Best sheets and albums?
GeoffEighinger
Posts: 431 ✭✭
Just curious as to what you all use for putting your raw sets in albums.
BCW?
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GeoffEighinger
Posts: 431 ✭✭
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Ultra Pro Platinum pages for me for my raw sets. I still go out of my way to find the nicest raw cards that I can, but something about those pages make even dull, worn looking cards appear like gems.
Oh man that's the other company I couldn't remember. Ultra Pro. Got it.
I'm only endorsing the "Platinum" line, though. I can't speak for the "Silver" or any other possible variations that you often find at Wal-Mart or Target. I've never used those, but have heard disparaging comments on those secondhand.
I usually buy the Ultra Pro Platinum pages by the case (1000 ct) from some vendor on eBay when the purchase qualifies for either eBay bucks or a $20 off $100 purchase or similar promotions. Sometimes it works out to be as little as $13 or so per 100 pages.
I am a big fan of the BCW albums, though. I'm a sucker for the graphics printed on the front and the few color variations. I usually buy those directly from the BCW website. They offer free shipping on $75 or more, I believe. You can mix and match within certain quantities, and I usually order 15 or 24 albums at a time that average out around $6.40 per album, if I remember correctly.
You got a nice display of albums in a card room? Would love to see
Well, once upon a time, I did have one room dedicated to my cards, but its capacity to contain everything eventually was exceeded, and the overflow ended up in several more rooms. So, now I guess you could say that I have a "card house"! Haha!
Any pics of my albums would likely not be that interesting. Just a bunch of album spines lined up across various shelving. I have given consideration to inserting a common card from the issued year into the little pocket in order to give it some additional color and perhaps a bit of a quicker reference, but then decided that I'd rather look at a star card instead of some Joe Schmo, so perhaps I'll acquire a bunch of reprints or "cards your mom threw out" inserts to stick in there that would be more appealing visually. Of course, procrastination has long gotten the better of me on that project, so we'll see.
There are collectors on the board that post photos of just a few cards that collectively are waaay more valuable than what I am about to describe, so this is not bragging as far as value. Some of this stuff is worthless to anyone else but me. I'm just trying to convey to you the volume of what I am trying to store (some would insert the word "hoard" here instead), yet still make it quickly accessible for my own personal viewing pleasure by having as many albums as I do...
1968-2017 run of complete Topps baseball sets, including the traded sets from 74, 76, and 81-94(?). My intent is to continue to work backward through the 60s for as long it's fiscally feasible, and perhaps the 50s, as well. (One can dream...)
1981-90 run of complete baseball sets of both Donruss and Fleer with the update sets (except 84 Fleer) and the "Rookies" sets, 1988-91 run of Score, and 1989-91 run of Upper Deck.
1982-90 run of complete Topps football sets. Also some UD/SP football and Bowman football sets too. Also some Fleer, Hoops, and UD basketball sets too. I believe 89/90 is the earliest on the Fleer BK, so nothing too valuable there.
Then I have a bunch of small/oddball sets that I like to look at, like a 1970 Topps Supers baseball or 87 Fleer minis, Kaybee, Toys R Us, Kellogg's, etc. Then I have a few albums full of random cards that I like to look at, like starting lineup cards, McDonald's cards, or inserts, etc.
I could go on and on...
Yes, it's a lot of albums, and yes, it takes up a lot of space. At some point, I'm going to have to cull the herd and box up some of that stuff to make room for the new baseball set acquisitions, but that decision is still a ways away. I guess I could always look into getting a bigger house, instead...Ha!
I like the Ultra Pro Platinum sheets. I use Ultra Pro binders for non-Topps and post-2006 Topps sets, and MJ Roop binders for the others (often cost more than the sets they hold). Here's a photo of one of my shelves covering 1971-2006 (1984 is with a Padres display - first year they went to the playoffs/World Series).