How do you organize your collection??

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Zdena

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I am curious how THE BENCH members organize their cards. Do you keep a box of stars for trading by name? Do you use a binder with pages for your inserts?

I would also like to find a sorting tray. Any help would be great.


zdena
 
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I used to keep my sets in binders but have started using boxes.

I keep some of my player collections (Bay, Garciaparra & Wilson) in binders. McCutchen goes in a box

I have all my tradable listed in the multi tray boxes by year and set. I keep the Inserts, GU and auto's by year separately.

Most Hobby Stores will have sorting boxes. They are like $5.

Shep
 
Commons and inserts I have in a binder by year. Game used and patches are in top loaders or snap cases (depending on thickness) sealed by a team bag, autos are in top loaders and then sealed in a team bag. The game used, patches, and autos are then stores in a monster box.

All autos and game used cards are scanned to my collection website before being stored away.

Steph
 
I keep my Phillies by year, oldest to newest, in brand name order within year. I have a little inventory database where I try to track everything - in cyberspace, they are also by year and then brand. Physically, and in the database, I keep my tradeables by brand, then by year. Whatever I do, I can't seem to ever find what I am looking for! :confused: Virtual never seems to match physical, that's why I have to pull 'em before I can say I have 'em!! :D
 
I keep my Sox collection by year alphabetically by brand in
albums. Sets by no in albums and boxes. What few trade cards I have are in sleeves and toploaders (by team) in a shoebox. The rest are stacked unsorted in closets etc.

The PC has a database by year, maker, no, player, date received and where or how received and a couple of columns for notes. I have a copy the database printed out, arranged by player then no then year and brand for shows and the like.
 
I keep all of my sets in binders,which can be a bit of a problem to store for me sometimes,But,I can't stand storing cards in boxes because of curling..All of my autos and high end game used and memorabilia is proudly dislayed throughout my home.Luckily my wife also collects so this is not a problem.Really it just depends on what works for you..
 
My HOF auto collection is in wall mount display cases. The Coner Jackson cards are in a binder. They are in order of year, GU and autos i scan and then cut and insert in the slot. This way I can tell what cards I need at a glance.
 
I have mine in boxes and/or binders by year, brand and then numerically. I also track everything in PC2001 software program I bought for $20. It does a great job of categorizing and you can enter whatever you want in the search box to search by. Also has a place for values, quantities, and multiple check boxes that you can title however you want. You can also link scans. There is a note section that I identify where the card is for easy locating.
 
Sets - different boxes for football/baseball/etc sorted by set year/set name/card number

PC - boxes with base in penny sleeves and rookies/parallels/inserts in toploaders in order by set year/set name. Also have a TTM box with every card in toploader and 1984 set in order by card number. This is the only box where I don't have something organized as I have just thrown in my other TTMs in the order they were received. (well i guess that is a form of organization isn't it?)

Cards for trade - different boxes for different sports. base/non rookies and low end inserts in a box with the cards over $1.00bv having a penny sleeve. have them sorted by year of set/set name/card number. have the inserts/parallels/gu/autos over $3.00bv in toploaders in a box. have a box for rookies in order by set year/set name/card number all in penny sleeves with the cards over $3.00bv in toploaders.
 
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I'm a set collector. Years ago I kept my sets in binders, but that took up too much space. Now I keep my sets in card boxes purchased at my local hobby store. But now they're taking up too much room. I've seriously been thinking about selling off a bunch of my sets, and I have a LOT of sets from ALL different sports. The sets I will continue to do will be Regular Topps baseball and Topps Heritage baseball. Anyone interested in buying some complete sets?
 
Right now, it's a nightmarish pile everywhere in my office...

Normally, I use 3200 ct. boxes with labeled ultra-pro tall sleeves as seperators....usually sorted by name, unless it's from a set which I have a ton of or recently busted...if it's a Twin or Viking, it just gets tossed in a random box full of Twins and Vikings...which I go through occassionally and sort by player :p.

Oh yeah...bucket-worthy hits or trade-bait go in a seperate box....which is starting to fill quickly....I need to get some scanning done!
 
I'm a set collector. Years ago I kept my sets in binders, but that took up too much space. Now I keep my sets in card boxes purchased at my local hobby store. But now they're taking up too much room. I've seriously been thinking about selling off a bunch of my sets, and I have a LOT of sets from ALL different sports. The sets I will continue to do will be Regular Topps baseball and Topps Heritage baseball. Anyone interested in buying some complete sets?

I used to collect lots of different sets ect.. When we moved from the farm to a apt. lots of things had to go. Traded, sold and gave away what I could the rest went in the trash. To younger collectors, you may have lots of room and extra cash now. In a few years things change. I now wish I had just put all my money and time on just one or two area's and i would have a better collection now.
 
I have two boys, 8 & 2 years old, so I don't want to sell everything. I want to save some for them when they get older.
 
My collection is fairly small compared to others I have seen (or heard about). I have just two drawers and some bookshelf space dedicated to my collection.

Probably more information than you cared for but here is how I have things set up. :p Actually, this is more helpful for me as I am looking to move some of these things and down-size the collection.

Drawer #1

1600 count shoe box
- 1 row all my tradebait
- 1 row PC autos and RCs

3200 count monster box
- 2 rows Yankee doubles (O'Neill/Rivera/Bernie/Tino/Mattingly)
- 1 row PC insert sets, misc. team sets in snap cases
- 1 row empty toploaders, snap cases, fillers, penny sleeves

Drawer #2
- 800 count box with Yankees Topps cards 1950-1979
- 800 count box with Yankees Topps cards 1990-2010
- 800 count box with 2001-2004 GOTG complete sets
- 800 count box with non-sport sets
- 500 count box with "unsorted" Rivera/O'Neill cards
- 1990, 1991 Topps Baseball Factory Sets
- 2 wooden cigar boxes with O'Neill Autos/GU

Bookshelf
- O'Neill binder #1 (1986-1998)
- O'Neill binder #2 (1999-2004)
- Mariano Rivera binder
- 1986-87 Fleer Basketball, O'Neill YSL binder
- Mattingly/Bernie "basic set" binder
 
I am also a set collector and have gone the 800 ct box route. I agree, these take up same space, but I wouldn'thave it any other way. My GF is ok with "my room" as long as they stay there. I organize my sets by brand, set and year. I keep my master sets separate from my doubles, which I also have sorted by brand, set and year. This helps me to find cards quickly when I am working on trades. I have all of my inserts separated out by brand, and my autos and GU stored in 600 Ct GU boxes.
Good luck on whatever you decide to do. Remember, it's YOUR collection, do what makes you happy.

Thanks,
 
I store them in the 9 pocket plastic sheets, side by side in 12x18 boxes. I put a 12x18 card stock sheet in between each 2-up sheet and fill a box. This has been especially useful with chrome type cards or other cards which tend to curl because the weight of the boxes piled up on top of each other keeps the cards nice and flat. It's been more efficient spacewise than binders...the drawback is its more work to look at my collection.
 
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