Since I currently have two weeks leave from work (of which one week vacation), I decided to finally put those 3000+ bulk cards I have in a box in their binders, and make a log again of all the cards I have… I’ve had a backlog before, but after my hard-drive broke halve a year ago (with the last back-up I made from about six or seven months prior), I gave up on it and figured I’d make a complete new list after my entire collection was re-organized again.
Currently the cards in my binders are ordered by Pokémon (National Index). And the cards in the box are somewhat grouped per set (which I did to filter out the duplicated cards of the 7k bulk I bought). I’m not sure whether I order them by Pokémon again in their binders, or by set this time.
So, two questions:
How do you organize your binder collections?
And the classic old problem we probably all face: what to do with new cards that should be put somewhere in between depending on your current order.
I could put them by set, and leave spaces for every missing card of the set, but this is overkill and still not perfect. Of some sets I only have 1 or 2 cards, and of other sets I have the same card in more than ten different variants (different languages, misprints, Reverse Holos, etc.). Not to mention you’ll need A LOT of spots if you want to house all ~450 sets/decks (Japanese/English/Korean ones).
Although I like the look of organizing them per Pokémon, my preference right now is by set, so you can see the progression of the card style over time, and in general I expect to add more newer releases than older in the future anyway (not by much, though).
Another option is to just get my backlog complete for my current collection again, and then just put them in completely randomly. But then I do need my backlog, otherwise I might add the same card three of four times to the binder even though they are duplicates.
As a kid it was a lot easier with just a couple hundred cards, but not that I got 5k+ (excluding my Pikachus, Seviper, Mimikyu, etc. collections that are in separated binders), it’s a bit harder to organize them.
Small portfolio or binder for each set is definitely the way to go. 1st edition on the front and unlimited on the back(shadowless for base). For newer cards, regular on the front and reverse holo in the same spot on the back.
And how about the special stamped promos, alternative holos, Deck cards or different languages? As I mentioned, for some cards I have them in English, Japanese, German, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and/or Korean. Where would you put those?
I only collect English cards so it would be less of a problem for me. I have been putting all the promos, winner cards, etc related to the set at the end.
My main goal when organizing my collection was to keep these cards in the absolute best condition possible while I own them. That being said. I also have a similar issue with bulk. It’s a never ending battle lol
I mainly collect WOTC English sets so it makes it a lot easier to organize but there are still issues I run in to. I also used the strategy of a different binder for each WOTC set leaving gaps for cards I’m missing. I Also have a binder for rare cards that don’t have a set like your Black Star Promos, and a binder for random holos I have from non-WOTC sets that I’m not as interested in. But what do you do with unlimited/1st edition and duplicates for each set ?
One of the main problems I have is that I can not keep a WOTC Holo in a binder, I just can’t do it. I have all my WOTC holos in brand new sleeves , then put into brand new top loaders, then sealed in they’re own individual ultra pro Team Bags, and then stored in special boxes. This makes my binders just non holo graveyards that always look “unfinished” even though they are.
I have been debating putting whole 1st edition sets in toploaders and team bags and then storing them in big rectangular card boxes you find at card shops just so they are all together. Just seems like overkill and a ton of toploaders lol
Up until the mid 2000s I used binders and dressed them up beautifully. It was a lot of fun. Though after years of binder dents, top center chips, shifting out, and bowing, I quit. I transferred most the cards I cared about into top loaders then later card savers. Now I can quickly pull them out to look at easily and they stay perfect(if they started out perfect;) Plus I can hand them over to others to look at without being on the edge of my seat worrying about what might happen.
For me its been a couple of months since i started my binder collections.
so far I got 4 pikachu Ultra pro pro-binders:
Binder 1: 1st Ed, Shadowless and 4 print Base sets. These are organised in the set order 1/102, 2/102 etc
Binder 2: 1st Ed Team Rocket and Unlimited Team Rocket
Binder 3: 1st Ed Jungle and Unlimited Jungle
Binder 4: 1st Ed Fossil and Unlimited Fossil
binders 2 to 4 have plenty of empty pages so i may add the Japanese variant of those sets inside.
I have separate WOTC blue A5 4 pocket binder for my 1st Edition Korean Base Set
Other random cards i have, i keep in card saver IIs
Awesome info from some legends in the hobby! Thanks guys.
Is there a reason to use Card Saver I’s Or 2’s over toploaders ?
I feel like a top loader in a team bag is “safer” for long term storage due to the increased rigidity of a toploader, and better protection to air exposure due to the team bag sealing it in, than a card saver. But now I’m curious if I’m missing something. Only thing I can think of is it would be much easier to submit to PSA, than having to buy card savers and switch everything when your ready to submit
For me, cause I have so many cards, Card Saver 1s are much better. A few reasons I can think of:
one less step. You don’t need a Team Bag
waaay less space is taken up. Less than half.
much cheaper which is always a good thing,
better presentation. Cards look sucky through a sleeve, top loader, and an ill fitted team bag. They look awsome through the sleeve and thin card saver. But if you want to cover the card saver you can use a ‘fitted’ graded card sleeve (not the ones that hold PSA and BGS) which accommodates the card saver 1s perfectly whereas a team bag over a top loader fits loosely so there is plastic bag overhang.
in my opinion, better protection. The only protection I’d worry about is bending. Again, card savers win. If you bend a top loader it will crack and shards can puncture what’s inside. You can roll up a card saver and not damage what’s inside. If you’re concerned about water then you can either double sleeve the card or just put a ‘fitted’ PSA card sleeve over the card saver I.
if you ever decide to grade them, they’re all ready to go;)
You mentioned air exposure. I don’t see that as an issue at all. A card saver 1 doesn’t let in any air to speak of but again a ‘fitted’ PSA card sleeve over the card saver I would accomplish the same thing.
I have many binders with different ways to organize them:
Binder 1 is for one card of each Pokemon in order of their PokeDex number. I call this a PokeDex binder and it’s almost complete! I’m only missing 3 Pokemon (Tapu Bulu, Naganadel and Zeraora.
Binder 2 is for cards of my favorite Pokemon. I’ve organized it by a Pokemon and then by a set from oldest to newest and Japanese cards always go first as they have been released first in most cases. For example: first there’s Salamence cards from oldest to newest starting from Rulers of the Heavens Salamence, then ex Dragon Salamence holo, then reverse holo version, etc.
Binder 3 is for ex series cards in general and it’s a mixture of all languages. First I have pages with ex cards in order of their sets, and then set cards on their release order from Ruby & Sapphire until Power Keepers.
Binder 4 is for ultrarares except for old ex cards as I mentioned above. I try to put GX Hyper Rares, Secret Rares and FAs first, then Normal GX & cards and Prism Star cards, then XY & BW series Secret Rares, FAs and normal EX cards, then Prime & Legends cards and then LV.X cards and secret rares from DP & Platinum era. Apart from that order I just randomly place them, for example I don’t organize them by set. This is also a mixture of English and Japanese.
Binder 5 is for a mixture of holos and reverses in order of their type, apart from that they are quite disorganized.
Binder 6 is for random Japanese holos and is rather disorganized, I just place them where there’s space
Binder 7 has Japanese sets from XY5 upward fully completed and in set order from newest to oldest (excluding all ultra rares, it only has R, UC and C cards)
Binder 8 has Portuguese cards with Ultra Rares and holos first, then WOTC Portuguese cards in PokeDex order.
Definitely per set. At the moment multiple sets per binder seperated by a checklist, but… someday I will put each (master)set in their own binder to organize them.
I use the following order for WotC:
1st - 1st edition set
2nd - Unlimited set
3rd - Alternative cards
And for the newer sets:
1st - Unlimited set
2nd - Reverse set
3rd - Alternative cards
As a new collector my collection is very small but here’s what I’ve decided to do. This may change in the future but for now this is the direction I’m going in.
I’m using the Pokemon binders with the strap(currently the poke ball version). I’m currently working on sets, so here’s the breakdown.
Each set gets a binder with the hopes of completing that set. I’m also leaving space for the ones I don’t have. My idea of the set is each card available in the booster box.
Promo’s- As acquire the black star promo’s they will go into there own binder.
Master pokedex- I want to create a master pokedex for fun using as many ex and gx as possible, this will probably require a couple binders( I think each holds 360)
Non English- All non english will end up in a single binder, this is not my collecting focus at current time, but if the opportunity presents it’s self.
Favorites- This will be a binder for my favorite pokemon duplicates that I don’t want to sell or trade, sorted by pokemon
Possible binders include a trading binder, for sale binder, a playable binder( I’m wanting to start playing)
I’m sure things will be tweaked as my collection grows. I’ll also add the majority of my collection consist of XY and Sun and Moon product. My goals is to purchase the older stuff when I can. I think that about covers it for know.
The only binder collection I have contains all the cards I was able to retain from my childhood. Essentially, they’re all just in KMC perfect fits and in the dex 9 portfolio
lol
