General Forum

can I ask is it easy to store all these binders and storing them over putting them in Boxes to be stored?   

I prefer boxes due to the size of some sets that are out their.  Plus they stack easier in tubs once completed. 

My Biggest reason is the cost of binders along with the pages needed does not beat the cost of a box.  

So what size binder holds a Topps set of 660 cards and how many pages?

this might be another reason we do not see many young people getting into collecting.  the cost of storing along with the pack cost adds up.

I think the number of binders one has depends on the amount of storage space you have available.

most of us put our best (or at least oldest) sets in binders

I don't know too many collectors that put lower end sets such as overproduced era in binders.

mark

madballboy,

If I had an unlimited budget and space, I'd probably put everything in binders. My "card room" is tucked away in the corner of my basement. So, displaying cards in a fancy room dedicated to cards is off the table for me. Like you mentioned, and I agree, that can get expensive! I'm only collecting Topps main sets, not Archives, Heritage, Opening Day, etc..., so that helps limit my collection footprint a little. I picked a few of my vintage sets to place in binders to get them out of the boxes and look at them. Almost all of my collection will stay in 800-count boxes arranged by year.

I'm not sure what size binder would fit a set of 600 cards. I know, doing the math, that if you put one card per pocket, you'd need 74 pages. Two cards per pocket, back to back, would be 37 pages. If it helps for binder size, I have a set of 342 cards in a one-and-a-half-inch binder. Maybe someone that has placed a 660 card set into a binder can jump into the forum to give you an exact answer.

Yes, storage is expensive, especially when adding in the cost of shelving and a dehumidifier, like I did.

Maybe pick a couple of your favorite sets that you like the look of and try it out?

I love the use of binders as well but I personally don’t like putting them back to back I like to flip through and be able to see the front and back of the card!

I can say that I recently finished putting all of Topps 2023 Series 1&2 (660cards) in a 3" D-ring binder.

Speaking to Mark's comment above, I actually have my entire PC (Cleveland Guardians) collection in pages and binders.  This includes my vintage as well as all the junk wax era sets.  Currently this consists of 8ea 4" D-Ring binders.  As I previously mentioned the cost of the binders and pages to me is worth it for the freedom to display them (even if they are junk wax commons).  My other collections (Topps sets, etc) are still in boxes (with the lone exception of the 2023 mentioned above),  but I hope to someday have them in binders as well.  

I have sets in all of the above configurations.  If I'm building a set, but have it in a binder, I'll put it in numerical order just to be able to track what I'm missing a lot easier.  Some of my 70's sets are sorted by teams with the Record Breakers, League Leaders, postseason, multiplayer rookies, and checklists in the front.

And even among each team there is an order to things whether in a binder or a box.  I put the Traded set singles (80's) in front, then the manager, then the players - Stars and favorites in the front, and the multiplayer rookies go last.  Sorry - don't care much about rookies.

I do have one hockey binder with complete base and parallel set.  I put the parallel set in backwards.  (The backs were a different color and were serial numbered.)

I have almost everything in binders, 1 card per pocket sorted in numerical order. 600-800 complete sets fit in a 3" binder, <500 cards fit in a 2" binder. Team sets that are not part of a complete set, are in separate binders, sorted by manufacturer, then year, then numeric. Individual player collections that aren't part of a complete set are in a binder sorted alphabetically by player last name, then by year. Binders are more expensive and take up more room than boxes, but I built shelves to hold them all, and gradually got binders over many years. I like to have the binders so I can see both sides of the cards without putting my grubby hands all over them. I put the binder rings at the top so the pages hang and don't warp the cards. 

I use a similar approach as others:

- 1.5" binders for small sets like Allen & Ginter

- 2" binders for most "normally"-sized sets without many inserts such as late 70s and early 80s Topps

-3" binders for large sets like 1972 Topps and some of the recent Topps sets and all their inserts

And sometimes I combine several small sets in one binder, such as 83-86 Topps Traded go in one 2" binder

That's nice shelving/cubby set up. I like the levitating binders!

One of the nice things about my job is they digitize paperwork and end up with a lot of free binders, even nice D-rings with the clear covers on the outside.