[official]card storage/sorting discussion

Beyondnoxx
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Post by Beyondnoxx » 4 years ago

.H. wrote:
4 years ago
I do a binder for every set (that I have cards from) with Ultra-Pro 9 pocket pages.

Here are a couple pictures of the state of the project at this moment.

Image
Image

I am working on getting the side images done/redone for all of them and filling in a couple of the gaps in sets that don't have binders yet.
I have 80.000+ cards to Sort and sell... this is my dream. I Will start Tonight.. might post Some fun finds ^_^
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.H.
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Post by .H. » 4 years ago

Beyondnoxx wrote:
4 years ago
I have 80.000+ cards to Sort and sell... this is my dream. I Will start Tonight.. might post Some fun finds ^_^
Good luck! :grin:

I honestly have no idea how many cards I have. This has been a process over 10 years.

Generally, 1.5 inch binders (D ring only, no circle ring ones if you can help it) are good for the sets that are about 200-249 cards, the smaller, older, expansion sets, where there were often 164 cards or so, I do in 1 inch binders. However, if you have sets where you are near full playsets of the entire sets, err toward larger binders for those. Old sets, like Tempest or Masques, where there are 350 cards, can easily need 2, maybe even 2.5 inch binders.

I generally try not to put more than 5 copies of a card into the 9-pocket page though, since at some point, it does bag out the pockets. In case you were wondering, this is where I got the templates for the sides.

I'd say my "best practice" on sorting is to divide by set, then each set by color, then each color by collectors number. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.

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folding_music
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Post by folding_music » 4 years ago

I've got a bunch of labelled deckbuilder's toolkit boxes, each holding my collection from a different m:tg block, alphabetized and ordered by set, with duplicates at the end since I'm only really building highlander decks. anything more than a few dollars on scryfall gets put in a sleeve, that's it. I'm sort of a commons and uncommons person and this stuff takes up space!

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Post by mellifluoresce » 4 years ago

I'm currently at two 5000count square boxes, 6 1600count longboxes, three folders and a bunch of piles of cards littering my desk which are in constant flux.

Also like 15 channel fireball boxes which I'll be able to start building a house out of at some point
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Algernone25
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Post by Algernone25 » 4 years ago

I tend to dump most of my chaff on a regular basis (and have a local consignment store that pays $8/1000 on bulk C/U which is amazing) so I really only have rares, foils, and playable stuff.
My standard rares are in a UP 4-a-page binder, while all my older rares are in a 3x3 UP binder, and another 2-a-page binder holds my fetches and shocks. Got all 3 last year at Gencon at auction

Non-standard rares that are bulk (less than $1) are with all my foils in one of the old Gift Boxes, while all my common/uncommon playables (standard and older formats) are in another one (The RTR box still holds up great, the theros one still is pretty good. The ones after that? Not so much)

I also have a cube (360 card peasant, sleeved) that lives in a DEX Protection Supreme 1-row. Holds all the cards, plus basic lands, plus tokens and it's amazing.
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motleyslayer
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Post by motleyslayer » 4 years ago

KodiakCutpurse wrote:
4 years ago
I have an ever-increasing collection of binders and 5000/800 count boxes.

I have five primary trade binders:
1) 5" binder (full) that holds (non-standard) $2-5 commons/uncommons and <$5 promos.
2) 5" binder (full) that holds (non-standard) $5-10 cards.
3) 4" binder (full) that holds (non-standard) $10-25 cards.
4) 4" binder (half-full) partitioned to hold (non-standard) $25-50 cards in the front and $50+ in the back.
5) 2.5" binder (full) partitioned to hold standard $2-5 commons/uncommons and <$5 promos first, then $5-10 cards, $10-25 cards, and $25+.

I have all <$5 non-foil rares (i.e. bulk) in approximately 15 3" binders sorted chronologically and by collector number (pre-Exodus are BUGRW; Exodus onward are WUBRG).

I have all <$5 non-promo foils in four 3" binders sorted chronologically and by collector number (as above).

I really like that idea but I'm probably too lazy to keep up with that. Although I bet it makes trading quite easy as you can pinpoint where cards would be when you need to even out trades

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Post by KodiakCutpurse » 4 years ago

motleyslayer wrote:
4 years ago
KodiakCutpurse wrote:
4 years ago
I have an ever-increasing collection of binders and 5000/800 count boxes.

I have five primary trade binders:
1) 5" binder (full) that holds (non-standard) $2-5 commons/uncommons and <$5 promos.
2) 5" binder (full) that holds (non-standard) $5-10 cards.
3) 4" binder (full) that holds (non-standard) $10-25 cards.
4) 4" binder (half-full) partitioned to hold (non-standard) $25-50 cards in the front and $50+ in the back.
5) 2.5" binder (full) partitioned to hold standard $2-5 commons/uncommons and <$5 promos first, then $5-10 cards, $10-25 cards, and $25+.

I have all <$5 non-foil rares (i.e. bulk) in approximately 15 3" binders sorted chronologically and by collector number (pre-Exodus are BUGRW; Exodus onward are WUBRG).

I have all <$5 non-promo foils in four 3" binders sorted chronologically and by collector number (as above).

I really like that idea but I'm probably too lazy to keep up with that. Although I bet it makes trading quite easy as you can pinpoint where cards would be when you need to even out trades
Yeah, it's extremely time consuming and not for everyone. I usually refresh everything once (or twice) a year. It takes about a week to look up prices, and another week to resort the binders. Having no life is practically a requirement.

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Post by Dresden » 4 years ago

If you have a large collection of cards and organize by set like .H and I, it becomes pretty easy to find cards. If you further arrange by card number so you can very quickly flip to the particular card you need. Great for personal organization but not as great if you want to have a binder for trades etc.

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.H.
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Post by .H. » 4 years ago

Dresden wrote:
4 years ago
If you have a large collection of cards and organize by set like .H and I, it becomes pretty easy to find cards. If you further arrange by card number so you can very quickly flip to the particular card you need. Great for personal organization but not as great if you want to have a binder for trades etc.
Yeah, takes me less than 30 seconds to find any given card. All my sets are arranged by collector's number and for the older sets without them, I "made up" what would be collectors number and arranged by that (by color, by name). I very specifically leave the pockets open for the cards I don't own, since who knows if I might get some in the future?

Indeed though, I never trade really, I am (as you could imagine) very much a hoarder.

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Post by Dresden » 4 years ago

Ever notice that for the old old sets without collector's number, the official ordering via Gatherer for example is totally different than what you would think it should be compared to the newer sets? For example:
https://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Sear ... t=cn+&set=[%22Legends%22]
I end up just sorting old sets by the same ordering they use in the newer sets!

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.H.
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Post by .H. » 4 years ago

Yeah, Gatherer is a bit of a turd. I think what is happening there is that the "default" ordering is Collectors Number>Name, but since these old sets don't have Collectors Number, each card's value for that is just [Null], so the default order is actually just Name. Which is exactly what we are not looking for.

I just sorted Color>Name, then go by that, but you have to fix the Lands and Artifact order by hand.

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Post by SquirrelToken » 4 years ago

.H. wrote:
4 years ago
Yeah, takes me less than 30 seconds to find any given card.
My search time is pretty similar, although I also have to factor in the five minutes that it takes to unlock the cabinet, play Tetris with the boxes until I get the right one out, and haul it over to a flat surface where I can work.

Which leads me to another question that should be asked in this thread - where in your domicile do you store your cards?

I used to have a Magic room with bookshelves for binders and tables for boxes, but that got converted into a second bedroom five years ago. Now most everything is locked up in what used to be a linen cabinet. I have a couple shelves in my bedroom where singleton binders live, but my collection is mostly difficult to access these days.

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Post by .H. » 4 years ago

SquirrelToken wrote:
4 years ago
Which leads me to another question that should be asked in this thread - where in your domicile do you store your cards?

I used to have a Magic room with bookshelves for binders and tables for boxes, but that got converted into a second bedroom five years ago. Now most everything is locked up in what used to be a linen cabinet. I have a couple shelves in my bedroom where singleton binders live, but my collection is mostly difficult to access these days.
Well, in our first house, we had one bedroom that was converted into a "computer room" and I made some bookshelves to store the binders (and books that I had). I custom made them, with the little to no skills I had, to specifically fit the binders though.

Last year though, after have two more kids, we bought a new house, and this one had enough bedrooms upstairs to still allow one room the be our "computer room." So I hauled the bookshelves over there and that's what they are still on now. The previous owners had that room as a "sewing room" so it already had a ~8 foot work area already built into it, so that gives me a good place to lay out binders when I need to. (It's also a nice place for my other hobby stuff, like painting/modeling).

All my bulk is in long boxes/5,000 count 5-rows, which is shoved into the bottom cabinet of that work desk though. I hate it, one day I am going to try to devise something better for all that...

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Post by Necrofish » 4 years ago

I have a box with most of my cards. Commons and Uncommons, rarely do I need something from there. If I do, It takes me mybe ten minutes to go through all of them.
(Bulk-)Rares are in the same fatpack I have my tokens and foils in.
I have a fatpack for my basic lands.
Cards that are actually worth something are in my Trade Binder.

My two EDH are in a win flip'n'tray with other relevant cards stored between three deckboxes.
My Modern is in a Flip'n'tray with the maybeboard in a seperate deckbox.
Last but not least, my 'favourites' Fatpack has all my faerie card that are not otherwise in use, half-brewed deck idas and cards I find otherwise interesting.

Everything I mentioned in the first paragraph is currently on the floor in a corner, while everything mentioned in the second paragraph is next to my desktop monitor.
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Post by The N82O Molecule » 4 years ago

I have a sorting question id like some outside perspectives on.

so normally I get a edh deck, ok decks, ok all four. I go buy some dragon shield sleeves. I open the deck and put the deck in sleeves and boom, store it away forever.

what Ive come to understand is that the value in the deck is based on the individual cards and not the whole cohesive deck itself.

so. is it better to open the deck and take the value cards and toss the rest (by toss I mean put in extras pile), put the decks cards in sheets (they have a number associated that's specific to the release), or to sleeve them up as I normally would?

to rephrase. . .with these new decks im thinking of getting them and just sheeting them instead of keeping them as a deck?

this came up as I was looking at old decks last night. . .and they seem like they want to be together (specifically the mono colored planeswalker ones) but this years decks I don't have that feeling. I feel like this years decks (2019) are skeletons for ideas and im only interesting in the individual new cards, not the themes.

also I wish I had my own magic room.

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.H.
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Post by .H. » 4 years ago

The N82O Molecule wrote:
4 years ago
I have a sorting question id like some outside perspectives on.

so normally I get a edh deck, ok decks, ok all four. I go buy some dragon shield sleeves. I open the deck and put the deck in sleeves and boom, store it away forever.

what Ive come to understand is that the value in the deck is based on the individual cards and not the whole cohesive deck itself.

so. is it better to open the deck and take the value cards and toss the rest (by toss I mean put in extras pile), put the decks cards in sheets (they have a number associated that's specific to the release), or to sleeve them up as I normally would?

to rephrase. . .with these new decks im thinking of getting them and just sheeting them instead of keeping them as a deck?
Well, what is your intentionality with regards to the decks/cards?

That is, do you plan to play the decks as decks? If so, it makes sense to keep them together, sleeved up. But your later statements seem to indicate this is not you intent.

Therefore, if you are not planning to play the decks as decks, I would put them in collector's number order in 9-pocket pages. This is what I do with all the Commander Decks I buy. I have all of them, except the 2016 ones, which I was short on funds for and then got priced out of. But I have two binders (currently) that are just the Commander Decks in 9-Pocket pages. I never play them as the decks themselves, I just use the cards if/when/where I need them, so it makes it much easier to find what I am looking for if they are in collectors number order.

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Post by The N82O Molecule » 4 years ago

well originally I got them to play edh, but then I learned they really aren't open and play. as the years have passed I just kept doing the same thing. but this year. . .this year im sorta not into it for the deck but rather the cards as they fit in older decks.

some of the old decks I don't want to break up while others I do. as a collector I assumed keeping the deck together was the best but ive changed over time.

so this set of decks for sure (into 9pocket pages) and ill have to contemplate about breaking up the old ones. . .

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Post by SquirrelToken » 4 years ago

As the MTG product lines have populated and proliferated over the years, I've gotten less concerned about keeping everything together. I buy all four decks and immediately rip them apart. I put one copy of each card into 9-pocket pages, in collector number order, and the rest get sorted into my normal sorting scheme. Then I take all the cards that I actually wanted and I put them in my decks (or, very rarely, build a brand new deck). It doesn't matter anymore if the cards aren't all in the binder - I have them so that I can play with them.

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Post by RainyDay » 4 years ago

For me, there's just too many supplemental products any more for each to get their own spot in a binder. If it's not an actual set, I don't bother. Commander decks and the like get broken down immediately, with oversized cards, legendaries, walkers, tokens, and format staples going to their own storage and everything else getting sorted in with the regular cards.

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Post by motleyslayer » 4 years ago

Just out of curiosity for people who keep lands separately. Do you separate them by colour combination (for example all UB or GB lands together) or by type of lands (fetches and shocks etc). I can never make up my mind

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Post by TranceKat » 2 years ago

Hi All,
I'm looking for advice on storing my card collection.

Here's what I'm working with:
1 - No tradable cards
2 - Complete sets of old cards
3 - Lots of additional cards from the sets in 2, some of which are pricey
4 - I have no intention of ever playing with any of the cards in these sets (I dont want to break up the set)
5 - Tons of new cards as well; some are quite valuable and lots of chaff as well
6 - I very much want to protect my valuable cards, but an reluctant to split them up from their sets.

What I've been doing is going through the entire collection and sleeving anything $2 and above; $2-$19 gets a KMC perfect fit sleeve. $20 or more gets a KMC Perfect Hard. They cards are in big boxes right now, except for the complete sets which are in 9 pocket sleeves in binders.

I am thinking of buying https://www.vault-x.com/collections/bin ... zip-binder and sleeving every card in each complete set in a KMC perfect fit or Perfect Fit Hard sleeve then putting them into these binders.

Is this safe enough for the ridiculously expensive cards? Should the cards above $100 go into magnetic cases
9https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09H4491CV/ref=sspa_d ... 9dHJ1ZQ==0)

If I do that, I cannot put ALL the cards below 100$ into those cases too; what would be a good way to keep things together? Have the set of cards in one of those folders and then use place holder cards in it to direct to the magnetic cases? I plan to store these sets and expensive cards in a safe.

Thank you for taking the time to read all this. I am open to other suggestions and ways to improve my sorting/storage.

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Post by The Fluff » 2 years ago

motleyslayer wrote:
4 years ago
Just out of curiosity for people who keep lands separately. Do you separate them by colour combination (for example all UB or GB lands together) or by type of lands (fetches and shocks etc). I can never make up my mind
one year late to reply. :P

in the binder, I put together lands that do similar things. For example, fetches would be together, pain lands together, fast lands together, and original duals together. That way, it's easy to find when I need a certain type of land for deck.
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Post by motleyslayer » 2 years ago

The Fluff wrote:
2 years ago
motleyslayer wrote:
4 years ago
Just out of curiosity for people who keep lands separately. Do you separate them by colour combination (for example all UB or GB lands together) or by type of lands (fetches and shocks etc). I can never make up my mind
one year late to reply. :P

in the binder, I put together lands that do similar things. For example, fetches would be together, pain lands together, fast lands together, and original duals together. That way, it's easy to find when I need a certain type of land for deck.
That's what I've settled on and I've been pretty happy with it for a few months. So I'll probably keep it that way

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Post by motleyslayer » 1 year ago

I'm debating reorganizing playable commons and uncommons, as I wanna weed through what I don't need anymore and need a better way to sort them. May by colour, format they see play in

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