Let’s see some album/binder ideas!

[homerunhitter]

I love the idea about putting the card on front! This might motivate me to finally get my cards organized in a binder. Are these the ultra pro 3” binders? Thanks for posting.

[homerunhitter]

154 views and only one response! Come on fellas! We can do better than that!

Has anyone heard or know if laying down albums is better than standing them up? I thought I read somewhere online (maybe even here) that the weight of standing up albums on the pages does damage to the cards long term?

[Bigdaddy]

Originally Posted by homerunhitter

154 views and only one response! Come on fellas! We can do better than that!

Has anyone heard or know if laying down albums is better than standing them up? I thought I read somewhere online (maybe even here) that the weight of standing up albums on the pages does damage to the cards long term?

I think most importantly you want the cards to be flat, whether they are vertical or horizontal. This comes mostly into play when the number of pages pages and cards in the binder are not enough to fill it up. So if that is the case and they are vertical, then the first several pages will droop. And if they are laid horizontal, then the outer column gets compressed and the inner column gets slightly bowed.

I've sometimes used spacers in my binders (packing foam sheets usually) or placed the binders forward and backward facing (so that you see the binding on one and the edges of the sheets on the next) to try to keep just enough pressure on the cards as the binders stand up on shelves. Generally I've used the 3" D-ring binders from Costco with the sheet insert on the cover. I've made up images for each set and printed them out and placed in the sleeve. The sleeve on the binding is full length and too tight to get a card down in it though.

Here's a few examples of the cover sheets I've used:

[homerunhitter]

Thank you so much for that wonderful advice. I appreciate it very much. I think those cover sheets are very cool! If you have an extra set of those cover sheets for sale. Let me know. Thanks

[BobC]

Another idea I've done a couple times with a binder is to use a copy of the set(s') checklist instead of a cover sheet. I would copy pages from the old Krause/SCD catalogs, and just cover over the portions of the page that weren't part of the checklist I was interested in. That way, if showing it off to someone, you had the SCD catalog description of the set to show them what the set/cards were all about, and the checklist to show all the different cards/players in the set and for ease in looking up or locating specific players or cards in the binder then.

I could only do this for smaller vintage and pre-war sets, where the checklist would fit on one page. You couldn't do this for binders with the main Topps annual sets in them, took up multiple pages so you couldn't fit it all on just the cover.

Also, if some of the cards in one of my sets was acquired already slabbed and graded (because I couldn't find a raw version first), I generally leave the cards encapsulated in their holders (for card protection and preservation purposes), but have a color copy of the front and back of the slabbed card(s) made, and then cut them out to put in the binder with the rest of the cards in the set. That way there's no holes in the set in the binder, and you can quickly see which cards are separately stored in graded card holders. You can also copy the flip from the TPG holder and cut it out to insert in your binder pages as well. That way you not only know a card in your binder was a graded card, and separately stored, but you can also see who the TPG was, and the grade it received. That could make finding a specific graded card for one of your sets a little easier. Assuming you store all your PSA graded cards together, due to the slabs being designed to stack/fit together, and then separately store all your SGC graded cards together for the same reasons, as well as any TPG graded cards you may have as part of your sets.

Just some food for thought.

[homerunhitter]

Thank you! I love that idea about adding a photo of the graded card! I think I’ll do they because I was just wondering what to do about the holes in the binder of cards that are graded. This will solve the problem. So thank you for your help on that.

Awesome ideas guys! Keep them coming!

[Harliduck]

I too hate holes in my binders for graded cards. I look for the best reprints that are actual size...which can be a fun challenge.