Thursday, June 18, 2009

How Do You Store Your Collection?

This is a cry for help in a sense. I have to find a better way of organizing and showcasing my collection.

What I've been doing is keeping Markakis and Jones cards in a separate box (middle box in the photo below), All other Orioles cards in penny sleeves, in the box on the right, and all other "hits"/trade bait in the wooden box on the left.

Below is the table, that sits above the boxes we just spoke about. As you can see by the random stacks of cards on the table, I am out of penny sleeves, and room in the Orioles box.
Does anyone have any suggestions for organizing/storing my Orioles collection? I know there's the binder route, which I am considering. My only issue with it is that something seems so childish about storing cards in a binder. I think the main reason for my saying that, is that's how I stored my cards as a kid, and the simple fact that I haven't looked at a binder since 7th grade. This is 2009, I was hoping there would be a better way. Ideally, I'd like to keep my Markakis and Jones collections in a separate box or boxes. Then there's the growing Oriole Hall of Famer collection I've got going. That shouldn't be trapped in a binder, those are cards for the world to see! Is there any real way to "showcase" your collection, instead of confining it to binders and boxes?

Lastly we have my random boxes of commons. One of these (I don't even know which one) holds the 2008 Allen & Ginter set I just completed. That I think, will definitely go in a binder. I really have no idea what's in the rest of these boxes. They must be the cards I cast aside after busting a box, or pack.
HELP ME! Does anyone have a storage/organization system that works well for them? I've got to take back my living room... and soon!

8 comments:

  1. I have the same problem! But I am working on it. I put sets in binders and the rest in penny sleeves and/ or toploaders into 1600 count boxes. That seems to be working for me right now.

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  2. Well, aside from taking every card, putting each one in a frame, and nailing them all to the wall, I can't think of a better way to showcase your cards than in a binder. That's where the majority of my cards are.

    Special cards like autos, some relics, and pricey numbers, are in their own top loaders and secured away. I wish I had a better system for those. I think if you got some sort of small cabinet with drawers, where you could stand your cards up, each in its own toploader, that would be good. That's what I'd like.

    Some may display them like picture frames on a desk? I guess that's only feasible if you don't have a ton of them.

    A shocking number of my cards are in shoeboxes, which seems much more archaic than binders.

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  3. As a team collector I put any team set that I am currently trying to complete in binders. I put all of the other team cards in a monster box sorted by year and then set. In addition to that I put anything to expensive to go in the binder (stuff like Ted Williams, Yaz cards, etc..) in toploaders inside team bags in a monster box. Plus any Youkilis that isn't in a team set goes into a snap case. So basicly I have 2 monster boxes and a couple binders. Works for me. (if you go the monster box route make sure you buy the ones that fit top loaders some are to narrow)

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  4. I use monster boxes sorted by team, with penny sleeves for "good" cards (hall of famers, my favorites, shiny inserts). My TTM autos are in a small box for now by themselves but will shortly go into a binder. My Darryl Strawberry cards are in a binder. My relics/autos pulled from packs are in top loaders in a fireproof lock box... yeah, I overvalued them a bit when I pulled them all... but will end up in a box by themselves.

    I really couldnt think of a better way to organize than by team. Within each team's row the cards are organized by year and set.

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  5. I have most of my collection stored the same as you. I've got one box for PC autos and jerseys, one box for PC stuff like numbered parallels and one box for other hits. Then I keep the base and whatnot in big boxes.

    However, I have a frame which showcases some of the highlights of my collection. It's usually some of my newer pickups, but sometimes I get tired of a card and rotate something else in there. You can see it here:
    http://lh5.ggpht.com/_50mNaYtQ4Q4/Seur5YvINEI/AAAAAAAAB_4/ZC8eUdm4FXk/s800/CIMG0290.JPG

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  6. My girlfriend had a great idea for displaying some of her favorite cards. We bought some cheap crown molding at Home Depot, cut it in half and then cut a slot in the top to hold cards to display. So we essentially have two card "shelves".

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  7. Groat- I gotta get me one of those.

    O's Magic- That's a great idea as well, and economical. It would be nice to showcase some of my better cards.

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  8. I made a shadow box with a piece of 2x4 and a cheap $3 20x26 frame. Used some floorboard cut to the right size to make shelves.

    Cardboard on the back of the contraption to seal it, and wrapped the card board in teal fabric. Would show off 20 cards if it wasn't filled with Auto'd baseballs.

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