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Player Collectors: how do you store/display?

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wthalin

New member
Feb 28, 2018
29
0
Concord, CA
There are quite a few people on these boards with massive player collections. I collect Greg Maddux and Joe Girardi. The Girardi collection is about 82% complete, but is only around 300 cards and the whole collection fits nicely in a 2-inch binder. I leave dedicated slots open and add new cards to the open slots where the cards are missing. Odd shaped bigger cards are a pain, but other than that I really like how this turned out.

My real question is for those out there with player collections of over 1000. My Maddux collection is a little over 1000 and I haven’t figured out how exactly I want to store it. Right now it is in 2 binders and not as organized as I would like it, but if I leave openings like the Girardi collection it will be pretty empty since I’m only at around 30% of his cards not including hits.

Just curious how everyone with big player PCs as to how you store them and like to view them to see if there are some better options out there.
 

Letch77

Well-known member
Jan 28, 2018
1,608
353
Midwest
I'm organizing my Frank Thomas collection (way over 1000 unique cards, maybe 2000) and am putting them in shoeboxes. I pick out the very best copy (if I have duplicates) and put it in a sleeve+toploader. I also keep a "backup" copy in a sleeve if I have a duplicate. Then, I organize them in a 3200-ct shoebox, sorted by year and then set. For graded cards, I'll be using a graded card shoebox, but I put a toploader with the ungraded cards that has a note (and perhaps a picture of the card).

It's not much for display, more for storage, protection and long-term collecting.
 

banjar

Well-known member
Mar 22, 2015
2,531
869
Lafayette, Colorado
For me, every card goes in a penny sleeve and top loader, then into a super shoe box. Cards are organized by manufacturer, then year, then alphabetical set name. I do put the more valuable and/or super rare cards in a one-touch magnetic holder though. These still fit in the shoe box but they are slightly more protective, and they stand out from the rest of the top loaders so I can easily scan through my "trophies" whenever I want. I have all the jumbo and oversize stuff in big top loaders, then stored in a box of their own.

alomar PC.jpg

I have a soft spot for Girardi. He was one of the O.G.'s for my Colorado Rockies. And Maddux. Well yeah. Even with all the awards and HOF etc etc, most people still don't fully realize how good that guy was.
 
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wthalin

New member
Feb 28, 2018
29
0
Concord, CA
For me, every card goes in a penny sleeve and top loader, then into a super shoe box. Cards are organized by manufacturer, then year, then alphabetical set name. I do put the more valuable and/or super rare cards in a one-touch magnetic holder though. These still fit in the shoe box but they are slightly more protective, and they stand out from the rest of the top loaders so I can easily scan through my "trophies" whenever I want. I have all the jumbo and oversize stuff in big top loaders, then stored in a box of their own.

View attachment 78532

I have a soft spot for Girardi. He was one of the O.G.'s for my Colorado Rockies. And Maddux. Well yeah. Even with all the awards and HOF etc etc, most people still don't fully realize how good that guy was.

Yeah, I actually collect Girardi because his wife was my kindergarten teacher when I lived in Chicago. She brought him for show and tell one day and he signed pictures for all of us. I have been a die hard Cubs fan ever since. I still have the signed picture framed and displayed.

I have a massive Cubs collection that I store similar to you both do for your player collections, but for my player collections I love flipping through them frequently and seeing them all together in order, especially when you have all the different colors and variations on the same page. Something really amazing about that.
 

Letch77

Well-known member
Jan 28, 2018
1,608
353
Midwest
I have a massive Cubs collection that I store similar to you both do for your player collections, but for my player collections I love flipping through them frequently and seeing them all together in order, especially when you have all the different colors and variations on the same page. Something really amazing about that.
Ya know, someone needs to create pages that are designed to hold toploaders. They'd be like the 9-pocket Ultra Pro pages, except they'd be a little larger so that you could put your cards in toploaders and THEN in the pages. Raw cards in 9-pocket pages make me cringe - those binder rings have a tendency to imprint on the cards if you're not careful.
 

Onions

Member
Dec 8, 2014
54
0
North Dakota
Ya know, someone needs to create pages that are designed to hold toploaders. They'd be like the 9-pocket Ultra Pro pages, except they'd be a little larger so that you could put your cards in toploaders and THEN in the pages. Raw cards in 9-pocket pages make me cringe - those binder rings have a tendency to imprint on the cards if you're not careful.

I have mentioned to Rich at Perfect Fit that they should look into making 9 pocket pages to fit toploaders a couple times lately. He said that they were looking at it. Hopefully sooner than later. I would move my cards into those for sure.

Mine are all in toploaders and perfect fit sleeves over the toploader and then in 3 row super shoe boxes. It would be nice if that middle row of the super shoe box was about a 1/4" wider. I can get the sleeved toploaders on both outside rows, but the middle one is too narrow to fit a toploader with a sleeve. That still irritates me. First world problems, I guess.
 

banjar

Well-known member
Mar 22, 2015
2,531
869
Lafayette, Colorado
I completely agree with this. But take it from someone living in the third world, even someone like me who still obsesses far too much over his card collection even now...these are definitely first world problems :) We have it so good in the old USA my friends.

I have mentioned to Rich at Perfect Fit that they should look into making 9 pocket pages to fit toploaders a couple times lately. He said that they were looking at it. Hopefully sooner than later. I would move my cards into those for sure.

Mine are all in toploaders and perfect fit sleeves over the toploader and then in 3 row super shoe boxes. It would be nice if that middle row of the super shoe box was about a 1/4" wider. I can get the sleeved toploaders on both outside rows, but the middle one is too narrow to fit a toploader with a sleeve. That still irritates me. First world problems, I guess.
 

banjar

Well-known member
Mar 22, 2015
2,531
869
Lafayette, Colorado
That's my entire PC of one player. But it's just roughly 1/2 or 1/3 the size of PC's of more dedicated collectors of more famous players, like Ripken and Griffey and Thomas and Arod etc. Onthespotdetailing, bigalbert, patrick182, gwynn545, onionring9...you know who you are. Some of those guys have like 10,000 unique cards!

Wow! Is that just one player or your whole PC? The wife will want her table back at some point. ;)
 

wthalin

New member
Feb 28, 2018
29
0
Concord, CA
Ya know, someone needs to create pages that are designed to hold toploaders. They'd be like the 9-pocket Ultra Pro pages, except they'd be a little larger so that you could put your cards in toploaders and THEN in the pages. Raw cards in 9-pocket pages make me cringe - those binder rings have a tendency to imprint on the cards if you're not careful.

I agree that would be a great idea. Condition has never been an issue to me. I actually don't mind poor grades for my vintage cards. Shows they were loved instead of stuck in a box there whole life (no offense to anyone who does, just my opinion). For my player collections I mostly focus on base and inserts anyway, but if I had some really valuable cards to the player collection I would probably keep them in toploaders separate from the binder which is where I have all my Cubs hits.
 

Kid4hof03

Member
Jan 10, 2014
249
6
Burlington, NJ
I keep everything in binders, one binder per year with it all organized according to Beckett's checklist. Here's a terrible picture of my bookcase with my Bernie Williams and Curtis Martin collections.
Martin and Bernie binders.JPG
 

wthalin

New member
Feb 28, 2018
29
0
Concord, CA
That's my entire PC of one player. But it's just roughly 1/2 or 1/3 the size of PC's of more dedicated collectors of more famous players, like Ripken and Griffey and Thomas and Arod etc. Onthespotdetailing, bigalbert, patrick182, gwynn545, onionring9...you know who you are. Some of those guys have like 10,000 unique cards!

Would love to see how some of these super collectors are storing their cards.
 

K34PuckettAddict

Well-known member
May 28, 2009
667
276
I store my Puckett collection (north of 3,500 cards now) in penny sleeves, regular top loaders and standard three tray card boxes. I sort by year, then alphabetically by card company, release and print run (Base, /100, /50, /25, etc).

I keep up with my collection & want list in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and a MS Access database that I built several years ago. I maintain both files in case I need to send my list(s) to anyone, they’ll most likely have Excel...

I scan the front and back of every unique card or replacement card in my Puckett collection as I receive them in the mail, etc. The form in my database provides the card details and displays the front and back images that I scanned. This allows me to flip through my collection in the database instead of handling the cards all the time. It also allows me to feel better about storing all my cards in toploaders since I’m not handling them much...
 
Last edited:
Jan 14, 2015
429
5
New Jersey
Ya know, someone needs to create pages that are designed to hold toploaders. They'd be like the 9-pocket Ultra Pro pages, except they'd be a little larger so that you could put your cards in toploaders and THEN in the pages. Raw cards in 9-pocket pages make me cringe - those binder rings have a tendency to imprint on the cards if you're not careful.

I have been looking for these forever. I like displaying my cards in binders but would prefer to keep them in toploaders for protection. I’m a buyer if they ever come out with them.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

mrmopar

Member
Jan 19, 2010
6,169
4,058
Storage totes, super shoes boxes, 5K boxes, binders, stacked in a pile...you name it. I have my stuff scattered about, depending on it's size.
 

Kid4hof03

Member
Jan 10, 2014
249
6
Burlington, NJ
Very nice! Do you leave slots open for cards you don't have yet or do you just shuffle everything down when you add a new card?

Yes, I leave spaces for the cards I don't have yet. Also, keeping them organized by year means that when I discover something outside of the list it's not too much work to reorganize. I'm not OCD in my organization, but I do love filling in the empty spaces and being able to page through and see progress and where I need to focus at certain times. It's a lot of work to get it all organized but for me that's a lot of the fun. I've got several other players I need to do this for, just taking my time getting binders, pages and the checklist ready.
 

weight333

New member
May 28, 2013
581
0
Milwaukee, WI
I store all base cards and low end inserts in penny sleeves, pages, and a binder. All game used, autographs and other high end cards are stored in thick toploaders or magnetics. I do leave spaces in my binders for cards I need yet. This video gives a lay out of my binder organization (excuse the video quality as it's 5 years old).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PafAwQFySk
 

wthalin

New member
Feb 28, 2018
29
0
Concord, CA
I store all base cards and low end inserts in penny sleeves, pages, and a binder. All game used, autographs and other high end cards are stored in thick toploaders or magnetics. I do leave spaces in my binders for cards I need yet. This video gives a lay out of my binder organization (excuse the video quality as it's 5 years old).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PafAwQFySk

Wow, very impressive collection! Thanks for sharing. Where do you typically pick up your new cards? I often frequent eBay and Sportslots, but have been having a harder time finding a lot of my holes.

Also, do you have issues with the penny sleeves wrinkling up a bit in your pages? Didn't look like it in your video, but I'm curious what penny sleeves and pages you use because my binders tend to have issues with this when I penny sleeve them.
 

brian26

Member
Nov 12, 2010
679
10
I can’t get penny sleeves to fit in my Ultra Pro pockets anymore. This happened about ten years ago. The penny sleeves seem to now be made ever so wider. I also would like to know ebay sleeves will fit.
 

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