forced to do so b/c my scanner stopped working. 10 count plastic cases are also a lot cheaper than 1 touches and store patch cards of all sizes just as good. And for me, spinning the boxes and packs seems to give me good luck lol.

 

[wkoch530]

Keep track of your cards and make sure you have renters/homeowners insurance that covers them

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

 

[quincy]

I learned a few months ago that taking pictures or cards instead of scanning them is just as effective.

This. Especially since scanner drivers don't seem to keep pace with OS updates.

 

[djsports]

This. Especially since scanner drivers don't seem to keep pace with OS updates.

I learned a few months ago that taking pictures or cards instead of scanning them is just as effective. I was forced to do so b/c my scanner stopped working. 10 count plastic cases are also a lot cheaper than 1 touches and store patch cards of all sizes just as good. And for me, spinning the boxes and packs seems to give me good luck lol.

I used to take pictures of my cards before I found this little jewel:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Fujitsu-Sca...925404?hash=item33c74b2f5c:g:R3gAAOSw241Yhl7Q

Anyone that sells cards for a living should have one of these. Great for standard thickness trading cards. It works really well for shinny cards as long as you make sure the gravity feed mechanism is clean.

I also have a FI6130 Fujitsu that has about 100,000 scans on it. I need to replace the rear scanner, but the front side scanner is perfect still.

Shawn

 

[Chillychow]

I learned a few months ago that taking pictures or cards instead of scanning them is just as effective. I was forced to do so b/c my scanner stopped working. 10 count plastic cases are also a lot cheaper than 1 touches and store patch cards of all sizes just as good. And for me, spinning the boxes and packs seems to give me good luck lol.

I've been a fan of IOS photo's as well for stonger picture quality and speed of uploading to photobucket. However, I find it a next to impossible to eliminate reflections on slabbed cards (hence the scanner purchase). I also find that I rarely use a computer anymore at home now that I have an Iphone 7+ as it does pretty much everything I need.

 

[THSN]

I put my one touch cards in team bags and tape them sealed to prevent scratches on the cases.

As for buying, I do my homework here and go hunting at shows.

I do that for anyone who pulls a good card at the store, or at least put the one touch back in the bag it came in. People look at me like I'm nuts until I explain it.

 

[Hama]

I do that for anyone who pulls a good card at the store, or at least put the one touch back in the bag it came in. People look at me like I'm nuts until I explain it.

I've been using One Touch bags for the last few years since Ultra Pro started making them

 

[gomaz]

I remember seeing Jeremy (gomaz) flicking the one top crease of a penny sleeve to make it easier to put cards into.

Hard to explain, but you aim your finger at the top part (opening on one side) and flick. It will separate at the seam just a bit and make sliding the cards in easier.

Yes, I do this for every card that comes through my possession. Before putting a card in a sleeve I flick one of the corners, opening the seal a quarter inch or so, so that when I put the card in the sleeve there is no way for the sleeve to damage the cards bottom edge and/or corner.

This trick came from Charlie Stabile who works for Beckett grading. We were at the Summit 5-6 years ago and he saw me putting some cards into sleeves and said "don't you flick the corners first?" and I said "No, why?". He went on to tell me that the lack of flicking corners is the #1 reason why cards getting graded are penalized on the corners grade. So I immediately started flicking. And I can say that putting cards into sleeves, even ones that may be a little tight, is a stress-free activity now.

I notice that breakers never do this. Not only do they not do this but they also love putting their fingerprints on their customers cards, planting their thumbs smack dab on the surface of cards. :crazy: My tip here: watch a breaker handle cards before joining their breaks and letting them put their mitts on YOUR cards and damaging one of the bottom corners. How they all don't care more for the product boggles my mind.

You pretty much see it with every Young Guns and FWA that gets slabbed. Take a look at a sample of BGS graded young guns or FWA's and you will notice that corners rarely, if ever, get a 10. This little trick can easily add a half or full grade to the corners.

 

[gomaz]

I put my one touch cards in team bags and tape them sealed to prevent scratches on the cases.

I do that for anyone who pulls a good card at the store, or at least put the one touch back in the bag it came in. People look at me like I'm nuts until I explain it.

I've been using One Touch bags for the last few years since Ultra Pro started making them

This is something I've also been doing for a long time because if you like looking at your cards why do it through a hacked up holder. One-touches ain't cheap either and its so easy to protect them this way. Before they made one-touch bags I used to use team bags.

As a vendor at card shows when someone comes to my booth with cards in hacked up holders my instinct is to think that they don't take care of their cards so I inspect them even closer than usual and always find that I was right; crappy corners and surface scratches abound.

Or when I go looking at other vendors and see cards strewn about in decades old off-color top loaders my instinct is to just keep on walking. Dust gets in and scratches the surface over time. But the best is when people have their cards in top loaders without a sleeve. :|

 

[Uhtred the Viking]

I've been a fan of IOS photo's as well for stonger picture quality and speed of uploading to photobucket. However, I find it a next to impossible to eliminate reflections on slabbed cards (hence the scanner purchase). I also find that I rarely use a computer anymore at home now that I have an Iphone 7+ as it does pretty much everything I need.

Apparently Flash & Photobucket don't play very well together anymore. That's why I'm experimenting with pictures from my iPad Air II instead of scanning. Now that I've bought the scanner that Jeremy recommended I'm back to scanning again :crazy: but that's more for organizing folders on my computer. I've come up with a system that seems to work pretty well for getting rid of shadows and glare when taking pictures of your cards. It's all about taking a picture of the card at an angle. Here are my materials: 1) something triangular that will get the card up in the air. 2) piece of wood to give the card a large, hard surface (also allows group scans). 3) some black fabric.




I usually have it set up on a TV tray, then you can move it around to adjust for the lighting. For today I just put it on a tote for a quick demonstration. Be sure to have the base of the card resting on the fabric so that it doesn't slide.





Here's a picture of the card. With practice you can get the edges straight (not my best effort), and even move the picture directly into Flickr. I'm still experimenting with Flickr, so used photobucket today.

 

[Dewwen]

How about a feedback link that I've used for years to get an idea of who I'm dealing with?

Toolhaus

Instead of the one year feedback eBay allows you to view, you can see a user's entire history!

Dan

 

[TMLxCrosby87]

http://www.watchcount.com/ let's you check the final sold price of any best offer on ebay, super useful since most of the time Ebay itself doesn't show you.

 

[LSOH]

Yes, I do this for every card that comes through my possession. Before putting a card in a sleeve I flick one of the corners, opening the seal a quarter inch or so, so that when I put the card in the sleeve there is no way for the sleeve to damage the cards bottom edge and/or corner.

This trick came from Charlie Stabile who works for Beckett grading. We were at the Summit 5-6 years ago and he saw me putting some cards into sleeves and said "don't you flick the corners first?" and I said "No, why?". He went on to tell me that the lack of flicking corners is the #1 reason why cards getting graded are penalized on the corners grade. So I immediately started flicking. And I can say that putting cards into sleeves, even ones that may be a little tight, is a stress-free activity now.

I notice that breakers never do this. Not only do they not do this but they also love putting their fingerprints on their customers cards, planting their thumbs smack dab on the surface of cards. :crazy: My tip here: watch a breaker handle cards before joining their breaks and letting them put their mitts on YOUR cards and damaging one of the bottom corners. How they all don't care more for the product boggles my mind.

You pretty much see it with every Young Guns and FWA that gets slabbed. Take a look at a sample of BGS graded young guns or FWA's and you will notice that corners rarely, if ever, get a 10. This little trick can easily add a half or full grade to the corners.

Been doing the penny sleeve trick for years now. Pretty much when I started handling customers cards at the store, when I was much younger. Definitely didn't want to cause damage to property that wasn't mine. Although I prefer using a pocket knife for this trick. :devil: Pretty good thread. Some interesting and unique ideas. Thanks!

Cheers,
Eli:beer:

 

[cburt]

That's some good advice Jeremy, about the "corner flicking." I've also discovered that you can also gently peel away the corner which gives you that extra room to get the card in without damaging it. I also always put my one-touches in team bags. Always was a stickler for condition.

 

[chefjason]

Apparently Flash & Photobucket don't play very well together anymore. That's why I'm experimenting with pictures from my iPad Air II instead of scanning. Now that I've bought the scanner that Jeremy recommended I'm back to scanning again :crazy: but that's more for organizing folders on my computer. I've come up with a system that seems to work pretty well for getting rid of shadows and glare when taking pictures of your cards. It's all about taking a picture of the card at an angle. Here are my materials: 1) something triangular that will get the card up in the air. 2) piece of wood to give the card a large, hard surface (also allows group scans). 3) some black fabric.




I usually have it set up on a TV tray, then you can move it around to adjust for the lighting. For today I just put it on a tote for a quick demonstration. Be sure to have the base of the card resting on the fabric so that it doesn't slide.





Here's a picture of the card. With practice you can get the edges straight (not my best effort), and even move the picture directly into Flickr. I'm still experimenting with Flickr, so used photobucket today.

thanks Al, I am totally doing this from now on, my scanner is being dumb so i am taking pictures and finding it interesting on the glares that i get