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Binders aren't enough

 
My collection storage system is built around binders. Boxes are secondary. In a perfect world, all my cards would be in binders and there would be no boxes.

But boxes are easier to store than binders. Binders take up more space. That's a trade-off I've been willing to make, for having a much more pleasing card-room display (shelves of just boxes just doesn't cut it for me). But it means I'm always in space conservation mode.

For example, a couple of weeks ago, Kenny/ZippyZappy asked me if I could use any binders, he had received some regulation-size ones from his father. Always mindful of space issues -- I am almost all out of rows on my two sizable shelving units -- I said maybe one or two.


That's not "one or two." That's six. Actually, he sent seven -- one is out of the box for some mid-1980s Fleer repurposing.

So, yeah, I don't know where the heck those are going. Right now the box is in the attic, waiting for when I need them, or I carve out some space. What I really need in the storage game right now is pages. It seems the last few times I've journeyed to the big box stores, there are no pages for sale. But pages would help me use some of these binders.

The binders by themselves aren't enough and I know they aren't enough to make this an interesting blog post. Who reads a post of just binders?


I did find a Japanese card (Konami) from 2009 of Jose Reyes tucked in one of the binders. I'm a sucker for anything card-like from 2009. I just wrote about that a couple of posts ago.
 


Here's another blast from 2009. I found this in the box, too. I don't wear stuff around my wrists. Just an issue of mine. I ditched watches years ago.

So that's not many card things, so I pulled out a couple other recent acquisitions to fill out this post.
 


I nabbed this 1973 Kellogg's Reggie Jackson from Rob for a price lower than anything I saw on the usual buying sites.
 
Ever since my Kellogg's cracking crisis, I've thought about going after Kellogg's non-cracking set from the '70s more vigorously. I've always ignored it, but I think I can appreciate it more now (as long as a million other people aren't pursuing it, which seems to be the case with the other Kellogg's sets).



Bo of Baseball Cards Come To Life! acquires a lot of cards and quickly. There's going to be a point when I don't have anything to trade him because he's accumulated it all!

But for now I was able to trade for some of his 1965 Topps extras after he landed a small lot of them.


The '65 set is cool for many reasons, I don't need to go through all of them again. But it's also my birth-year set and I'll take cards from this year if they're easy to acquire.
 
Like almost all of the '60s sets, I have no intention of trying to complete the set -- although it'd be a lot easier to finish the '65 than that stupid '67 set I'm currently chasing.

All of these cards will be going in binders, which will start the domino effect of filling out a binder, then needing a new binder to add the overflowing cards, then needing pages to add those cards, then needing a spot on a shelf -- or somewhere -- to put the new binder, then needing a new room to add more cards, then being voted down on the new room by the significant other in the house, then thinking about remodeling the garage for card storage, then thinking how much work and cost that would take, and -- eesh -- this is why people sell cards.

But now is not that time.

Comments

Mark K. said…
I store my binders in plastic totes. So, I have the best of both worlds.
steelehere said…
Gerry Arrigo's glove is huge.
night owl said…
Yes, that's why I picked it to lead off the post.
Nick said…
It seems like when I'm good on binders, then I need pages. And when I have pages, then I need binders. While I don't see myself ever abandoning my binders, I will admit that as I've grown older, I wonder how much space I'd save putting my cards in boxes.
Bo said…
Your trade returns never disappoint. The one I received today was terrific. Thanks again!
Crocodile said…
I think I need that Arrigo for my set build. Never realized how big that glove looks.
Several things here come to mind.
1) I quit wearing a watch about 12 or so years ago. I get that!
2) I have noticed the cost of pages in the box stores thes epast two years go up in price as well as not finding the packs/bags of 105 pages. Around here you can buy 35 page bag. Not me Wouldn't do squat for me.
3) I just order this week (Tuesday) a dozen blue baseball 3 D-ring for starting the reorganization project of my Braves binders. I have plenty of black ones that will be used to reorganize my PC binders already. I also ordered a case of pages. I'll need them for the blue binders. They came in today. BCW. I ordered them thinking they might be on backorder or will be soon, because every dealer at all of those shows were out, said trouble is coming. I wasn't expecting them so fast. Anyways, boxes seemed to be in ample supply for now.
Get your 100 count box of pages from BCW or two boxes and shipping should be free. Wow that a big comment. Oh well. It's been a rough week.
4) Nice Reggie!
Don said…
I was given a tote full of 1.5 - 2 inch binders a few years ago. They are still in the tote as I just don't have the free time to move cards from boxes to binders. But, I will be moving soon for a new job, so maybe that will give me some incentive to do some organizing.
Brett Alan said…
I went to buy sheets at Walmart today and there were none. I didn't know that was a thing. Going to have to do something if I can't find them at the other local Walmart or Target.
Anonymous said…
Binders and pages are more expensive than boxes. Thought that "live strong" thing was a condom.
Nick Vossbrink said…
Definitely prefer binders here too. I'm long overdue for ordering a new batch but also need to do some shelf re-org for that to happen.
Fuji said…
I'm a binder guy too... but 95% of my collection is stored in boxes due to lack of space. Love that Livestrong band! Seeing that sure brought back memories. They were pretty big at school for a year or two. I even made a custom one for my students that had our class motto.
1984 Tigers said…
The challenge with binders is have enough room for book shelves. My man cave (also a cat cave as one of the cats likes to nap on the couch). Definitely a cool thing pulling out a binder and reading the cards during a ballgame on TV.

I think tonight it's pulling out my 65 set (mostly complete). Love the design and backs of the cards. Last year of guys in their 45s (I believe the team had dropped the name for Astros but photos still showed the 45s. Love the full jersey with the colt 45.

Paul t
Jon said…
I've had really good luck in finding quality binders at thrift stores over the years, so much so that I currently have what'll probably end up being a lifetime supply.
Old Cards said…
Mostly boxes for me due to storage and expense. 65 Topps is one of the great sets. The pennant is such a nice feature. Collected this set as a kid. Having the same issue, you are dealing with on the Kellogg's sets when trying to buy missing cards. Seems like a lot of other people are pursuing cards in this set.
Doc Samson said…
Only put sets like 1984 Donruss and 2011 Topps that I love in binders. I am so pressed for space that I sold sets that I am indifferent to on Ebay. Maybe a good profit, surprisingly. Also learned the hard way that there’s a big difference between Ultra Pro pages and Ultra Platinum pages.
One place you might look for pages is in antique stores. Several stores near me are set up as a series of booths, and there always seems to be 1 booth that has nothing but supplies for other antique sellers (price tags, labels, plate stands, record sleeves (45s and LPs), post card pages, and baseball card pages).
AdamE said…
I switched to Amazon for buying pages.
Zippy Zappy said…
Late but thanks for taking the binders lol. Sorry they didn't come with pages or cards but unfortunately I'm a bit out on both.