General Forum

Just wanted to get some ideas about how people who put cards in binders handle sets where they also have the variations. I have two minds about it, one that is just a thought and one that is in practice.

The one that is a thought is to just have the regular set in pages, in order, using the COR as the card for the set. Then the errors or variations (as well as manufacturing defects) would go in pages after the set. And that's considering 18 cards per page in the main set portion.

The one that is in practice is to do 9 cards per page, and having all the variations together. This is cool for the fact I can look at all the cards at once, on either side, to see what the differences are, but the downside is this puts big sets (like 1990 Pro Set football) into 2 huge binders.

Just wondering what methods other have for putting together sets like this.

I was just thinking about this today with regards to Topps update 2020. For that small set, I plan on organizing the cards in numerical order with the VARs mixed in right after the base card. After that I plan on putting inserts/parallels after the set. Obviously this works realistically for a small set like this, but not necessarily for something like the ProSet sets 

I treat the variations (2020 Donruss, 2020 Topps Udate, etc.) as insert cards, and place them at the end, just before the inserts/parallels. After all, they're inserts, too, after a fashion.

I like having the VAR's in sequence along with the set, keeping it all in numerical order.  I enjoy seeing them along side the base cards to make the differences stand out more.

I like the idea of having the errors or variations at the end of the set. I also prefer only to have 9 cards per page so you can see the back and I'd also be concerned about condition issues of having 18 cards in 9 pocket pages. 

I usually have the regular set up front, parallels/VARs after, then inserts

One thing I do is If the var is on the back of the card    I show the back side so I know it is a Var.  

For me it depends on how many Var there is for the card, If there is only one I will put in same pocket back to back so you know there is a Difference if there is more I put at the back of the set

It depends on what set we are talking about and how "fluid" it is. What I mean by "fluid" is "are there going any more variations/error cards discovered?" For more fluid sets, I would prefer to put all variations/error cards at the end, so I don't have to move hundreds of cards over 1 slot due to a new variation discovery (Done it before and I do not recommend.) 

However, that is the only instance where I put them at the end. Normally, I like to put variations of the same card together so I can see differences. For a less fluid set, like recent Topps sets which are not going to correct error cards and the variations are typically known in advance, I would be comfortable putting all the variations with the base set if I was trying to collect them all. If I only was trying to collect the base set and not the SPs (which is what I normally do), I would put the SPs at the beginning of my insert stack, very similar to what others have already said. 

It also appears we have a 9 vs. 18 cards per page argument brewing. Just my 2 cents, I would prefer 9 cards per page, but a decade ago my broke 12 year old self did not have the funds for many cards, and to spend those funds on storing materials was almost criminal. So, I went cheap where I could. As a result, all of my sets in pages are 18 cards per page. If you're careful, 2 cards per slot shouldn't be a problem, just be careful with some early glossy sets (especially in the 90s, but it can happen with 2000s cards too) that have a tendency to stick to one another.

I usually go Base Set first in numerical order, then inserts/parralells.

For sets that I want to double up (18 cards per sleeve) I use the Amazon Basic sleeves. They are cheap and fit too loosely for only 9 cards per, but when doubled up actually work pretty well. My 8 and 11 year old are doing that for their cards. I'm using Ultra Pro or Titan Shield sleeves for my newer sets (Allen & Ginter or Diamond Kings), and only going 9 per page for those.

This database is so good at organizing the cards that I'm trying to keep my collection ordered the same way it is here. Base Cards first, then the various inserts/parralells alphabetically.

I have most of the cards from the late 80's/early 90's in cardboard boxes instead of binders. Someday I might get those put in binders too.