Regarding the patch card images - What next?

[gomaz]

Hi Everyone,

Securing the images of The Cup's patch cards was phase 1; the easy part. Phase 2 entails organizing all the images, since 95% of the shots I took contained mixed cards.

With that, I will not be accepting any requests for patch authentication, until phase 2 and phase 3 are complete. Phase 3 is developing and implementing a system to provide the authentication. Phase 3 is still undefined but will be sorted out while phase 2 is in progress.

While this is not the optimal situation due to time lag, it is certainly better than anything we, the hobby, have had before. That said, as I have now seen 99.9% of the patches from this product, if I see a patch that makes ME suspicious, I will sift through the images.

I think that it is also worth mentioning, in this thread, that having both myself and UD experience this process, could and hopefully does lead to its evolution towards the continued betterment of the hobby and integrity of our cards.

So, I know it will be tempting to ask me to look at patches. But please, please, please realize that I have a full-time career and need to ensure that I am not spending hours every day looking at my images. I also nee dto continue to enjoy the hobby the way I always have, and that takes time.

I obviously want to help, but until phase 2 is complete, I will be unable to. So with that, in the interest of security, please ensure that you maintain records of who you purchase patch cards from while I am working at phase 2 and 3. At least then you may still have some recourse, as you will have evidence of lack of authenticity.

Thanks in advance,
Jeremy

 

[meatmancgy]

Agreed... you need to sort all this stuff out and get the system in place before making the information public. This is, after all, your project... duly supported by HI and the IE... but done on your time and your dime. Congrats for finishing it and we look forward to the completed project!

 

[wildfan1833]

Jermey, Thanks again for doing this for the hobby:beer: Are you going to have a web site or photobucket link that has all the pictures in it so maybe we can just look at it ourselfs and if we don't see the patch than we ask you. Thanks, Cole

 

[paulxing]

Thanks for all the help! As for me, I'll just stick to cards opened on live uncut videos then... and my own breaks

 

[Uhtred the Viking]

Jeremy, thanks for the update, and most of all for your time and dedication towards this. One quick question, is Upper Deck going to make your "patch library" public knowledge (not the images, just the fact that it exists)? That might discourage patch fakers and keep the number of fake patches down. I know the HI community is very active and growing all the time, but there's still a lot of hobbyists out there that don't know about us, or your project.

 

[mikeh]

Cant UD put you on their payroll so that you can resign from your current position/career? LOL.

 

[Fritz]

I realize there are gazillions of photos but if the plan is to crop & sort them by each card eventually i'm sure there are more than a few here who wouldn't mind spending a few hrs here & there to help out. It may be unrealistic given the # of photos, but a photobucket with a folder for each card in the checklist would be absolutely amazing... although in reality it may take until next years cup to get such a daunting task completed

 

[trekrun]

Jeremy,

It was great reading your posts through the weekend and THANK YOU for putting 100% of your time / energy behind this project.

What about Phase 4?
That is the full story to be published in a future issue of INSIDER'S EDGE.

 

[Brave]

It would be nice for Upper Deck to put a little something on their webpage about your little project. That in itself could help stop some of the forging.

 

[gratzi]

Awesome job to get this all done Jeremy!!! Thank you to you and to UD for this. Hope this leads to something like this becoming part of the process all the time.

 

[lucscaps]

I don't know if it's been said before, but I have a little concern going forward. My concern deals with the thrill of the break.

I don't think these photo's should be public. Not right away anyways. Maybe two, three months down the road but not now. It's going to be a great resource for the future. But I think if it's made public to soon it'll take away from the thrill of the tin break.

 

[RGM81]

^^^
I disagree. Just because the library exists doesn't mean that every single person breaking The Cup is going to look at every single photo that Jeremy posts. And seriously, are you saying that if you pull the Mason auto shield you're not going to be as thrilled because you've seen a little picture of it already and knew that he'd inscribed the signature? Let's be serious here.

 

[G $MONEY$]

I don't know if it's been said before, but I have a little concern going forward. My concern deals with the thrill of the break.

I don't think these photo's should be public. Not right away anyways. Maybe two, three months down the road but not now. It's going to be a great resource for the future. But I think if it's made public to soon it'll take away from the thrill of the tin break.

So give the patch fakers a 3 month head start?

Great work J, i know you are keeping a few other sites updated like SCF. I am keeping all the guys at FCB updated on all this as i havent seen you post over there lately.

 

[lucscaps]

I guess it's just personal preference,

I'm not suggesting it be completely hidden from everyone. I'm just saying that if only certain people where allowed to see and verify stuff it may be better.

Think also about your return on equity. What if you pull something and put up for sale. If everyone can see that there is a better patch coming down the road you may not be able to recoup anything out of your tin.

I'm just trying to play a little devils advocate here about some of the other implications. I for one would be very tempted to spend an afternoon looking over everything to plan an attack on the cards i wanted.

 

[hextall27]

So Jeremy are you saying that these photo's are your property??

That would be a HUGE act of goodwill from UD to the consumer! This whole process has really done a lot for their image IMHO.

 

[RGM81]

What about those of us that will likely never be able to afford a big /99 RC anyways? Can't we just look and dream?

 

[GoCanGo]

I think the simplest way for Gomaz to arrange his photos without having to sift himself through his images for hours and hours trying to authenticate a patch would be to simply create a photobucket account or a blog site where all the images are posted in a somewhat organized fashion, so that the people themselves can verify the pictures rather than Gomaz having to check everything himself.

If UD is doing the same next year though, I think it would be best if they had like 5-6 people taking pictures of cards individually rather than in bunches. That way it's easier for everyone, including them, to verify authenticity. It's impossible to ask Gomaz to take the 25 000 pictures individually though, especially considering he's not even paid for it. I bet there are a few high-profile members out here who would be willing to join Gomaz if the same thing was being done next year...

Even better though would be if they hired a few professionals themselves and do this for every set. Of course it seems like an unprofitable thing to do, but the return that would be brought to them by the improved confidence of high-profile buyers in them and the boosted image they would get would probably help them in the long run.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[gcycheun]

I have a great idea...what if people who want access to the patch archives for the first two-three months before Jeremy gets to phase 3 PAY him for the cards they want to see. For example if I want to see one of the rookies and all his cards and he is able to get 32 pictures per shot. That would be about 8 pictures for a 249 rookie. If he charged $1-$2 per picture that would be a reasonable price to pay.

It would help him recoup his funds for the cost of getting out there and potentially pay him for his time. Just my 2 cents.

 

[timber09]

However this whole thing pans out...

THANK YOU!!!

I realize there are a lot of people pulling you in a thousand different directions - and I'm sure the UD side has their own concerns with how this is all carried out. So - from every concerned hobbyist out there - thanks!

This is truely a big step in the right direction for our hobby.
:beer:

 

[gbbadger]

Not sure if this has been asked or offered, but is there anything the rest of us can do to help you with the sorting? Not sure if it could work, but if you set up a procedure on how you want it, couldn't you send files to those of us with photo editing skills to help out. Just a thought, although this is your project, so I wouldn't want to suggest you make it a group project if you don't want to. I just don't want you to get burned out, or regret you ever tried to do this all by yourself.