How do you organize your binder sets?

[G1911]

Originally Posted by nolemmings

I sort mine similarly for post-war, although I start with AL and put checklists at the back, in front of all the other misc. as a sort of divider. I place the team pic and manager first, then starters as I determined them through closers. Multi-card rookies last, so long as they shared the same team; otherwise they go at the end.

I too started this way at age 7 through about age 17. Then when I got back into collecting sets I started numerically but found it really boring. Why was Joe Zdeb next to Ron Schueler when they seemed to have nothing in common and might not even know each other? Just because Topps said so? It was more rewarding to easily see what a team looked like on the field a particular season. That's why I was quite pleased with the early Fleer issues in the 80's, which also began with the world series teams and pretty much worked their way back to the cellar dwellers.

Finally, I know I'm in the minority but I really like using 8 pocket sheets that allow for easy insertion of soft sleeves or even mylars if I want to pull out a card for closer review. I know this means you page through the album more like a wall calendar than a book, but that is no big deal and is often easier when just basically having the binder on your lap.

You are the first I have found who also sorts them this same way. Team card, then manager, then players by position. It made sense to me as a kid, I liked ‘creating’ a full team, as they existed that year. Number order is east for want lists but makes little sense for most issues where the numbering is essentially random to actually look through. I sorted my Football cards alphabetically by last name within a team, but this method was always my go to for baseball sets with enough cards where you could expect a full teams worth of cards for each club. I might be crazy, but at least I’m not the only one!

[commishbob]

Numerical order. I’ve never thought about doing it by team, not sure why. As a kid I kept them in cigar boxes in numerical order as well.

[toppcat]

Numerical for me, with any variations or extras after the last card. This is because I know the lower right corner numbers and can tell if I've screwed up at any point. I certainly get the team approach as I collected that way as a kid too, but it's easy to miss something, at least for me, using anything other than numerical order. Any slabbed mega-cards (usually just Mantle) get a reprint in the binder slot.

[ALR-bishop]

Dave— I use an extra sheet to overlay variations on top and to the side of the common version with a circle sticky to point out or note the variation. I went back and did the latter after having difficulty spotting or remembering some subtle variations when going back through my numerical sets

[Eric72]

Numerical order has always made sense to me; I continue to organize binders this way.

I understand why some people prefer to organize by team and position. I'd probably have considered this; however, the multi-player cards (league leaders and such) made it a non-starter.

Funny, the way we do things as children tend to stay with us our whole lives...

[toppcat]

Originally Posted by ALR-bishop

Dave— I use an extra sheet to overlay variations on top and to the side of the common version with a circle sticky to point out or note the variation. I went back and did the latter after having difficulty spotting or remembering some subtle variations when going back through my numerical sets

Interesting. I don't usually seek them out so I don't have many, but some are more "variant" than others.

[Bliggity]

Lots of interesting ideas here. I don't put my sets into binders until they're complete, so using numerical order for the ease of seeing what's missing isn't necessary for me. For viewing enjoyment, I think it makes the most sense to organize by teams, and I really like the idea of going by position also.

No one else has mentioned this, but instead of going in alphabetical order by team, I like the idea of going in order of the team standings for that year. By organizing by team, position, and standings, I think you get a really good snapshot of that year's MLB season.

[deweyinthehall]

When I put completed sets into binders it's always numerical.

But from the time I begin building a set until the very final card is obtained I keep the growing set in in a 660-ct box in this order:

- alphabetical By team (team card first)
- League Leaders
- post season cards
- Multi player star cards (I'm in the 1960s now, so you know what I mean)
- Multi-player, multi-team rookie cards (that can't be placed with one team or another)
- Checklists
-variations

I also keep numerical AND team checklists running as I build.

I find that by doing this I really learn the set and the players better than by just keeping them numerical the whole way. And it just seems to make the process more enjoyable.

Within each team I don't keep the players alphabetically - when I started collecting in 1978 I sorted them by position and I am still doing this to this day - Mgr, P, C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, OF, multi-position, multi-player rookies.