I’m collecting vintage Japanese magazines that appear to have no documentation online, as well as cutouts of certain magazines. Often times I’m buying the magazines blind in hopes they contain ads, articles, artwork pertaining to the series I collect for, at which point the pages I want (as well as any especially interested pages I could sell) are cut out.

I’ve become interested in the idea of archiving the magazines. Having them uploaded somewhere to help future collectors actually know what these magazines contain inside, while also providing me an easy way to getting product pictures for the cutouts I will sell online. I hate tossing all the non-flashy pages knowing that someone more equipped could have archived it all.

I want a paper cutting solution that doesn’t make me want to tear my hair out like my current tedious setup. A guillotine paper cutter would be ideal, something that could slide the spine off a glue-bound magazine with a consistent clean cut. I’m struggling to find products that look like they’re work for me online, lots of mixed reviews on amazon for various cutters. I’m open to alternative solutions, as long as they get consistent cuts and make the process quicker than page-by-page.

I also need a scanner. I’m leaning towards getting a flatbed scanner, rather than a sheet-fed scanner. Japanese magazines are not letter size, they’ve often A4 or slightly off-A4 (with the shorter side being a few mm longer than A4). It would also allow me to get good scans of postcards, trading/telephone cards, sticker sheets, etc. I would need this scanner to deal well with glossy surfaces as well. Again, open to alternatives.

I know there are magazine archivists on this reddit, so I was just hoping to get some product recommendations from those who’ve been doing it awhile. Also would love info on where best to upload scans. Thank you for any advice on the subject.