Storing and enjoying cards in binders
 

So I know its been mentioned, quite possibly more than once on the boards but wanted to revisit the way of storing and enjoying card sets. I recently began the "migration" back to binders from CardSaver 1's. Yeah I did and still do have most of my in progress sets in Card Savers but I notice that one can enjoy as well as a binder. Binders take up less room and i guess when you have no plans to sell just enjoy and pass down it seems more effective for enjoyment. Anyone with me on this? The 78 Topps baseball set which I am 41 cards from completion along with the 81 Topps football set I enjoy storing in binders. I was able to purchase a beautiful (and not like my norm a centered solid NMMT 81 set) a few years ago from a board member. I love to hear other stories of how the set collectors enjoy looking through these beautiful pieces of pasteboard. Please share if you get time.....

Hi Robert

I have most of my sets in binders. All of my sets up to 1995 are in binders.

The sets from 1965 (the first year I collected) on are set up by team. The league leaders are usually first, then world series cards, all-star cards and then checklists. Then each team. For the teams, the first slot is the team card and the second is the manager card. Stars and favorite players are in the "center square".

Sets prior to 1965 are in numerical order.

I only have one card per slot so I can also view the back of the cards. I look at a different set probably 2 or 3 tines per week. Brings back great memories. Many cards have their own story (last card in a set or series if I can remember., etc.)

Also have at least one wrapper for each set. Some of my favorite cards are the checklists I marked up as a youngster and stull proudly display.

Good luck and enjoy!

Mike

Mike that is awesome!! Thank you for sharing. I do that as well in regards to only putting one card in. I'm kinda odd and enjoy reading the backs of cards. Some nights I pull out a set i am working on and just read the backs until I fall asleep and have PT in the morning. So many good memories with cards. I still remember the taste of the square gum, powdery yet we still chewed it. Every card was looked at......favorite players or teams being put to the side then (in my case) a lot went into groups with a rubber band around em........there was not grading then.....just pure enjoyment. I also agree that the checklists ......though at the time i may have shunned them are quite essential to the complete set nowadays. Just wish i would have saved the wrappers. Have a few but none from my childhood. If a pack wasn't so high i would get an 81 football just to keep and look at.......but for now....its a pipe dream.

Never, ever, anything odd about reading the backs of baseball cards. I did that today while looking through my 1976 set. Just think of them as a large book with each card being its own little chapter, complete with a picture.

Butch agreed! Never though of it like that also....it is a book. Good point indeed. :)

Have a few hundred 75 Topps i am putting in pages tonight........good gosh this is great. So so far from this set but nice to see it done. Took a label maker and made a nice stamp for the binder. One of my college kids is tying to get the 75 pack and make a graphic.......with her touch on it for display. Very fun now i have my college kid involved. This is cool

I just recently finished a complete run of Topps sets from 1953 to present including Traded / Updates. It has been a 16 year project. All of them are in albums. I wouldn't have it any other way.

<a href="https://postimg.cc/JsVnxB8y" target="_blank"><img src="https://i.postimg.cc/XYXCVwDg/20210712_100829.jpg" alt="20210712_100829"/></a>

<a href="https://postimg.cc/94cf55rC" target="_blank"><img src="https://i.postimg.cc/g0ZLhGpX/20210712_100844.jpg" alt="20210712_100844"/></a>

Now that is what I call a nice library. Congrats on the quest.

Did anybody else look at Shane's pictures and think that he's rubbing it in our faces because he has a box of Card Saver 1's? Hopefully that puppy is insured. ;)

That is one impressive run on Topps sets...well done!

That made me laugh, Bob!

I appreciate the comments. As I have said before, I'm just glad Topps didn't make a set in 1952. I can't imagine how expensive that would be! :eek: ;)

Fantastic display Shane, but don’t forget those 51 Topps

Thanks, Al. However, since Topps didn't make one in 1952, I highly doubt they made a set in 1951! Duh! ;) :D

(If I'm wrong on those statements please don't correct me! LOL)

My that is beautiful! Like how your binders are standardized as well. Mine are just from Staples and not anywhere near the beauties that you have. I do like the Shelving idea also........now to rent some space in the house

Thanks for the encouraging comments. I have loved the 16 year project. This is what the hobby is all about for me!

Since we are talking about albums, I have to post a picture showing my Cardinals team set collection. My Cardinals team set project started in 2002 so I have been at that project for 19 years. This project takes priority over even the Topps run.

<a href="https://postimg.cc/zbbmY36D" target="_blank"><img src="https://i.postimg.cc/G2zbYyjD/20200907-085742.jpg" alt="20200907-085742"/></a>

Very impressive run, Shane, nicely organized!

I have my in-progress vintage sets (nearly complete 60 and 65 sets, 2/3 complete 56 set) in binders. I had started and nearly finished my 60 and 65 sets 15 years ago and suddenly lost interest. Then, like many others, I came back to the hobby during the pandemic. I started a 56 set a few months ago with the thought that I would transfer everything (except for the high dollar cards) from card savers once I had the set 2/3 complete. I hit that mark a few weeks ago and spent a Saturday filling the binder. I don't have as many cards coming in the mail as I did a few months ago, just a few cards a week. This gives me an excuse to pull out the binder and flip through the pages. I'm sure others who prefer storing/displaying their cards in binders can attest to how deeply satisfying it is to fill binder pages, card by card, over time.

The Cardinals team and auto project of your is awesome Shane

The bulk of mine are in toploaders, though I have also have a nonzero percentage in slabs and binders. I keep going back and forth about whether or not I should standardize everything, but I like being able to look at them one at a time in toploaders/slabs, and flip through the pages in binders. If UltraPro made a page for 1950s Topps that allowed them to be displayed vertically, I might make the jump to all binders.

I am way in the minority, but I always want to keep raw cards in sleeves, card savers, and top loaders.

Even as a teen during the junk wax era, I never liked using binders (even moreso for anything worthwhile.) The advantage of a quick multi-card display was never enough to sway me.

But I know most people love them. I should have a giveaway with mine that I never use :p

I enjoy putting complete sets into binders then flipping through them from time to time. Nothing like putting a set in a binder and then it sitting there untouched forever. I try to wait until I'm about 2/3 or 3/4 of the way through before putting into said binder.

I also build Rangers Topps team sets. Those start in 1972, and I have all team sets built through 2019. Not sure if I have a complete 2020 Topps set, and I know my 2021 team set isn't complete yet. I've been thinking about trying other team sets (Fleer, Donruss, Pacific, etc). But commons are so hard to come by because nobody really keeps them anymore.

But I love looking at everyone's storage pictures. Gives me ideas, makes me jealous, etc. I just enjoy the hobby and being able to collect.

However, a buddy of mine has every Topps set from 1953 through 1975. Everyone of the the cards are in penny sleeves and toploaders, no matter if a $1k BV Mantle or a 50 cent BV common from 1975. He bought out a library's collector of card catalogues and used those to store his complete sets. I'll try and get a picture for everyone to see. It's a neat idea, but I enjoy flipping through the sets too much to just store them in a card catalogue.

I always have, and always will be a binder card. Kept in numerical order.

Wow, great displays. I wish I had the amount of room some of you have for binders. I have Topps sets from 51 on (I don't have the updates just the base sets), but most are in 550 to 800 count boxes depending on the set size. Sets from 1951 to 1956 are the only ones in binders.

I use clamshell binders from Unikeep.

https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/a48...0&odnBg=ffffff

I've migrated all of my older cards from Card Savers to mylar holders. New stuff goes into Card Savers. I put the holdered cards into pages with # of pockets varying by card size. My tobacco cards are in mylars that fit 9-pocket pages, for example.

https://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...olored%203.jpg

It probably wouldn't be good for sets but it is perfect for my random bric a brac/type card approach.

I used to use binders, but because I do master sets and kept finding new cards that weren't uncatalogued (necessitating taking the cards out and moving them one slot over all the time to keep them in order), I moved to top loaders. Then I decided that level of protection vs. space accomplishes nothing for me, and just used penny sleeves. And then I decided that since I intend to own until death, I really don't give a hoot if 1 card gets a dinged corner at some point, so 95% of it is now without any pockets, sleeves, plastic or binders, in numerical order in cardboard boxes sorted by period. Nothing has been significantly hurt by being raw so far, blasphemous as it is.

I just like to pull and flip through albums while watching Star Trek so boxes don't work for me.

Beautiful displays!!!

This... took my breath away and I don’t smoke anymore... nice!!!

Wonderful display, Mark! I did however catch something that you might want to change. Looks like you need to swap 1986 and 1987. They are out of order. LOL!

Who is that on your 1987 binder? I thought it might be Lance McCullers, but I was wrong. I think it was a pretty good guess if I do say so myself!

I love what you did with the spine of the binders. Are those real cards or are they printouts? If they are real cards are they duplicates? How did you choose who is featured on the spine? That might be something I want to look at doing instead of a simple label. I actually thought about attaching the wrapper of a pack. I have a wrapper for each set except for 1953 and 1956. If I did cards on the spine, I might just go with a Cardinals player on each.

Frank his binders are stellar fir sure... I’m trying to figure out where to get em... I’ve been thinking empty wax wrappers to display but love that idea

I don't think I'm quite as neat as some of you folks.

Still....I bet there are some nice cards / sets in there!

One thing that has always bugged me about mine is that the labels are not the same size. Those plastic pouches are different heights and it is hard enough to get those thin pieces of paper in there. One of these days I am going to fix that. It might be easier with the wax wrapper idea. I just need to figure out how to attach them.

One other thing I want to add....I have placed older plastic pages on top of my albums all the way across to keep dust from settling on the top of the top cards.

Shane,
How do you organize your Cardinal team sets? Are they Topps regular team sets and updates? Do you get subsets for each year? Too many questions. I’m curious as I have a Topps Detroit Tiger run from 1952 to current. But I don’t have that many binders. Like you I also try to get cards signed.

Looks like each card is a HOFer, and that’s Gossage for 87T (sandwiched between 85T Ryan and 86T Carew).

These are all fantastic.

I have always stored my binders horizontally out of perhaps an irrational fear that standing them upright would somehow cause the pages to sag and damage the cards over time. Is this a concern for anyone else?

Yes, I used to put my partial sets in binders, and it is a concern with larger sets that are less complete, like the handful of 72 High numbers I have. Fortunately none were on the lower right corner of a page.
For some reason it's less of a problem if the set is nearly complete or complete.

But when I started moving away from binder I lived in a fairly small apartment, and they just took up too much space. Everything I had from 52-59 fit in one 3200 ct box, or the shoebox boxes once they shrunk the 3200s.
That was much easier to fit than 8 binders full of mostly empty pages and f-g cards.

I am not concerned about that at all. Some of those sets I have had in albums for over 15 years. Not a problem.

Thanks for the catch. The 1987 card is Goose Gossage. Every player in the spine is a Hall Of Famer (or should be or will be). Starting at 1957 (plus 1951) they are all original cards and are duplicates from what's in the set. Earlier years are official insert reprints from various Topps sets.
The 1951 Binder includes the 1950 Bowman as well as both 1951 Topps sets and the 1951 Bowman set.

So you really have 51B and 52T Mantles and Mays in a binder? Do you have any additional protection for them other than the sheets?

How are you able to get over the anxiety? I would love to be able to look through my HOF collection in binders, but I haven't quite overcome the anxiety, and I don't have anything anywhere near that level of value.

My 51 Mantle and Mays are safely stored elsewhere. I don't have the 52 Mantle. The only sets I haven't completed yet are the 1949 Bowman and the high numbers of 1952. All the rest are done and all the cards are raw and with their brothers.

Yes, I have a 65T set in a 9-pocket 3-ring binder and the top left corners of the top left cards are starting to curl. They've been in the binder probably 20-25 years.

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I would guess that since they have been there for that long that your pages are the old style.... Thick sticky plastic and not newer Ultra pages? All of mine are in the newer Ultra pages.

I found a 1989 Hoops Basketball set in my garage that was in the old sticky plastic pages and they are awful. They were vending the cards.

They are mostly Ultra Pro Platinum but with BCW Pro mixed in.

Love the '65 set, with 15 HOF'ers (so far?) on the first page alone!!!

Enjoyed catching up on this thread this morning. I love all the pics of your binders. Like many here, I have gone back and forth on binders vs. toploaders, etc. but always go back to binders because of how great it is to (carefully) flip through the pages. I wanted to share a little about how I collect. I am in the process of building back the sets I collected as a kid (73-79). I am doing this for enjoyment AND to pass on to my kids at some point. As I build each set, I approach the project like a glimpse into my childhood. As a result, I try to build a time capsule for each year. In addition to the set, I include all variations of that year’s wrappers because the ads bring back so many memories (t-shirts, lockers, etc). I also include a copy of that year’s Street and Smiths Baseball Yearbook. As a kid, the arrival of new cards and the new Street and Smiths went hand-in-hand. Flipping through the yearbooks is an absolute joy, especially looking at the ads from the various dealers! Finally, I create a short narrative with information on the set and specific memories that the set holds for me and what I was doing at that point as a kid. While I do this to inform my kids when they get the cards one day, I find that it also helps me relive some awesome memories.

Sorry for the long post, but just wanted to share my projects and thank all of my fellow “binder folks” for the continuing inspiration.


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Even though I don't do that personally, I love the idea of the Street and Smith yearbook going with each set. I don't have the memory of the yearbooks like you had so it would not make sense for me. But building and recreating memories is what it is all about. Having your personal archive with a personal touch it's a great way to collect

I do however remember the Street and Smith basketball yearbook in the late 1980s and early 1990s with Michael Jordan on the front. I still have them. As a teen kid I collected all of the Sports Illustrated covers with Jordan on the front and sold them off years ago regrettably. A couple of years ago I collected them back and still have them.

After I sold the majority of my collection 20 years ago I went back to collecting the sets I put together as a kid, starting with the 73 - 77 time frame. This collection I sold included complete sets from the early 60's, a few 50's complete sets and a variety of stuff that was all in binders.

With the current collection sleeves and top loaders was my storage method. I hated leafing through the top loaders and went to card savers but it was such a pain to pull out the boxes and look at the sets I generally never did. Last year, after I completed my '56 Topps set that is in card savers, I started the 65 Topps set and decided to put them in pages as I had a stack of them laying around. I never really loved the design of the '65 set but soon changed my mind as I put them in pages and admired the beauty of the design. Fast forward to the last few months and I have now put all of my sets, except for the '56 in sleeves and am happy I did it. It is so much easier to just grab the binder and look through these cards and truly enjoy them and not just collect them.

Just being honest - and it's fine if I'm the only one - but I hate binders, and have for a long time. Today I have my first two childhood sets (1986 and '87 Topps) in large binders, but that's the only thing of consequence - to me, even if they aren't worth much monetarily.

Growing up they all just seemed to fall apart, and eventually the (less than 21st century quality Ultra Pro) pages seemed to get sticky or develop other problems. Of course, storing at least 2 cards front and back in each pocket probably didn't help me out much either.

Don't get me wrong, I don't disparage any of you who are binder fans. It's certainly more compact and economical in terms of storage for those of you who are given to caring about such things. But 95% of my collection is singles and stars, not sets, and just in terms of the physical space - stacks of toploaders, mag cases, and slabs aren't necessarily going to ruin me in my personal space at home assuming I collect for the next 20 years on roughly the same budget. In terms of the two sets I am actually working on right now - '67 and '72 Topps - I'm doing it the hard way, stubbornly collecting both in penny sleeves, card savers and toploaders, and then putting those into boxes. :mad:

Vintagevault13 that sounds awesome----love the stories.

I know I've posted this before a couple of years ago, but I thought some may have missed it (more likely most don't care).

I use 8 pocket pages and then keep each card in its own penny sleeve so I can pull it out with little fear of damage. It also tends to keep the sheet slightly "sturdier", although my biggest fear is still curling of the corner pockets.
I use mylar sleeves to provide an even stronger sheet. They tend to stick out a smidge, which is a slight distraction but also makes them easier to pull out.

Here are two examples--the Braves are stored in the usual penny sleeve in the larger size for 52-56 Topps, and the Twins use the Mylar. Sorry I did a lousy job of getting them still and aligned--these scans are from a couple years ago:
https://photos.imageevent.com/imover...ge/68topps.jpghttps://photos.imageevent.com/imover...ge/66topps.jpg

I view the binders calendar style rather than book style; i.e. on my lap or table turning the pages up and over rather than left-right. A little out of the ordinary but really no big deal at all. I recommend this approach--just start with one set and see if you like it-- you can always scrap the idea and find another use for the 8 pocket sheets, I would hope.

Hi Todd

Can you post a link to where you get the Mylar sleeves?
Thanks
Chris

Sure. Here's one I have used:

https://tcverify.com/

These posts brought back a lot of memories from my childhood. I started like a lot of folks with rubber bands in a shoebox. At first I had Yankees in one box (my favorite) and everyone else in another.

Now, I'm going back to binders. This all came about because I am sick of PSA being so far behind and gouging at $200 per card. If I want, I'm going to SGC for higher end cards and the rest will be in binders, inside a penny sleeve, then in a 9 pocket sheet (Ultra Pro only). Has anyone used the pages for the graded cards? I do like the way their holders look with the black plastic holder. I plan to buy the graded ones and not worry about grading myself. And putting a Street & Smith's with them is a nice touch. I used to get either a Street or a Baseball Digest every year. Sometimes I even purchased a team or Jay Yankees yearbook. I would like to hear everyone's thoughts on the pages for the graded cards. I'm going to check to see if there's on that SGC holders will fit.

If you are talking about those 4-pocket, recessed pages that look like the graded cards “snap” into, I am interested in feedback on those as well. I just can’t seem to get the regular 4-pocket ultra pros to work right with slabs.

It seems those graded card pages were discontinued years ago by ultra pro (?) and the few I see on eBay are really expensive and not sure of the quality.

I love the idea of having a binder where 98% of the cards are secure in the standard 9 pocket sheets and the top stars/rookies are graded and displayed in two front pages. That’s kinda how I collect my sets anyway.

the tough thing I've found is that 9 pocket pages, if you put your card in a soft sleeve first before the page pocket, the fit is very tight. im now going to experiment with the 8 pocket pages on my 1960 set and see how it feels, with the 4 pocket pages + cardsavers at the front of the binder.

Thick page lifters front and back in a binder help immensely with curl.

Really...curved or flat?

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That is a good question about the lifters. Don't know if I would have thought of it. I have another question while we're talking about things, one set I want to do is the 1956 set. I assumed an 8 pocket page would work, but today I was on Ultra Pro's site and the specs said for cards 3 1/2" by 2 3/4". My '56 Elston Howard is 3 3/4" by 2 5/8", so what does everyone else use? I would prefer to stick with ultrapro. Thanks for any help you can give me.

The Ultra Pro 8 pocket pagwes work well with the 1956 Topps cards.

Mike

Attachment 476114

looks awesome. did you sleeve them before putting them in the album pages?

No, did not put them in sleeves. I have tried using sleeves with other sets and it seems to make the cards look a little dull.

I probably should try the mylar sleeves.

Mike

Do the Ultra Pro 8 pocket pages open at the top or on the side? I thought I had read somewhere that they opened in the top and cards tended to pop out of them some. I have older 8 pocket pages from BCW that open on the side, but I'm not sure what they are made of. However, I've had cards in them for over 20 years and haven't noticed any problems.

They open at the top.

I also had 8 pocket pages that opened at the side but that was many years ago and I replaced them as I was not sure what they were made of.

No issues with cards sliding out.

Mike

I just received a few of these plastic “snap” holders for PSA graded cards for experimentation. So far I dig them…good option for the few higher end graded cards in my 50s sets…I only have between around 8 of the main cards graded in each set so two of these snap sheets at the front of the binder seem to work.

Only problem is that these sheets aren’t “universal”…they don’t fit SGC. Has anyone ever seen these type of sheets that would accommodate SGC sized flips? Seems like there would be a market for it…but maybe I’m the only one that likes these…

some updated binder comments/thoughts, after trying a few different setups over the last few weeks.

Unikeep binders - For the price, they are good. You can get a 3 pack for $21 on amazon. Each binder will hold between 50-70 pages, depending on the thickness of the pages. The 8 pocket pages did not fit into them as well as regular 9 pocket, 15 pocket or 4 pocket pages. The ring system is flimsy, and I actually broke one of the rings unsnapping it. Once it breaks, its done, since its molded plastic

Lighthouse Vario binders - 100% the best option out there that I've tried. The pages move effortlessly from side to side, no snags or pressing against the rings. Bigger capacity than the unikeep binders, and the slipcase is nice. They are more expensive, but I believe they are worth the price at this point.

Agree on Lighthouse. I love them.

Wonderful thread everyone! It’s a bit pricy but for me it’s
baseball card binders.com, I use both ultra pro pages and sleeves too.

For the longest time I have been both a graded and raw/ungraded type collector but then when I started set collecting I noticed myself buying more Raw 1960 topps cards and putting those in the binder and it wasn't until now or a year or two ago that I may just get only raw cards and I love them. As mentioned I love reading the backs, the bios, stats, World Series cards, checklists, league leaders and the baseball thrills.

Now I may cracked out all my graded cards and start putting them in the binders since I am not going to sell them.

Wanted to throw my nickel's worth of 2 cents into the fray.

I just put my entire 1958 Topps set into penny sleeves and into binder. I used the Ultra Pro Premium penny sleeves, and the fit was a little snug on the card. But they slid perfectly into the pages each time. Never any crimping or messing up. I wanted to use penny sleeves so I can put the BV on the back of each card.
I also used the Ultra Pro Platinum pages, and everything worked just great.

I've already picked up the sleeves for my 1957 Topps set, and I've got the pages ready. As soon as I get this big lot I've got coming in and get them into their spot in the set, I'l put them into sleeves and into a notebook.

Got all my Yankees in binders...cdw albums never UltiPro...I leave spaces for all the cards I don't have yet.

Got several Gothic Cabinet Craft bookcases to hold them, added a made to order bookcase from a small business here in San Francisco and it looks great. You just can't use Ikea or big box store bookcases, they aren't strong enough for these heavy binders.

Something about looking at those rows of binders (over 100) and thinking about all the work and care that went into getting all those cards.