How do you display your vintage cards?

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Posted By: Gary B.

Having recently gotten back into vintage card collecting, I've been experimenting a bit in how to display my cards. At first I had cards in plastic sleeves that I would insert into the larger 9-card plastic sleeves that fit in a 3-ring binder. Then I came across someone who had all his cards in plastic sleeves that were then inserted into hard plastic holders and put in a nice box. I now have them this way, all in a cigar box, but my cigar box is starting to overflow. I have a fair amount of more modern cards that are still in notebooks, but these cards aren't valuable enough, nor do I care about them enough to display each one individually like I do with my pre-war cards.

What do Net54 people do? I've seen displays at art supply stores you can by to display your cards on little shelves inside a larger framed holder that you put on your wall. These look interesting, but I have very limited available wall space in my house that I could get away with using for baseball cards (the wife wouldn't like it much), and they don't seem very condusive for pulling out the card to look at the backs of them.

Maybe there's some cool way of displaying them that I haven't thought of. Right now I prefer to have them individually in hard plastic cases as opposed to notebook style, but I'm open to suggestions.

Also, if anyone has any scans of your display(s) you could post, that would be great...

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Posted By: Julie

..when someone wants to see them.And that includes all photos and harper's woodcuts as well. Asians never keep paintings on display--they keep them rolled up in cedar boxs or closed in albums.

Only exception is oils--they dson't fade.

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Posted By: Gilbert Maines

I am planning on changing some of my more valued cards from the 8 pocket looseleaf pages to 6 pocket pages, if this size allows me to store my cards in sleeves and top loaders prior to putting them into the pages. I hope they fit. I want more protection than the pages now offer.

This does not address the larger cards. Exhibits barely fit into 4 pocket pages and top loaders don't seem to be sized properly for lots of cards. Or at least I haven't found toploaders for OJs etc.

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Posted By: runscott

I think variety is the spice of card displaying - I have cards matted and framed as sub-sets, with autographs, with photos. Also have them in screw-down paperweights on my desk, sitting slabbed in little easels, etc.

The nice thing about the little plastic (or wooden) easels is that you can switch out slabbed cards when you get tired of one.

Here are some ideas for displaying photos - check out the mini-easels:

http://www.homestead.com/runscott/onthewall.html

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Posted By: Anonymous

I keep all of my vintage graded cards in nice binders purchased from www.mjroop.com. Ultra Pro makes molded pages to hold the slabs (GAI's fit in the psa pages) except for SGC cards. I put the sgc cards in the regular 4 slot binder pages.

The MJ Roop binders are very nice archival quality binders.

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Posted By: Josh K.

Opps, the anonymous post was from me.

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

I've got my cards in MJ Roop archival boxes and binders. The binders are pretty good; the boxes are basically cardboard. I wish someone would make a high end version of the archival box MJ Roop makes. It seems sad to have a lightweight box (though it looks good) holding high end, expensive slabbed cards.

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Posted By: john/z28jd

Cool display ideas Scott.

I literally have 3 cards on display and the rest are in hiding somewhere.

I had a Paddy Livingston t206 in a picture frame with his autograph on an index card underneath it.Also have another card i had triples of turned backwards next to it so i could display the back of a t206.

The other one is just a George Kell card and its on a little display piece,with one of those hall of fame plaque postcards and a baseball.All 3 are signed by Kell

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Posted By: David Vargha

In a box.

DavidVargha@hotmail.com

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Posted By: john/z28jd

Kevin Cummings has a unique way to store his OJ cards,he actually has a town set up and uses the cards as people,a recreation of a small town baseball scene from 1887.He has all the best players in the game,he uses commons for people in the stands that he hand built, has grin bradley telling stories to all the little children of his no-hitter [uses mascot cards from the OJ set] just outside the stadium.

It really is a great display that mustve taken years to perfect,but if you ask him its not done because far off in the corner is a empty podium with a crowd of players gathered around just waiting for the guest speaker.....and if you move in close enough to read the program being held by Walt Wilmot youll be able to see the following 'scheduled to appear at 430pm today, George 'Orator' Shaffer'

It was actually sad to see Kevin sit there almost with a lost look in his eyes as 430pm passed and Shaffer didnt show up.His wife said he sits there everyday and does this,hoping one day he will show up

Please help Kevin find this card so he can finish his display and share pictures with everyone.He said he wont till its completely done.

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Posted By: Anonymous

Jeff - which binders do you use - the ones with the slip cover or the "all in one" enclosed binders (my choice).

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Posted By: Julie

I'll just say: there is no enemy to art like the sun or electric light.

Sorry if I offended anyone before...

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Posted By: Crit Van Tuyl

I create special pieces and have them framed up. I am putting one together now. It is a San Diego piece with rookie cards Dan Fouts, Charlie Joiner and tight end Kellen Winslow.

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

I use the MJ roop binders with the slip covers. With the stamped binders, they actually look pretty good.

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Posted By: dennis

rjroop boxes...sounds like they look good but not too sturdy. worth the money????????? how about the binders??

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Posted By: Jason

I've gotten my vintage SGC graded and I store them in drawers in my bedroom. If anybody wants to see them I can just pull them out from there.

Having them graded is fine but the main reason I got my cards graded was because of the durable holder that I figured kept the card safe.

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Posted By: warshawlaw

and sheets as follows:

For graded cards: 4 pocket sheets

for ungraded cards: I put them in penny sleeves and then insert them into top loaders sideways, then cut down the top loaders so that they fit into 9-pocket sheets. if the cards are too tall to fit sideways into regular 3 x 4 top loaders, I use the next size up and put them into 6-pocket tall boy sheets. If they are too big for that (T227 comes to mind), I just put the top loaders into 4 pocket sheets.

I haven't found a good way to album store slabbed Exhibit and postcards yet.

I don't display my cards--too likely to get light damage. For that matter, I don't display any original photos or documents, either. I scan my collection and have the scans for display when I feel like printing them out.

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Posted By: Darren J. Duet

As one member stated "I treat them like gold"

I store the majority of my high dollar stuff (>$500) in 1" and 1/2" lucite screwdowns. I'm lucky enough to have dedicated a room in my house to my collection. I'm continually changing who and what are on display. Those not on display are stored in cedar trunks in the room's closet and under the tables and bookshelves in the card room. The room is 18' x 16', oak floors - deeply stained, shelving and tables are dark hardwood, a deep brown leather lounge chair sits in a corner, the walls are draped with framed vintage magazine covers of Wagner, Cobb, Ruth, etc. The room is designed to set the mood and "frame" the treasures that lie there.

Next on my agenda is to design a vault that could withstand hurricane force winds and place it high enough as to avoid flood waters so that my collection can be safe from future Ivan's.

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Posted By: John Dickson

I wish some card holder company would finally manufacture a clear plastic 3 by 5 inch screwdown holder that is recessed for T206s. I simply love the way they look in clear plastic but I worry about the pressure on the corners of my cards in non-recessed holders which what I use. I even tried to contact holder manufacturers without success. I don't need a grading company to tell me my card is real, untrimmed, or how good it looks. I simply want to display and protect them. Does anyone else want this as well?

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Posted By: Joe_G.

I love your story John, how much of that, if any, is true? I know Kevin has been waiting for Orator a long time. Doesn't he know that the drunk and disorderly Shaffer will not likely show on his own, . . . Kevin will have to go seek him out, pay lots of money, and then maybe.

Joe Gonsowski

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Posted By: Pcelli60

I display a few at a time on a shelf away from strong natural or artificial light..Most of the stuff sits in a cool dry shoebox- yes, shoebox..

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Posted By: Scottopotamus

I store my incredibly mediocre T206 collections as follows:

All cards graded are by SGC and scanned into my website.

All slabs are then placed inside re-sealable graded card sleeves.

All slabs are then placed inside an Oak graded card storage boxes from Pennzoni Displays. (www.displayco.com)

Overkill? Absolutely, but I enjoy it.


Scottoptamus
My T206 Web Site

http://www.freewebs.com/scottopotamus

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Posted By: J.Rogers

I have a slot on the hood of my car that I can slide a slabbed card into perfectly-there's no freer feeling in the world than cruising down the highway with a Psa 4 Pud Galvin cutting the air up-front.

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Posted By: Julie

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Posted By: Paul

I'm nuts. I have a special room dedicated to my cards. It is pitch black unless I turn on the lights. I display my cards in frames, hung on the wall. Each frame holds anywhere from just a few cards to probably 100. Each card is carefully placed in a soft plastic sleeve, which is then taped to the backing of the frame using double sided poster tape. If a sleeve doesn't exist for my size of card, I make one by cutting down larger sleeves. When I get more cards, I move them around within the frame to make room for the new guy. It results in a little more handling of the cards than most people would be comfortable with, but I try to do this infrequently.

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Posted By: drumback

I too would like to find holders recessed to fit T206 cards. However, I have come up with a nice alternative. I use holders recessed to fit modern cards, and cut semi-rigid sleeves with a paper cutter to fit the recessed area. They do hold the cards in place, and it displays nicely. Also, it puts much less pressure on the corners than non-recessed screwdowns.

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Posted By: Gary B.

Any chance you can take a digital photo of your special room - I would love to see what that looks like...

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Dennis, the MJRoop archival binders are expensive but worth it if only for the stamped binder, cover and the checklist insert. The slip covers are a nice touch. As for the boxes, they are definitely flimsy and look better than they are. That being said, they are designed simply to hold a whole bunch of slabbed cards in neat little rows -- and I don't know any other existing mechanism to hold cards as efficiently as this. Hence my owning 5 of them...

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Posted By: runscott

I cut them down, slide them into plexiglass display stand with cards inside - they look great. Use an x-acto with a fresh blade to cut down five of them to the same size - they will slide flush against each other and fit in a display perfectly. And the tobacco card inserts fit OJ's as well.

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Posted By: Josh K.

Dennis,

The MJ Roop binders are very nice. I dont own the type with the slip covers. The style that I use is a three ring binder that folds over and seals with velcro on top. The binder also has sides so when completely closed, no light can get in. They come in several sizes (3, 4, and 5 inches) and you can have anything printed on the spine (i.e. "T206 Collection", "Graded Cards" etc.). They are definately worth the money (about double what a large d-ring binder in an office supply store costs). I dont own their boxes, instead I just use ordinary boxes designed for top-loaded cards.



By the way, this pic is from their website - to save me any embarassment on this board, they are not my non-vintage cards. I also get mine without the "Baseball Card" emblem on the cover.

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Posted By: Josh K.

Here's a pic of the binders with slip covers:

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Posted By: Elliot

Love to see a pic of Paul's room. Love to move into Darren's room...sounds like it's bigger and better equipped than my house.

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Posted By: Kevin Cummings

My cards are hidden away in a closet as well protected as they can be from the ravages that time and nature might inflict on them, John's detailed fanciful description notwithstanding.

Although John has given me a great idea. I am now considering starting a display much like the one he detailed. It will be a small box with lots of padding on the inside and bars on the windows and doors. A picture of John will have a place of prominence in it right next to the Jimmy Piersall card.

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Posted By: Bryan

Darren quoted me right. I treat my cards like gold! Even my beat up T206 cards are placed in screwdown holders. Right now I have all my pre-war cards stored in a home-made box. I am currently trying to find a better box to store these in as my box is strting to over-flow and I need a better way to place the different sets apart. By the way does anyone know if the mjroop boxes store SGC graded cards? I couldn't remember if anyone said that they would or not.

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Posted By: dennis

thanks

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Posted By: Josh K.

My understanding is that the SGC slabs are a tad too wide for the Roop boxes but Im not positive since I dont own one. The boxes are essentially one outer box with a lock with four small removable boxes/partitions inside. The SGC slabs may not fit in the four inside boxes - but they can be removed and then you should be able to fit at least three rows of sgc slabs rather than four as designed.

Can someone who owns one confirm?

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Posted By: bawdycrank

I love to see what others do with their stuff. That fanciful OJ display is a classic. I don't have many pre WWII cards, actually, I just enjoy this site I am working on a set of Tobin Red Borders, though. I would like to frame them in their positions around a vintage field. Is it feasible? I don't know. I would like the set, just the same. Right now I have them in penny sleeves and rigid plastic holders, two cards back-to-back in each. I'm one of those career students, so I carry one in my backpack and use it as a straight edge when I underline my texts. To each his own

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

I own the Roop boxes. SGC, GAI and PSA are in my boxes and fit fine. Because SGC and GAI are a bit bigger than PSA, you can't fit as many in the box (the four inner boxes actually). But you can still fit plenty. As for the outer lock..well...if I were a thief (let's say for argument's sake I was Tom Regos) and stumbled upon the locked MJRoop box, well, I could probably chew through outside to get the goodies inside. Nevertheless, they do look great and hold the cards very efficiently. Bottom line, they will allow for display in a nice way but don't compare them to a safebox or anything of the sort.

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Posted By: Josh K.

I didnt mean to imply that the lock on the roop boxes amounted to any sort of theft protection - heck, they would just walk off with the box. The locks are probably sufficient enough just to prevent kids from getting into your cards or to prevent housekeepers or other guests from snooping - so they do have some utility depending upon your circumstances.

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Posted By: pete

I take closeup pictues of my favorite cards with slide film and occasionally on a cloudy night I'll project the images into the night sky for all to behold!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry...just kidding! They're mostly in top loaders in a cedar box I take out on occasion.

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Posted By: Tim Hart

I put my t206/5 cards in smaller home made soft sleeves and store them in 9 pockets sheets. Seems like those special tobacco soft sleeves that will be available in T206museum.com would be a big plus to my collection.

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Posted By: tbob

The T205, T206, T207, 3 Obak and E90-1 sets are in archival pocket pages in a padded binder, along with various other cards. That oversized binder along with all the caramel card and Sporting Life slabs are in a huge fireproof safe, bolted to the floor.
Still trying to figure out what to do with the P-2 pins and PX7 Domino Discs...