Trying to get local vintage arcade photos gets pricey!

Phetishboy

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 12, 2006
Messages
47,929
Reaction score
9,392
Location
Avon, Minnesota
Trying to get local vintage arcade photos gets pricey!

I was just quoted some pic scanning prices from my local historical museum. Any old pics of the arcades and malls in this area from the 70's/80s (that they have archived) would cost me:

$5 entrance fee
$11 scan fee per photo (at 300dpi) $4 at 150dpi
$2 CD Rom burning fee


So, for 10 vintage photos scanned at 300dpi and burned, I'd need to shell out $118 + tax? WTF? Plus I'd still have to have them printed. What a crock. The historical society has just destroyed my dreams of reliving my arcade youth though pictures.
 
Cheaper to buy the "Supercade" book and just scan some pages out of that...? :confused:

That does suck. Kinda defeats the purpose of a museum. :(
 
The fact that this is available at all is pretty cool. I assume most people would want 1 or 2 pictures so it wouldn't seem so bad. $118 is a lot. You should be able to work out a bulk rate or something.
 
Cheaper to buy the "Supercade" book and just scan some pages out of that...? :confused:

That does suck. Kinda defeats the purpose of a museum. :(

What is the SuperCade book? Does it have pics of my local arcades, The Skill Mill and Outer Limits? And yes that does suck, I finally found a source to clarify a few of my arcade memories, and they wanna bend me over a barrel and give it to me while I peruse through their 'archives'. At least it will probably be an antique barrel with 'character'.
 
What the hell?

I like how it is nearly 3 times the cost to scan in at twice the DPI. 600 DPI would be what, $30?

I wonder what the fee would be to put the scans on your own thumbdrive, rather than burning them to a CD. They would probably step back with a blank and confused stare on their face, throw their hands in the air and say: "Whoa buddy, we can't do that!"

With a $5 entrance fee, they should be doing that stuff for free or cheap. I got my 18-inch wide NOS Super Punch-Out "Super" decal scanned in at a print shop at 600 DPI and burned to a CD (which they provided) for $5; and I didn't have to pay an entrance fee to get in.
 
What is the SuperCade book? Does it have pics of my local arcades, The Skill Mill and Outer Limits? And yes that does suck, I finally found a source to clarify a few of my arcade memories, and they wanna bend me over a barrel and give it to me while I peruse through their 'archives'. At least it will probably be an antique barrel with 'character'.

Oh, I thought you were just looking for some arcade pics from the era, not your specific local spots. Ugh. Yeah, sounds like they have you by the short and curlies. :(

The Supercade book is awesome. Best $30 I've spent. I grabbed mine off eBay.

To help you rationalize, convince yourself it'll be cheaper than building a time machine, and bartering with the photographer at the time to hook you up. ;)
 
Go to your local library or newspaper and ask to check the archives. You might find a cheaper alternative there...
 
What is the SuperCade book? Does it have pics of my local arcades, The Skill Mill and Outer Limits? And yes that does suck, I finally found a source to clarify a few of my arcade memories, and they wanna bend me over a barrel and give it to me while I peruse through their 'archives'. At least it will probably be an antique barrel with 'character'.

Supercade by Van Burnham (http://www.amazon.com/Supercade-Vis...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1271441298&sr=8-1) is a sort of visual history of arcade games. Frankly there aren't may arcade shots in there, and the few that are there are pretty unusable for your purposes. It's mostly pictures of the games (cabinet and screen shots) along with a few flyers. Not a lot of pics of arcades in a quick flip through (I've got it on my shelf, I just haven't had time to read through the whole thing yet).

Your local historical society is being pretty jerky with their collection. I can see charging for access (I mean, they have to get money to maintain the collection SOMEHOW), but those prices are nutty. Especially at a max resolution of 300 dpi - In this day and age, I have to say 'Really? That's the best you can do for $11?'. For $11 per scan, I'd sure as heck want at least 1200 dpi.

Are you sure they know you are a local and a collector, not a journalist and that you are planning to hang these in your home, not put them in a book? These prices really sound like they are targeted at folks who are publishing books, not guys trying to revive their memories.
 
After telling her I though the prices were a bit high, I got this response:

Hi Shawn,

Yes, that is the cost of scanning if you come in as well. The benefit of coming in would be that you would know what is available and get what you want.

This scanning fee not only covers staff time and wear-and-tear on the equipment, but it also covers the cost of storing these photos in a climate controlled environment with trained staff to monitor their conservation and preservation. Our prices are actually low considering others in the field (Minnesota Historical Society's fees are $7, $20, and $30 respectively, as compared to ours at $4, $11, and $24).

Yes, archiving our photos online is an ever-pressing need! We are in the process of entering the metadata on our website now (we've done almost 8,000 to date), but no images are available online yet. It's definitely a great idea and will be so wonderful when they are all there!

Whether you decide to purchase any images or not, I encourage you to stop in and check out what we have!

Sarah W-------

So I don't think I am getting any deals.
 
This scanning fee not only covers staff time and wear-and-tear on the equipment,

I'd say so! The $24 price of their [I'm guessing] 600 DPI scan is about 1/2 to 1/3 the cost of a typical flatbed scanner. And given that it only takes a minute or two, I suppose their staff's time is worth $720 to $1440 per hour.

but it also covers the cost of storing these photos in a climate controlled environment with trained staff to monitor their conservation and preservation.

They would have to do that either way.
 
can you offer to volunteer your time doing work of some kind for them in exchange for the scans you want?

I'm only good at one thing, and I doubt "Horizontal Mambo Lessons" would be acceptable payment in this instance. I guess I could ask.
 
no discounts for you!!!
NO DISCOUNTS FOR YOU!!!

Obama_Poster_Soup_Nazi.gif
 
Regardless, they have to find some way to fund it. It's not like museums have loads of cash rolling in.

Are you suggesting that museums couldn't function financially before scanners existed, or that they didn't keep photos before scanners existed?
 
I'm not suggesting either. I'm suggesting that if museums struggle to survive, then that is one way to help fund things that "they would have to do either way".
 
I'm not suggesting either. I'm suggesting that if museums struggle to survive, then that is one way to help fund things that "they would have to do either way".

Assuming that enough people are willing to pay absurd prices. In Phetishboy's case, it looks like they aren't going to be getting any money at all, whereas if their prices were more reasonable, they probably would be getting money from him.
 
Back
Top Bottom