General Forum

My collection is always a work in progress. I have each Topps set (working on BB right now) in it's own binder. I have pulled out Topps Tigers and they have their own notebook, by year. My intention is to collect a second Tigers set to fill in. I have my Topps Lions in their own notebook, as I hope to get the football sets in notebooks next. One thing about this hobby, there is always something you can work on when there is nothing left around the house to do. All my other brands are in boxes until I decide what to do with them.

Oh, I misunderstood. I thought you were asking us for a way to store your collection, as opposed to getting ideas from the ay we store ours. No biggie.

Baseball:

I have all my commons in 5,000-count moster boxes. They are sorted by year, company, and numerically. They are all available for sale or trade.

I have my complete sets in either appropriate count boxes or in pages in binders. They are on shelves wherever they fit.

My Phillies collection takes up 9 binders. 10 if you include my son's Darren Daulton collection. They, oddly enough, are stationed on my floor right now, with the "newest 8" on the bottom (upright, not laying flat) and the oldest 1 laying flat on top with the Daulton binder on top as well.

HOFers are in 3 or 4 binders now. They are all over. Hence the reason I'm not sure on the count. I still have some that are in a 5,000-count box with current stars (HOF-in-waiting?) that I haven't sheeted yet. I have a 5,000-count monster with my HOF extras (filled! - they are available, too).

Thick cards (Silver sluggers, etc.) are in team bags with brand new top loaders in front and back and on a shelf on display.

Hockey:

Sets are all in binders (on shelves, in mostly chronological order). Commons are in 2 3,500-count boxes (same sort as the baseball). We have about 15-20 binders filled with player collections (and 1 misc Flyers binder). Somewhere, I have a box that has some inserts and parallels. (No Ranfords.)

Star Co.:

They are all over - mostly in large boxes (think larger than a case of paper). I do have my "set" in plastic bins (they should be in chrono-order). Mostly extras and MiLB sets in the large boxes. (They do get heavy - about 45-50 lbs each!)

Then there are the cards I'm actively trying to move - they sit on a table right next to me here. I honestly have more than I can deal with.

But that's how I have them. :)

Damn!!!! I mean aww shucks but thanks for checking vroomed!! =)

Getting organized is probably the biggest headache all collectors have but over the years, it does come around.  I collect mostly baseball, sets and select players (HoF and stars of my liking), no team sets so that avoids one issue for me.  Sets older than 1980 (+ a couple of others that came in the binders already) are kept in binders mostly all on the same shelf (the number of binders outgrew the one shelf).  They are in order by year and separated from Bowman, Topps and OPC. The remainder of the sets, 1981 or newer, when complete are stored in packing boxes by major company name.  Contents of these boxes are all detailed on my spreadsheets where I keep track of my want lists.  Uncomplete sets are stored on two large shelves, in alphabetical and chronilogical order, e.g. Bowman 1989, 1990, Donruss 1981, 1982 etc.  When a set is completed, it is double checked for completeness and then stored with other complete sets.

I separate HOF from the stars.  Hof are further separated between the older generation and more modern players, mid-70s being the artificial line.  HOF older cards (1987 or older) are in top loaders and stored alphabetically; newer cards are in binders.  When I don't have the sheets available, the remainder are in shoeboxes, always alphabetical and chronilogical order.  Modern stars hold the same rules on organization but the priority of plastic sheets goes to the HOF crowd.  All the binders are on two plus shelves near where I type this.

As for the remainder, trade bait, all organized by company e.g. Fleer, Topps, etc, secondary company names, e.g. Flair, Metal Universe, Skybox, chronilogical and card number.  This makes it very easy to pull the cards asked for in a trade.  It is well worth the time to get these organized (and entered into this database) as I can complete a trade in a day and have the cards sent off the next time I go out.  All of these are stored in everything from 3200 count to 5000 count boxes and then, for those great sets of the late 80s and early 90s, in boxes that hold 13000+ cards.

Being organized does make the hobby more enjoyable.  But as organized as I try to be, there is always a time when I can't find something.  Life goes on.

I only collect Phillies. I keep my collection in a 64 drawer library catalog by brand then by year. I keep all cards up Intel the 80's in soft than plastic sleeves. all newer are stored in plastic boxes. My for trade cards are in 5000 count boxes by brand and year. I have my baseball all in the data base. Still working on the rest. 

Funny you should mention a library file. I just stumbled across a nice oak 15 drawer library unit in a garage sale for $25. I snatched that right up and use it to store sets I am actively working on.

For my team collections: in binders by year and then alphabetical by player with team and manager cards first?

For my player collections: in binders, each player gets their own page(s) and they're in chronological order.

For any team or player collection graded cards: so far I've busted all of them out of their slab prisons and put them in the binder.

For any card kept in my safe deposit box or home safe: I print a copy (front and back) of the card and put that in the binder.

Oh, I like that idea of photocopying cards that I don't keep in the binder to have their place held for them. It will help so much when I try to sort out what I have and don't have.

Yes I agree that makes great sense especially for slabbed cards, thanks for the idea C2C!!!!

That is a great idea. Thanks for all the comments and ideas.