Binders or boxes/toploaders?

waxgeeks

Bench Warmer
Very interested to know you guys' input.

When I was younger, I always went with binders since I only had around 200 or so cards in my 'collection'.


Then I graduated to toploaders and boxes because my collection got huge. Then I sold most of my collection, and still have the smaller items in the same boxes/loaders.


I was wondering what you guys use?

I always heard that binders weren't very safe for cards (unless you're doing a set I guess?).
 
I've always kept all my cards in a sleeve, toploader, and stack them all in shoe boxes. All the cards, like base, I just stack in the boxes like they are. Now, for the sets that I "chase", I'd really like to get binders to put them all in.
 
Very good topic. Ever since I started collecting when I was 8 or 9, I've always kept my cards in binders and in a certain way. I organize them by division, AL East, Central, West and then NL and chronologically. I remember a couple years later I wanted to switch it up and just have no organization but I quickly went back to how it was lol. Later on when I got serious with the hobby and realized I had some complete sets, I decided to store the sets in those DIY cardboard boxes. There are a few sets (attempt at master set) and player collections I have that I keep in binders such as 2008 A&G, 2010/11 UD North Carolina and eventually 2002 Donruss Estrellas. I also keep GU, auto and #d parallels in binders along with notable RCs.
 
Very good topic. Ever since I started collecting when I was 8 or 9, I've always kept my cards in binders and in a certain way. I organize them by division, AL East, Central, West and then NL and chronologically. I remember a couple years later I wanted to switch it up and just have no organization but I quickly went back to how it was lol. Later on when I got serious with the hobby and realized I had some complete sets, I decided to store the sets in those DIY cardboard boxes. There are a few sets (attempt at master set) and player collections I have that I keep in binders such as 2008 A&G, 2010/11 UD North Carolina and eventually 2002 Donruss Estrellas. I also keep GU, auto and #d parallels in binders along with notable RCs.


well i think the binder thing is better for presentation, especially if you're really proud of a certain collection. i thought gu/autos were a no no in binders?

are they any specific pages/binder books that are considered better than others? might want to look into that. also, how do think cards work in binders, special pages?
 
Yeah it's best not to put the GUs and autos in the pages and stuff but I do it anyway. I keep my better GUs and autos in toploaders. There is a specific type of page you can keep toploaders in and a binder for those pages. You'll have to do some searching around for it, it's very rare and probably expensive. I just saw one person had em a couple years ago. As for regular cards, the best protective pages to use in my opinion are Ultra Pro Platinum. BCW and Ultra Pro's Silver or whatever else is fine but the UPP is heavier, stronger and better. You down with UPP? Sorry I couldn't resist.
 
No problem. I learned to keep it flat the hard way. Because the pages are heavier with the toploaders, the holes on the left side can rip when its stored upright. First page is like that and the next couple are very weak.
 
I use toploaders with penny sleeves for all my "hits" and penny sleeves for all the #ed cards. Base go into seperate boxes, unless I have built the set or are attempting to built it, then they go into their our smaller box.
 
You have received good and thorough advice in this thread.

I would like to add my advocacy for binders as a preferred
storage and presentation choice.


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I really don't know of a reasonable alternative to the
binder when one is trying to "kill two birds with one
stone." To relegate our treasures to a box does an
injustice to the time, efforts and finances that we
apply to our collections.

As I stated earlier, you have received wise counsel
on this subject. I just add my opinion and experience
as a reinforcement.

Collect Hard!,
RGBII
 
Richard, I was waiting for you to comment in this thread.

Your pictures, as always are a pleasure. I swear your collections are sick! (that means good by the way :p)
 
Yep I like Richard's collections. I wish I had the money (and an easily accessible hiding place) for collections like that. :LOL:
 
Before I got back from my post "junk years" hiatus from the hobby I had almost all of my cards in binders, then something happened and my collection exploded. I started getting lazy about not putting new cards in the binders and then I made an attempt to re-organize my cards. The baseball I re-organized from organized by year/manufacture/set to Alphabetical by player's last name. Well first of all at the time I only had enough binders for some of my baseball collection so somewhere around the middle of the "M"s or maybe a little farther along got regulated to boxes. When I started online trading most of my collection was now in boxes somewhat organized but in a combination binders and boxes. Then it exploded again as I would take cards from the binders to add to trades and I lost track of some stuff. It was the beginning of my "card hoarding". It isn't fun having a collection stored in mostly boxes and not remembering what is where. So I need to re-organize again. I am getting back to having baseball sorted by years/sets but now things get more difficult once you get into the '90s with all the extra chase sub-sets and chrommy stuff and then the obligatory Auto cards and those silly GUs.

I have my 1950s- 1979s done. I am working on the 80s and have some of those done, plus I have what little 90s I've got mostly done. The 2000s and 2010s are mixed together right now because it is getting difficult to identify some of them. The card manufactures like to put too many design elements into each set so sometimes you don't realize that two totally different looking cards are part of the same set, then you discover they are numerically next to each other. ACK!

As I'm sorting the Baseball I have them in mega Monster boxes I got from my Local Card Shop. I got 4 of the 5,000 count and I pretty much needed all 4 just for baseball. After I'm though with the sorting they will go back into binders by year/set etc...

My goal is to have everything in binders. Except what few GUs I will keep, and some of the higher end Autos.

Other sports, which thankful I usually kept by year, but like all sport the most recently acquired ones were just put into boxes.

Basketball I've got so few and only collect Bullets/Wizards that they all fit in one thinner binder.
Hockey I'm about 1/2 though and is in 2 almost 3 binders.
Football I have about 6 or 7 binders and tons and tons unsorted in tons of odd-sized boxes
Non=Sport 8? Binders tons of boxes.

Sorry didn't mean to make this post this long but just sort of rambled on and on. I sometimes do that and don't know when to shut up.
 
My collection has evolved for over the past 40 years. I have stored, organized, cataloged, changed, moved more times than I can remember. I am constantly looking for way to better store and catalog my collection. Wish it was easy to do but with well over 75,000 cards it can be daunting. So listed below is how I have attempted to store my and organize my collection.

This is how I store my collection

The Ultimate Hockey card Catalog (one card for every set ever made, (euro, main, insert, parallel, minor promo)
Storing these by year for 1990 to present, decade for the periods before. Was trying to put in sequence with spaces for wants in-line with my excel spreadsheet but find it difficult with cards sets found that are not listed in my spreadsheet.

Colorado Avalanche Catalog
Storing these cards by player in binders, I use to store them by year, might go back to that. For the GU and Auto I have those in P-touch holders in two monster boxes by player.

Boston Bruins Catalog
Just in a monster box for now but will transfer to binders by player.

My set collections are in binders.
My auto collection is in a binder alphabetical.
PC's are in binders in sequence with missing cards spaced.

Now on to the trade list items are presently in boxes by year, possibly going to a player sort for the star players. This has been the hardest thing about my collection, trying to figure out a better way to store and catalog that makes it easier to find cards for trade, sell and to donate.
Real curious to find out how others have setup their trade list, store and catalog.

List by player?
List by team?
List by set?

What do you prefer when looking through a tradelist?
How do you store and catalog your collection?
Does anyone use a program, dbase, excel to catalog their collection? If so what?
Any suggestions or comments?

.
Mark
 
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