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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

To Cut or Not to Cut Contest

So I got a package in the mail from Waxaholic a while back and inside were these:


Attached to the '91 Fleer box bottom was this:

DAMMIT Canuck, I can't handle this kind of responsibility!!! The pressure. The PRESSURE.

Aaaah screw it, I'm passing the responsibility on to you all. Up on the top right will be a poll. Vote in the poll and decide the fate of these panels. Cut 'em. Don't cut 'em. Up to you.

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE

Act now and you can get in on a contest for FREE* cards. Here's what you gotta do.

  1. Vote in the poll. Or not. Doesn't really matter for the contest, actually. Well, it might help you have a better chance of winning, but doesn't really affect the outcome any. This is kind of a lame rule. Let's start over.
  1. Leave a comment on this post stating whether you want the cards to be CUT or NOT CUT.
  2. If you want them to be cut, tell me how you think I should cut them. Scissors, Xacto knife, torn apart with my bare hands, etc. I'm not sayin' if cut wins I'll do it this way, but I'm interested in learning new card cutting techniques.
  3. If you want them to not be cut, tell me why. Give a reason. Show your work. Eyes on your own paper, McGee. Wipe hands on pants.
  4. Once the poll is complete, the results are LAW and I shall either cut or not cut as the case may be.
  5. Everyone who left a comment for the winning side gets their name thrown in a hat and one shall be chosen to win a prize package.
  6. The best method of cutting/reason for not cutting as chosen by me gets TWO extra names in the hat, so be creative.
  7. I might very well choose a method/reason from someone on the losing side, so make 'em GOOD.
  8. One comment per person. Period. I get all comments in my e-mail so if you try to change I'LL FIND OUT YOU CHEATER.
  9. If you leave a comment Anonymously or if I can't find any way to contact you in your profile, let's just say your name shall be placed in a large rectangular hat with a lining made by Glad. My e-mail is in my profile.
  10. If for some reason the poll ends in a tie, you are all heartless bastards for putting this pressure back upon my shoulders and no one wins a dang thing.
Ok, that's it. Simple isn't it? Post if I should cut the cards (with method) or not cut the cards (with a reason) and you're in.

TEH PRIZZE PAKCAJE::

I know for a fact I have some of these cards, both cut and uncut in panel. The winner receives the doubles from this cutting(not cutting) exercise.
You'll also get more cut/oddball/panels out of my junk box personal collection.
You might be able to convince me to throw in some cards of your favorite team if you're nice about it.
I might even throw in a relic or auto I've got lying around collecting dust.

So get to it! Cut or No Cut?

* Ain't no such thing as free, folks. You spent valuable seconds of your life typing and posting a comment. AND FOR WHAT? Oh yeah, a chance at some cards.

36 comments:

Matt Runyon said...

Don't cut 'em. Your great great grandkids will thank you.

Stormy said...

Cut 'em up! Use a pizza cutter. Pizza + cards = WIN.

Joe S. said...

Cut them with dull, rounded scissors that you used to have in elementary school. This will ensure frayed edges - just like box bottoms are meant to be!

Al K said...

Since it's about 31C here (90F) don't cut them, use them as fans--hmmm-baseball fans

Nachos Grande said...

Don't cut the cards, but do trim the edges to make 'em nice... In fact, I believe the box bottom "4 of cards" make a really neat sound when you put them in the wheels of a motorcycle... Think of them as an adults version of the baseball cards in bicycle spokes thing.

Matt said...

Tomahawk-chop them up! Using an actual tomahawk. Anything to free Rickey Henderson from being forever attached to Greg Gross

Matt said...

Just to clarify my identity...

Motherscratcher said...

Definately cut them for 2 main reasons:

1. I like you. If I didn't like you I would say leave them uncut. This would sentence you to an existence with these big uncut panels that don't really fit anywhere and you have to kind of find a place to file them away but there isn't really anywhere that they fit and they just kind of kick around and you move them from place to place but they don't really fit anywhere and you have to kind of find a place to file them away but there isn't anywhere that they fit and they just kind of kick around and you move them from place to place but they don't really fit anywhere sort of deal.

I like you too much for that. I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Well, maybe Capt Canuck, but he's Canadian so he hardly matters.

2. I'd like to see you cut them with an exacto knife...with your left hand (or right if you're left handed). After drinking 3-4 beers. No ruler - that would be cheating. Give you a real chance to show off some skills. You should definately video this and post it. Good times will be had by all. Keep some band aides handy, just in case.

Well, that's my opinion anyway.

Greg said...

Cut the cards.

Go out and buy a frickin' shark with a frickin' laser beam attched to it's frickin' head, and then have the shark cut the cards.

/Dr. Evil

night owl said...

Cut, cut!

Why? Because I dug the Gross-Henderson-Lasorda-Hernandez panel out of giant pile of trash in the stock room of the drug store where I used to work way back in '89, rescuing it from the trash compactor.

On the way home with the panel in my old, rusted Chrysler LeBaron, I swore I heard the Hernandez panel say, "Oh, thank you, thank you, Mr. Card Collector. But please cut us into 4 individual cards. We will never be truly free unless we have our identity (yes, I know that rhymes)." Then Hernandez said, "Isn't my mustache grand?"

So, I brought it home, used the only pair of scissors I could find -- my grandmother's dull sewing scissors -- and freed them once and for all. Unfortunately, I didn't do that great of a job, and most of them are creased.

Captain Canuck said...

I had no idea I'd start such controversy.... or did I???

De Soto said...

Storage will always be a problem. The storage hassle alone is why I cut a sheet of football cards back in the day. BUT don't cut. Don't cut because it's a unique thing to have. Apart they are essentially worthless.

Steve Gierman said...

Cut, but go to Hobby Lobby and pick up a cheap paper trimmer with the guide and the slicing arm so you can get a precise cut. When these were new, my mistake was not having one.

Jeffrey Wolfe said...

Cut 'em with a guillotine paper cutter like everybody's art teacher used to have. That way they're nice and straight, that's more than you can say for Topps and Fleer most of the time.

Jeffrey Wolfe said...

And for the love of god why is Greg bleeping Gross on one of those!!?? Was he still playing in 1988!!??

Dan said...

Donts Cuts Its!

We cants cuts Precccciousssss! Precious is our reasons for being! Precious shows us how to take care of our stuff!

No, cants cuts it!

McCann Can Triple said...

Cut'em. Cut 'em. cut em up!


Take them to a barber shop and pay the barber a shinny quarter to have them “professionally” cut.

Don said...

You definately need to cut them, preferably with a paper cutter, but be careful that you don't stick your finger in the way of the arm as you bring it down and cut off a tip of your finger. Blood does not look good on a card. If your place of business does not have a paper cutter use scissors.

Like the cards on the bottoms of the King Dons boxes back in the 70s these cards were made to be cut. That was the intent of the manufacturer. You really don't want to go against their intent, do you? Also, think of these panels as conjoined quads. Free them so they can live happy and fruitfull lives.

Andy said...

Do not cut.

The lines provided between cards are extremely narrow. This means that the panels cannot be cut without damaging one or more cards on one side or the other of the line. Nobody lines damaged cards. The virgin panel is a thing of beauty. You can trim the outer edge of the panel, but not right up to the outer lines...just to clean up the whole panel...and then LET IT BE.

mmosley said...

CUT!

Who wants a panel of 80's and 90's wax? Nobody!

But who wants a 1990 Fleer Blue Jays card? Oh wait, what's my point?

Cut 'em. With a candlestick in the Billiards room!

Anonymous said...

I agree -- DO NOT CUT.

None of these are going to be worth a damn anyway, but they are much cooler in their un-cut form. I mean if someone cut this bad boy up, I would have have this awesome collectible ...

http://cardboardicons.com/2009/01/25/card-of-the-day-1961-post-hank-aaron-un-cut-panel/

Anonymous said...

I say cut em. Use one of those things art classes used to have, one of those big blades and a little board that make almost perfect cuts.

Jim said...

Cut them for the same reason I cut out my '89 Topps Box Bottoms - they look great in the binder with the rest of the set. I actually had a paper cutter thingy on hand to slice and dice and they came out nicely. Greg Gross will thank you.

Alec said...

I'd say cut it! And to cut it, find a little kid somewhere and have him/her rip at it until four cards are produced. May not be the neatest way, but at least you'll share the joy with some random kid.

Jeremy Roe said...

Do not cut...even if you cut them, the thickness will not be normal and there is no back to the card.

Todd Uncommon said...

You so need to cut these. There remains, I am sure, far too many 'pristine' specimens of these full of cards, sitting in cases inside somebody's Public Storage unit about to foreclosed upon and the contents auctioned off (Not mine. Yet. I think. Pretty sure.)

Until those hobby fugitives are freed from their card jail, these are far more interesting when they're cut.

Besides, judging from the images, these panels were already hacked off the rest of the box with left-handed safety scissors at least fifteen years ago. Doesn't count as pristine unless it's got the box sides and top, right?

These cards are far more interesting for player collectors when singled out. The legion of Dave Steeb (Stieb? Steib? Stabe? Steyb? Beets?) collectors out there would certainly have forgotten about this specimen--especially one cut out as a singleton.

Plus, these are unexpected hits in the player-tabbed (Canseco, Jose. Canseco, Ozzie.) singles boxes at shops and shows. Someone will look at one of these and go, "Huh. I don't remember that from third grade. Three bucks? This might be rare! What's the risk?"

And then you're three bucks richer!

As for cutting, unless you cut diamonds by hand for a living, it's be near impossible to hand-cleave these without looking like you were trying to straighten out a snake.

Use a heavy-duty guillotine paper cutter. You know, the kind that intimidates even Kinko's employees. Plus,

You need to hold the panel hard against an edge, and then give the old Robespierre for a straight, even, almost factory cut.

(The hinge types always mislead you, and end up with cuts that slant, as it pulls your panel sheet out as it cuts.)

Best of luck, Monsieur!

dinged corners said...

Cuttenheimer. Method: fine-tuned blowtorch.

Ben said...

I say cut them, but only if you use something like THIS (the knife, not my car). Seventeen inches of card cutting fury!!!

Now I'm tempted to cut my '88 Fleer box bottoms with it...

Drew said...

Cut them using scissors. Some of those cards are nice!

AdamE said...

Cut them but don't cut them. Trim all of the junk off the edges with a papercutter. But don't seperate the four cards. Keep tehm together always. Stick them in the front pocket of the binder with your complete set.

Fuji said...

If those box bottoms were mine... I'd cut them up with my students' scrapbooking scissors... you know... the ones that create zig-zag borders. Anyways... I'd cut them up... put my signature on them (hard signed... no flippin' sticker autos)... and post them on ebay as 1 of 1's.

CaptKirk42 said...

Back when I was a kid I would have cut them with plain scissors, and did many a time. I think most of my cards from those days are long gone. Of course if they get cut and then are sent into one of the grading companies they will probably come back ungraded as "cut" cards (some companies would probably call them counterfeits due to that as well)

Anyway in their current state I would NOT Cut them. I would nicely trim them though carefully with one of those desktop paper cutters (the "guillotine paper cutter" as Jeff Wolfe commented). If you don't have one of those then either sharp scissors (and a steady hand) or use a utility or exacto knife with a ruler or straight edge.

yeah storage would be a little problem, but you could store them in a binder in 1 pocket plastic sheets. The pockets on a two pocket sheet is too small.

The Angels In Order said...

Cut them with a scalpel. Separate them from their eternal co-joined quadruplet hell.

Anonymous said...

Dude, don't cut 'em. They'll pay for your kid's college. Duh.

JD's Daddy said...

Cut em "Real Genius" style! Make sure there is no popcorn in the house.

Jeff Mazdra said...

Don't cut um. Keep them as they are.