# TCDB Scraper - Trading Card Database Catalog (`lulzasaur/tcdb-scraper`) Actor Scrape trading card catalog data from The Trading Card Database (tcdb.com). Get card title, player/subject, set, year, card number, team, attributes (RC/variations), image, and URLs. Search by set query like '1986 Fleer Basketball' or pass set URLs/IDs. - **URL**: https://apify.com/lulzasaur/tcdb-scraper.md - **Developed by:** [lulz bot](https://apify.com/lulzasaur) (community) - **Categories:** E-commerce - **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks - **User rating**: No ratings yet ## Pricing from $5.00 / 1,000 results This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events. Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours, and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store. In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server. Actors are written with capital "A". ## How to integrate an Actor? If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects. You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## TCDB Scraper - Trading Card Database Catalog Scrape trading-card catalog data from **[The Trading Card Database (tcdb.com)](https://www.tcdb.com)** — one of the largest community-maintained catalogs of sports and non-sport trading cards, covering hundreds of thousands of sets and millions of individual cards. Search by set (e.g. `1986 Fleer Basketball`) or point the scraper at specific set URLs / IDs, and get clean, structured card records: player/subject, set, year, card number, team, attributes (rookie cards, variations), image, and canonical URLs. ### What it extracts For every card in a matched set's checklist: | Field | Description | |-------|-------------| | `title` | Full card title, e.g. `1986-87 Fleer #57 Michael Jordan` | | `subject` | Player / subject name | | `cardNumber` | Card number within the set (`57`, `NNO`, `AR-1`, ...) | | `setName` | Set name | | `year` | Set year (`1986`, `1986-87`, ...) | | `sport` | Sport / category (Basketball, Baseball, Football, Non-Sport, ...) | | `team` | Team / franchise (where present) | | `attributes` | Inline flags: `RC` (rookie), `SP`, `SSP`, `VAR` (variation), `AU`, `RELIC`, `MEM` | | `isRookie` | Convenience boolean derived from `attributes` | | `setId` / `cardId` | TCDB internal set (`sid`) and card (`cid`) identifiers | | `imageUrl` | Card thumbnail image URL | | `cardUrl` | Canonical TCDB card page URL | | `setUrl` | Canonical TCDB set page URL | | `searchQuery` | The input query this record came from | | `scrapedAt` | ISO 8601 timestamp | ### Input ```json { "searchQueries": ["1986 Fleer Basketball", "2009 Donruss Gridiron Gear Football"], "maxResults": 200, "scrapeDetails": true, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": ["RESIDENTIAL"] } } ```` | Option | Type | Default | Description | |--------|------|---------|-------------| | `searchQueries` | array of strings | `["1986 Fleer Basketball"]` | Set queries (`year + set name + sport`), full set URLs, or `sid/` references | | `maxResults` | integer | `200` | Max card records per query | | `scrapeDetails` | boolean | `true` | Follow pagination to capture entire large sets; disable for first-page-only (faster) | | `proxyConfiguration` | object | RESIDENTIAL | Proxy settings (residential recommended — see below) | #### Query formats - **Free text**: `1986 Fleer Basketball` — the scraper detects the year (`1986`) and sport (`Basketball`), browses that sport/year on TCDB, matches set names containing the remaining keywords (`fleer`), and scrapes each matching set's full checklist. - **Set URL**: `https://www.tcdb.com/ViewSet.cfm/sid/2067/1986-87-Fleer` - **Set ID**: `sid/2067` ### Notes on Cloudflare TCDB is protected by Cloudflare's managed challenge. This Actor uses a real headless browser (Playwright/Chromium) and a **residential proxy by default** to clear the challenge, retiring the browser between requests to keep the challenge state fresh. Datacenter proxies typically get stuck on the security interstitial — keep the residential setting unless you have a reason to change it. ### Example output ```json { "title": "1986-87 Fleer #57 Michael Jordan", "subject": "Michael Jordan", "cardNumber": "57", "setName": "1986-87 Fleer", "year": "1986-87", "sport": "Basketball", "team": "Chicago Bulls", "attributes": ["RC"], "isRookie": true, "setId": "2067", "cardId": "12345", "imageUrl": "https://www.tcdb.com/Images/Thumbs/Basketball/2067/...", "cardUrl": "https://www.tcdb.com/ViewCard.cfm/sid/2067/cid/12345/1986-87-Fleer-57-Michael-Jordan", "setUrl": "https://www.tcdb.com/ViewSet.cfm/sid/2067", "searchQuery": "1986 Fleer Basketball", "scrapedAt": "2026-07-03T06:40:00.000Z" } ``` ### Use cases - Build price-guide / arbitrage tools by combining card checklists with market data - Populate collection-management apps with accurate set checklists - Research player card catalogs across years and manufacturers - Feed card metadata into search, matching, and grading pipelines ### Pricing Pay-per-result: you are charged a small fee for each card record returned, plus a tiny per-run start fee. No monthly subscription. # Actor input Schema ## `searchQueries` (type: `array`): One or more trading-card set searches. Each entry may be: a set query like '1986 Fleer Basketball' or '2009 Donruss Gridiron Gear Football' (year + set name + sport), a full TCDB set URL (e.g. https://www.tcdb.com/ViewSet.cfm/sid/2067/1986-87-Fleer), or a set id like 'sid/2067'. For free-text queries the scraper browses that sport & year on TCDB, matches set names by keyword, and scrapes each set's full checklist. ## `maxResults` (type: `integer`): Maximum number of card records to scrape per search query. Default is 200. ## `scrapeDetails` (type: `boolean`): When enabled, follows pagination to capture every card in large sets (100+ cards). When disabled, only the first checklist page (up to 100 cards) per set is scraped — faster and cheaper. ## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`): Proxy settings. TCDB is protected by Cloudflare, so a RESIDENTIAL proxy is strongly recommended (and used by default). Datacenter IPs typically get stuck on the security challenge. ## Actor input object example ```json { "searchQueries": [ "1986 Fleer Basketball" ], "maxResults": 200, "scrapeDetails": true, "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `dataset` (type: `string`): No description # API You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup. ## JavaScript example ```javascript import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client'; // Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token // Replace the '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "searchQueries": [ "1986 Fleer Basketball" ] }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("lulzasaur/tcdb-scraper").call(input); // Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any) console.log('Results from dataset'); console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`); const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems(); items.forEach((item) => { console.dir(item); }); // 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs ``` ## Python example ```python from apify_client import ApifyClient # Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token # Replace '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "searchQueries": ["1986 Fleer Basketball"] } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("lulzasaur/tcdb-scraper").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "searchQueries": [ "1986 Fleer Basketball" ] }' | apify call lulzasaur/tcdb-scraper --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=lulzasaur/tcdb-scraper", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "TCDB Scraper - Trading Card Database Catalog", "description": "Scrape trading card catalog data from The Trading Card Database (tcdb.com). Get card title, player/subject, set, year, card number, team, attributes (RC/variations), image, and URLs. Search by set query like '1986 Fleer Basketball' or pass set URLs/IDs.", "version": "1.0", "x-build-id": "9qyNSATePSfxtypiX" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/lulzasaur~tcdb-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-lulzasaur-tcdb-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/lulzasaur~tcdb-scraper/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-lulzasaur-tcdb-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/lulzasaur~tcdb-scraper/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-lulzasaur-tcdb-scraper", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "searchQueries": { "title": "Search Queries", "type": "array", "description": "One or more trading-card set searches. Each entry may be: a set query like '1986 Fleer Basketball' or '2009 Donruss Gridiron Gear Football' (year + set name + sport), a full TCDB set URL (e.g. https://www.tcdb.com/ViewSet.cfm/sid/2067/1986-87-Fleer), or a set id like 'sid/2067'. For free-text queries the scraper browses that sport & year on TCDB, matches set names by keyword, and scrapes each set's full checklist.", "default": [ "1986 Fleer Basketball" ], "items": { "type": "string" } }, "maxResults": { "title": "Max Results Per Query", "minimum": 1, "maximum": 100000, "type": "integer", "description": "Maximum number of card records to scrape per search query. Default is 200.", "default": 200 }, "scrapeDetails": { "title": "Scrape Full Checklists (all pages)", "type": "boolean", "description": "When enabled, follows pagination to capture every card in large sets (100+ cards). When disabled, only the first checklist page (up to 100 cards) per set is scraped — faster and cheaper.", "default": true }, "proxyConfiguration": { "title": "Proxy Configuration", "type": "object", "description": "Proxy settings. TCDB is protected by Cloudflare, so a RESIDENTIAL proxy is strongly recommended (and used by default). Datacenter IPs typically get stuck on the security challenge.", "default": { "useApifyProxy": true, "apifyProxyGroups": [ "RESIDENTIAL" ] } } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```