Featured Post

A TCDB Surprise Card from mpdillard25!

How Do You Organize?

I hope I have you all fooled.

I try to keep my blog nice and tidy.  I try to keep my want list updated and easy to read.  I try to keep my various "for trade" lists updated and easy to read as well.  Heck, I even try to keep my various card series (like my Barry Larkin Collection series) updated and easy to read.  In general, I try my best to make things on my blog easy to find and easy to read (which in turn hopefully makes trades easy to complete)!

Move away from my blog though, and it's a bit of a different story...  Oh sure, I try to be organized.  I have a four full bookshelves of binders with cards organized by set and card number tucked away in 9-pocket pages.

I also have an old printer stand that I use to store some of my "extra" cards along with a few cards that need to be sorted.  All things considered, it's mostly organized.

So you might be thinking, big deal - you're organized.  Well, here's where it falls apart - I have a pair of white cabinets, plus a couple of drawers and shelves (not shown) that all basically look like this:

Yikes!

Here are my questions for you:
1.  I'm on the fence about whether I want to keep my various binders as they are OR if I want to take all the sets that I have no plans to complete out of 9-pocket pages to free up some space for future binders.  That would also mean that the cards that are removed from the binders would become trade bait.  Suggestions?

2.  For those of you who are team collectors - a couple of specific questions:

  • 2A.  How do you organize your team cards?  Do you use 9-pocket pages?  Do you keep each set together in card number order?
  • 2B.  How do you keep track of your cards?  Do you use some sort of team checklist or have you made your own?

3.  What do your card storage areas look like?

I'll probably be away from the internet for another day or two (this post is pre-written) so leave a link in the comments below if you choose to turn your reply into a post on your own blog.  I'm also debating about building a new wood bookshelf (with drawers) specifically designed for my baseball card collection.  Has anyone attempted to do such a thing?  I'm thinking about having a drawer with slots for the 30 MLB clubs so that I can keep my trade bait in an easy to find (yet organized) place.  Of course, I'd have to develop my own plans for such a piece of furniture...unless someone out there has already thought of this idea and actually constructed such a thing.

Leave your comments below - I'll be sure to read them all as soon as I can!

Comments

  1. most sets, all team sets, and most player collections go into binders. You can't look at stuff if they're in boxes.
    as for lists, I made my own Braves team set list on Excel, divided first by brand, then set, then year. I have a printed version to take with me to shows (no tablet yet) and I post a wantlist online for all my blogging friends.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My team collection is in binders, organized by year and set except for auto's which I have in their own dedicated pages.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I have the Master List and Master Binder for my Orioles Autograph collection. The list has eveyone to play, what I have and if anything is needed. The binder also has a slot for every player/card or nameplate if they are needed.

    I have two custom made shelves for my cards. They are adjustable to handle binders or monster boxes as necessary. Here is a link to my new man cave, third picture shows the desk and shelving units.

    http://www.eutawstreetcardboard.blogspot.com/2012/02/without-further-ado.html

    ReplyDelete
  4. 95% of all cards go into 9 pocket pages in 1 inch binders arranged by team. Cards go into the binders based on the order in which I acquire them. The binders are stored on a similar bookshelf to yours. Unfortunately, I am running out of room on my bookshelf and in my binders. I also have a place for miscellaneous cards too.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I keep all my Red Sox in two monster boxes organized by year, set and card number. (doubles go in different monster boxes. When I complete a team set I put it in a binder. since 08 I started putting all the cards in a binder. It was way easier with Fleer gone and even easier now with no UD.

    ReplyDelete
  6. All my Virdon cards go in a binder only it has 4 card pages rather than 9 card pages in it and I put the cards in top loaders before I put them in thepages.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh man, where do I begin. First off, I recently posted something that I assembled in a make-shift fashion using shoe cubbies and cardboard inventory trays. The post only shows one cubby, but I have assembled the second one. There are 30 slots and I'm thinking that once I get things cleaned up and organized, I'll end up devoting one to each of the MLB teams. I might move them to a larger trade box from there, still not sure about that.

    All of my player collections are in top loaders which are in monster shoe boxes. Those are the ones with three rows in them. Sports sets are in boxes. There's no way I'd ever be able to store all of my sets in binders, there's far too many. I do have my non-sports sets in binders though. Then there's a bunch of other stuff that's all over the place. I'd take pictures of it, but I fear that would end up in Hoarders wanting to send over a film crew with the current state that it's in.

    ReplyDelete
  8. For my Giants collection...

    I have a master spreadsheet I pulled from Beckett online for all the Giants cards. I use one worksheet per year and sort alphabetically. The first column gets an "X" if I have the card. I also have a column for the serial number if it has one. Since I subscribe to Beckett online, I also list the listed BV in a column.

    I recently finished setting up binders with 9 pocket pages and I again keep them in order by year and alphabetically just like my spreadsheet. If it is a set I am likely to complete like a Topps base set, I leave open spots in the binder for the new cards I hope to get, if it is a more oddball issue I don't leave a gap.

    My "hits" (GU and Auto) are kept in top loaders and in a storage box alphabetically by last name.

    I am working on a comprehensive want list for my blog right now and plan on going into some more detail and showing a couple pics and screen shots to show how I do it.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Team sets in binders, numerical order. And I have a want list as well as a have list on Google documents.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment