Site Forum

Hi, and welcome to TCDB 102 (Requesting a card or set to be added). Today, we'll be discussing how to make the process quicker when requesting a set or card to be added. 

As the site grows in membership, the breadth of cards and sets being catalogued is growing as well. While those of us who see these requests would love to simply add everything that comes in, there are certain rules and guidelines that we need to follow when adding these. Your knowledge of these will help you understand why we ask certain questions, and why certain pieces of information are asked for on the forms to complete.

Adding a card:

When requesting a card to be added, first, please be sure to check in multiple ways to see if the card is already in the database. Simply looking at the year and release may not locate the card. Some companies print their cards the year before, so the copyright date on the card is actually the year before release (e.g., (c) 2002 card is actually a 2003 release). Also, some companies have "leftovers" or updates, which get released in later products. It is a good idea to also use the filters on the Person Profile page. Filter by the card number. If you still cannot find the card, posting images of the front and back to the Mystery Card Forum (also called the Card Identification Forum). (Helpful hint, photos ARE allowed in the forum posts, so if it's quicker for you to snap a couple phone pics as opposed to scanning the card in high res, go for it. But please remember that the images for the card pages are to be sharp scans - flatbed scanners seem to work better than doc feed scanners, and "scanner apps" for phones/mobile devices is simply photo manipulation and not allowed.)

Once you've gone through these steps, if it's been determined the card does not exist here at TCDB, go to the set the card should be in, click on the "see any inaccuracies?" link and report the missing card. The info we must have as as follows:
- Card Number (or NNO if card does not have a number)
- Name (Person listed on card or "caption" for some sets that do not name specific people or subjects)
- Team (if the card belongs to a team sport set)
- Note (this is where we add the attributes of the card such as SN##, PR###, AU, MEM, MANU, ERR, COR, etc.)
- Note2 (this is for explaining something that cannot be defined in the glossary - mostly used for the error description)
Be sure to check the other cards in the set where your card will be added to see what information has been added for the other cards. Your request should have the same fields of information.

But the set your card is from isn't in the database at all. What do you do?

Let me start by saying what you should NOT do. Don't send a request in for the single card to be added without the rest of the information about the set. When this happens, the process of getting your request processed takes a very long time. You may ask, why? Because adding a single card for a larger set is not the way the system works here. The database does not exist solely for any one person to use, but exists to help the entire hobby. If a set is a 100-card set, and you've only asked for one card to be added, you're actually now doing a huge disservice to the potential collectors of the other 99 cards in the set!

So then, really, what do you do?

The site is crowd-sourced, meaning everyone has a voice, and everyone should do what they can to help out. You want a card listed where the set doesn't exist? That means you actually want a SET listed. Please request the set be added, and for that, we need to know the following:
Year (the year the set was released)
Set Name (usually manufacturer, brand, and may include subject, if needed - such as non-sport and gaming)
Total Cards (this is the number of uniquely numbered cards)
Size (if not standard 2.5" x 3.5", otherwise it's assumed standard size)
Information on where to find the checklist, the actual checklist itself, or the indication that you have the complete checklist and wish to upload it yourself once the set has been added (any one of these 3 things is crucial to getting the set listed)
When we have that information, adding the set (and even the checklist) can be a matter of a couple of minutes. When you don't do this research, and provide this information, on a set that you are probably the most expert on of anyone on the site, you are basically requesting that someone with less expertise in the set/subject area is the one to do the necessary research to get the proper information to add the set and checklist. Yes, read that last sentence again - you are causing someone else to actually do more work that it would be for you to do it. For your request.

Requests like this have been known to sit for days, weeks, and even months. (I recently worked on one that had sat there for over a year because there was little information given, and as it was, took me 2 days to identify what was needed, and make the necessary changes in the system, where if we had been given the proper guidance from the beginning, might have been a couple hours to make all the proper sets and move the images and collections to the proper places.) If the above methodology is followed, requests can literally be processed in a matter of minutes (from the time one the resolvers looks at it).

Additionally, if a resolver adds a comment to one of these inaccuracy report (IR) requests, the system generates a message to you. Sometimes they are requests for more info and sometimes it's a request to add images to the Mystery Card Forum, whatever it is, please respond in a timely manner. If you respond back to the resolver through private message, that's fine. Many times the resolver will copy/paste the info into the IR directly so the info is available to all. Additionally, there will be a link in the body of the message back to the IR page. You can click that, and once on the IR page, click on "Add Comment" and enter the requested information there.

Thank you. Following this methodology will help all of us. If you were sent a message with a link to this thread, it is strictly meant to be educational and informative.

Considering the items I'm seeing in the IR queue, looks like it's time for more people to read this.

Thank you for sharing Vroomed