Let’s see some album/binder ideas!

[homerunhitter]

I’m looking for ideas on how best to store binders/albums for my vintage collection and best way to label them.

I’m trying to decide on whether to get custom topps binders (found on eBay) or have a topps wax pack wrapper on the album (so I know what year set is in the album)

Your thoughts on this?

Let’s see how you do it! Thanks

[Harliduck]

Here is how I store my cards...everything in my signature is pictured here.

Picture is from a bit ago, I now have some graded cards displayed on that top shelf. Also, the plan is to get 2 x 3 stickers that say the year and brand, "1953 Topps" for example, to cover the top part of the binders. I have all blue except for my Donruss & Leaf sets...black...and in the bottom right corner I have two full binders in black, one is 52-69 doubles, the other is 70-79 doubles. It's the most organized I have ever been and really happy after years of trying to figure it out. Once I get the stickers I will be very happy...(just got to get that done)





Edit to add that my 54 & 55 Bowman sets are in the same binders as my 54 & 55 Topps sets, there was plenty of room...no need to have 2 more binders although I may change my mind on that one day...

[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.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by 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.

Doesn't always work well as such reprints don't exist for many sets, especially pre-war sets. LOL

[darkhorse9]

The Bowman sets are housed in the same binders with their Topps counterpart. All are complete except 52 Topps.
The Kelloggs and Hostess binders hold the full runs

[Harliduck]

Mark....that is so awesome. I've taken ideas from you through the years here, appreciate your journey. What I didn't know is you had Hostess and Kelloggs bindered up...I grew up collecting those and currently have none. That is truly inspirational...

[homerunhitter]

Mark,
You have motivated me to do something similar like this with my topps collection. May I please ask, what are the dimensions of those shelf’s? I would like to get those same shelf lengths for my collection so I could have the same set up. Thank you so much.

[deweyinthehall]

After years of having multiple different styles and colors of albums and a few different ways of marking the spines (none particularly appealing), I made an effort a short time ago to settle on a single binder style and color, blue, for my baseball sets (others, like football, hockey, basketball and non-sports, of which I have very little, and the 1995 Topps Cyberstats set, are in black). Instead of placing an actual card in the marker holder, I opted to print an image of a hall of fame card from the set along with the year and company on some off-white heavy stock paper.

[ajquigs]

My 1971 to 1979 Topps binders.

[homerunhitter]

Awesome!

I’m now trying to decide on which color blue binders to do. The classic blue binders like in the photos in this thread or now ultra pro has a brighter shiny blue version of these albums! Not sure which one I like better. The classic or the newer version!

[GrewUpWithJunkWax]

Cool collections.

I like the spine having a card, or a picture of a card, as a visual example from that set. But seeing a picture of a pack from that year is a clever addition too.

[darkhorse9]

Originally Posted by homerunhitter

Mark,
You have motivated me to do something similar like this with my topps collection. May I please ask, what are the dimensions of those shelf’s? I would like to get those same shelf lengths for my collection so I could have the same set up. Thank you so much.

The bookcases are store bought. The inside spaces are 28 1/2" by 13"

Oddly it matters if you use newer Ultra Pro binders or older. The older ones are 1/4" wider. That means you can only fit nine on a shelf (notice the bottom shelf with the 90's sets). The other shelves above it can hold ten sets ( an entire decade)

My collection has actual cards of a Hall of Fame ( or calibre) player on the front
, unless the card would be too big (52-56). Those are Topps issued reprints.

My run is complete through 2022. The binder with the 59 Fleer actually holds all the Fleer sets from 59 through the 71 World Series set. The 1/2" binders hold smaller sets like 54 Red Man, 53 Johnston Cookies, 60 Leaf etc.

The fun one is that Cubs binder in the lower right,. It has autographed pictures of every player from the 1969 Cubs team. If they played in a game that year their autograph is there

The rest are various odd ball sets that I've taken a liking to.

[homerunhitter]

Thanks Mark! I appreciate your help. I’m excited to get this project started! Thank you again.

[BigDaddyMichigan]

Originally Posted by darkhorse9

The Bowman sets are housed in the same binders with their Topps counterpart. All are complete except 52 Topps.
The Kelloggs and Hostess binders hold the full runs

I stole your design and made it fit my needs. They are not done yet. I told my wife I liked your design and she surprised me with it for Christmas.

[campyfan39]

You married up bro! Good for you!

Originally Posted by BigDaddyMichigan

I stole your design and made it fit my needs. They are not done yet. I told my wife I liked your design and she surprised me with it for Christmas.

[darkhorse9]

Originally Posted by BigDaddyMichigan

I stole your design and made it fit my needs. They are not done yet. I told my wife I liked your design and she surprised me with it for Christmas.

Love it. Glad I could help

[BigDaddyMichigan]

Originally Posted by campyfan39

You married up bro! Good for you!

You aren't kidding.