Card Organization/Storage Question

[4reals]

When I started my Dodgers collection 10 yrs ago I began the habit of putting every card into a penny sleeve, then into a toploader, then into a shoebox. Unfortunately, having them in a shoebox keeps me from being able to enjoy looking at them as much as I'd like and from showing them off to friends.

I would like to begin the tedious task of transitioning the cards into binder pages. I thought about purchasing these binders and pages:

http://www.toploaderbinder.com/shop.php

That would allow me to keep the cards in their current toploaders but it just isn't cost effective...I'd rather spend my money on cards.

I guess what I'd like to find out is whether ultrapro or anyone else sells pages that hold cardsaver 1's? That way I can put my cards into cardsaver 1's and then put those into vinyl binder pages. I've been to the ultrapro website but it isn't clear if any of their pages hold cardsaver 1's.

I appreciate any feedback I get.

[robsbessette]

I used to do the same thing, but missed seeing my cards as well. I recently moved them all to binders with ultra pro pages. No penny sleeves, though. I collect raw and am not a real stickler for condition, so being able to flip through the pages, made all the difference in the world for me. Very happy with my decision. Now I just have a million top loaders lying around!

[darkhorse9]

Ultra Pro sells tons of sizes and shapes for pages. I don't think there's anything specific for Top Loader 1's, but they do sell four pockets that will hold them.

I guess it all depends on what neatness and organization is worth to you. Like the poster above I collect raw in binders and it's real cool and easy for thumbing through.

[the 'stache]

I've just begun scanning my valuable cards. They will be on my website so I can look at them anytime I want, as well as share them with my friends. They are all stored in Ultra Pro one-touch magnet cases, and graded team bags, and stored in boxes. Eventually those boxes will be in a safe, along with my graded cards stored in MJ Roop boxes. My sets will be in binders to look at.

[Bocabirdman]

I find that if you take a rubberband and wrap it around a pile of cards, stacked numerically, as many times at it takes to get a nice indentation in the side of the top and bottom cards, they stay together nicely when you throw them into the back of the closet.

[4reals]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

I've just begun scanning my valuable cards.

Bill, I've thought about scanning them too but I really just enjoy holding them and seeing them in front of me as opposed to on a screen. I really can't explain it but it's the same feeling I get when reading a book, I'd rather actually feel the pages and turn them than use an e-reader or tablet. But that's just me.

[the 'stache]

4reals, trust me, I'm the same way. I'm going to try the way I described....but you could put down money in Vegas that this won't work for me long term, and I'd say it's a safe bet that you'd make a fortune.

I'm torn, really, between protecting the cards, and being able to appreciate them the way they should be appreciated. I remember when I was a kid, and I got my first Star Wars action figures for Christmas. My first two figures were Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. I ripped them open, popped their lightsabers in, and I couldn't stop playing with them. The feel of the figures in my hands, the smell of the plastic...I still remember the feeling. They were meant to beenjoyed. Darth Vader and Luke are supposed to have lightsaber fights, and they can't do that stuck to a card, and behind a plastic case (ok, I'm still a kid inside, lol). Now I go on Ebay, and I see the same figures commanding huge sums of money when they're on a mint "card". They put them behind these heavy plastic protectors, and have them graded. I'm thinking "they're toys, they're meant to be played with".

Baseball cards are the same. I loved the hobby as a kid because I could rip open a pack of Topps, pop a slab of pure sugar into my mouth (one that lost all flavor within three minutes), and I'd flip the cards over and start memorizing the stats. I stacked them up, traded them with my friends. It was fun! Now as soon as I get a card worth anything, I freak out if there's the slightest flaw. I'm looking at them under a magnifying glass, or a loupe, and sticking them in one touches, and then packing them away. But while I'm doing this, it just feels....wrong. I understand that they are investments. I have no illusions about making money off of them, but I would like to keep them in good shape nonetheless, because I am spending so much money on them. But the little kid in me says "pop that Bowman Chrome Mike Trout rookie out, and look at it. Mike Trout SIGNED this. It's mean to be appreciated!"

Truthfully, what will end up happening is I'll get my safe, and my best cards will still be in one touches, and graded card bags. But I'll be opening that damned safe up at least twice every day, and there will end up being 50 cards sprawled all over my bed.

I don't think, as a true lover of the sport and the hobby, that there is a perfect solution.