Baseball fans — a question about making me rich

[Oeditpus Rex]

It just occured to me that I've been sitting on a bit of a gold mine. Okay, silver. Or maybe tin.

I did a lot of photography for a minor league baseball club years ago, and I have hundreds if not thousands of negatives from that. Some of the players made it to the majors, and a couple even attained some stardom. Well, it just occurred to me that there might be a market for photos of these guys when they were in the minors.

For example, if you were a Giants fan (or possibly Cleveland or Seattle), would you pay for an 8x10 action shot of Omar Vizquel when he was 20 and in his first year of pro ball?

[Broken_Hero]

1. maybe

for Omar, i'm a die hard Mariners fan...but not much money, maybe a buck or two....not much more than that. I thikn you have to do better than Omar, though...who else do you got?

[Oeditpus Rex]

2. He's probably the biggest star

Only other one I can think of off the top of my head is Jeff Nelson, also of possible interest to M's fans. (I think he's about to retire, though, since St. Louis didn't sign him.)

It's been awhile, so I'd have to go through 'em and check. There were other guys who made it for a couple years or so, mostly with the Mariners and Cubs. (I do recall a pretty nice shot of Gary Varsho about to tag a runner at second. He had a few years with the Cubs and he's coaching somewhere now — Atlanta, I think.)

[Broken_Hero]

42. hmm

good old, Jeff Nelson...I would pay a few bucks for that one too, I'm a die hard Mariners fan. What other M's do you got? Dave Valle? any of Edgar or Bone?...

[KitchenWitch]

3. You might want to test the market by making a few prints

and listing them on eBay. If people will buy them there, then try to sell them to the card dealers.

[Oeditpus Rex]

4. I know the card dealer here in town

I figured on asking for his insight. No way I'm gonna charge ahead with something like this. I'm too much of a cynic and too much of a planner.

Right now, it's just a thought.

[KitchenWitch]

5. You will want to watermark your photos somehow

with a copyright, as well.

[KitchenWitch]

6. Off topic!

Did you see this?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=5129593&mesg_id=5129593

And check your PM.

[Oeditpus Rex]

7. Yeah, I did

But you'd already exposed the Python part before I got there. x(

[KitchenWitch]

8. Sorry

had to inform! :hi:

[Oeditpus Rex]

9. Wee bit o' trivia

For the MPFC theme, they made the bell at the beginning a bit louder.

If I had a cell phone that did downloadable ring tones, that's the one I'd get. And since I wanna switch plans, which will require a new phone, I probably will.

'Course, it'd be even cooler if they had voice tones.

[KitchenWitch]

10. Some of the newer phones do "true tones"

and actual song clips and mp3s. Of course you do pay for that. I pretty much got paid to upgrade my phone, via rebates, both instant and mail in.

[Oeditpus Rex]

12. That sounds too obnoxious

Imagine if it actually played the Liberty Bell March. All the cool people near me would start up with this:



Or this:

[KitchenWitch]

13. My main ringtone is a telephonic version of the LBM!

It rocks.

[Oeditpus Rex]

18. 'Telephonic' meaning...?

:shrug:

[KitchenWitch]

23. It does not sound exactly like a brass band

sounds electronic.

[Oeditpus Rex]

26. Ah, so...

it's a MIDI or somethin'? :shrug:

[KitchenWitch]

28. similar to midi

but I think it is a different file format only for phones.

[Oeditpus Rex]

29. Phoni?

:rofl:




:hide:

[KitchenWitch]

30. smartass!

:rofl:

[Oeditpus Rex]

32. They're reserving a room for me

at the Comedy Hell Hilton. :scared:

[Mutley]

11. You know people would buy that stuff.

Ebay, my friend! :bounce:

[Oeditpus Rex]

14. That's just it

I don't know. :shrug:

But then, I'm a cynic.

[Mutley]

15. There are three bids on this auction

and these suckers don't even know what they're bidding on.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Mega-Mystery-Mania_W0QQitemZ9518196222QQcategoryZ1469QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

People will buy anything. :D

[KitchenWitch]

16. LOL

How do people find these weird listings? When I go to eBay I go with a purpose.

[Mutley]

20. There's a whole section called weird stuff.

http://everythingelse.listings.ebay.com/Weird-Stuff_W0QQfromZR4QQsacatZ1466QQsocmdZListingItemListQQssPageNameZdcpEverythingTextNonFeat

Careful though, not all of it is suitable for work or kids. :P

[KitchenWitch]

24. Thanks for the warning!

[Oeditpus Rex]

19. They prolly think they're bidding on this:

Nice skirt; love the color. But she needs to plump up some.

[Mutley]

21. Yeah, someone give her a hamburger or something.

:P

[Oeditpus Rex]

25. Send her to the Chinese buffet

Give me the burger. :bounce:

[KitchenWitch]

27. mmm, chinese buffet!

all the sweet and sour chicken I can eat! YUMMMMM

[Mutley]

31. Would you like cheese with that, sir?

:P

[Oeditpus Rex]

33. LOL!

Chinese cheese. :rofl:

[Mutley]

34. For your burger, silly.

:P

[Oeditpus Rex]

35. That reminds me

When I was about 4, I had a hamburger in a Chinese restaurant in San Francisco. It was on toast.

I don't remember any cheese.

[Mutley]

36. I nominate that Most Random Thought of the Day.

Though it's still early, yet.

[Oeditpus Rex]

37. We're allowed to post random thoughts?

Man, nobody told me. I coulda had a brazillion posts by now. x(

[Mutley]

38. You can post anything you want.

Except sex threads. :P

[Oeditpus Rex]

39. Well, hell

About 89 percent of my random thoughts are about sex.

*kicks rock*

[Mutley]

41. You can get away with it if you're subtle enough.

And everyone in your thread has to be subtle as well.

[CPMaz]

17. A lot would depend on the players,

and as good as Omar is, he's nowhere big enough a name to carry that, though you might get some interest in Venezuela (his home country).

Do you have enough pics to put into a book that chronicles a season? Is the franchise still around, and is/was it popular enough to generate interest in a team book?

Or, if you can write (or find a partner to work with you), how about a "then and now" book? Have any of the players gone on to great things outside of baseball?

In short, a bunch of pics of players that nobody but their families and teammates ever heard of probably won't have much of a market (for single pics, anyway.)

[Oeditpus Rex]

22. That's why I'd talk to the local card dealer

He might know of some markets and/or angles I wouldn't think of.

The franchise no longer exists, no. Hell, the ball park doesn't even exist, as such. They tore down the grandstand about five years ago. Now it's just a field with bleachers.

Popularity (attendance) was a factor in that, so that answers another question.

There's a few card sets floatin' out there someplace. I shot one for ProCards in... '88? '89?

[In_The_Wind]

40. I think you've got a very lucrative business idea.

You have originals which are definitely worth a great deal of money. :yourock: :thumbsup:

[Patiod]

43. I want a pic of Chase Utley when he was a swimmer or streaker

not a minor leaguer.



He is too hot....

Oh, sorry, sorry for hijacking the thread. Your OP was probably directed to real fans, but those seeking Hot Baseball Eyecandy.

[CPMaz]

46. I miss the days

in the mid-1990s when there was a women's pro baseball league with a team here in the Phoenix area. (the Phoenix Peppers, I think)

Finally, my gf and I could go to a game and *I* could be the one admiring the catcher's butt. :)

[LSK]

44. i have a bunch of photos of the Bulls during the Jordan era

A friend of mine somehow got to sit with the photographers right under the basket for a game and took a whole bunch. This was in 91 or 92. He gave me copies of all the photos.

I wonder what thats worth?

[LSdemocrat]

45. I'm thinking you're best bet might be the publishing industry

Either selling pictures to local papers and or sports mags or trying to put together some sort of coffee table book about Minor League Baseball, of course featuring those superstar players.