General Forum

I just recently picked up this beauty that will be forever locked up in my personal Rolen collection. I have been chasing this card for YEARS, and was finally able to find one on the open market that the seller and I could agree upon a price.

The main reason for this post though is to get your collective opinion on how this card should be cropped. I checked the set, and so far there are none posted on the site. These 1998 Donruss Preferred Precious Metals cards come in a sealed plastic holder (for lack of a better term). The size of the actual card is smaller than that of a standard trading card, with the plastic holder making up the remaining size to make it equal to that of a standard card. 

I do not want to remove the card from the plastic holder because it is a sealed holder and I feel that would put the card at an unnecessary risk of damage.

So, before adding the image to this site should I:

A) Not add it because it's in a plastic holder.

B) Add the scan, but crop it to the edges of the card.

C) Add the scan as is, with the plastic holder showing in the scan

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

I may be in the minority here, but I always considered the plastic on these to be part of the card itself. I never DREAMED of removing the Yzerman we have out of the plastic, nor did I ever think of it as an option.

That said, looks like I cropped the plastic edges when I uploaded the images:

https://www.tcdb.com/ViewCard.cfm/sid/5397/cid/1612411/1997-98-Donruss-Preferred---Precious-Metals-14-Steve-Yzerman

So, there's my example. :)

I agree with Dan.  Crop it to the edge of the card.

Sealed?  Hermetically sealed? Unopenable?  Anyway you look at it, not part of the card, just a protective case like any other; penny sleeve, toploader, screwdown, snap case, graded slab.

I personally don't get it.  Cards come in sealed packs but you don't have a problem breaking the seal to get the cards.  But put it in a toploader, or snap case sealed with a sticker and..."ACK!! Don't open it!! Don't open it!!"

I didn't even think to look at other sports to see how those were added. Thank you for that reference. I love the look of that platinum hockey card! And I'm not even a hockey fan. Lol

I've gone ahead and added my scan and cropped out the plastic (for a cleaner look). Like you, I think of the plastic holder as part of these cards. I don't think I'd ever even consider buying one that isn't in the plastic.

They are definitely hermetically sealed. Anything is openable with a steady enough hand. It would take an x-acto knife and a very steady hand to remove these cards from the plastic holder.

The seal is so close to the card, they almost look laminated. 

I would simply crop out the plastic.  I have loaded many graded cards that are low SN and simply crop out the plastic.  I only load if it is a good scan with a clear picture and words.  Interestingly, I have found some prizm cards actually scan better in plastic than raw.  Some mojo's, pulsars, etc.  Not all, but some. 

Here is a closer look at how closely the plastic is sealed next to the card.

Nice pickup!

We left the plastic showing for football  (https://www.tcdb.com/Checklist.cfm/sid/3948/1997-Donruss-Preferred---Precious-Metals)

These things are paper thin and you probably could never get a fingerprint off of them. I wouldn't dream of opening mine.

Chuck, these are sealed up tight. I really don't know how you'd separate the plastic from the metal. It would destroy it in the proces most likely. Under 99% of the circumstances (which includes cards that are slabbed pre-packaging), I think the card is "card only" minus the plastic. If you held one of these, you'd understand better. But, good luck finding one. These were pretty hard to find.