Advice on Organizing

[Smitty5]

I have roughly 13,000 cards, mostly baseball. Most are organized by set. I have about 3,000 that are random in a-z order in a shoebox.

Here's my problem, I'm all about ttm's so I think a-z on the way to go. I look up a player and all their cards are in one spot. Doing this little by little damages the cards. My set organized cards seem to keep them in better shape.

How do you hardcore ttmer's organize your stuff?

After I get them signed they go on clear protective sheets, so not really looking for how to organize once they're signed

Thanks for any help in advance.

[Coltron57]

I like to put my TTMs in penny sleeves and top loaders. I don't really organize my cards due to lack of time and quantity. I do know where to look though.

[Akweldadam]

I'm interested as well. I don't have near as many cards and am just getting my collection going again from when I was a kid. I'm narrowing my PC back to just Indians and Browns players and want to do some TTM on some of my duplicate players.

[indyreds]

When we used to go to minor league games for autographs, all my baseball cards were organized by the first two letters of players last name. I could pull a roster and sort through to build my autograph books in less than half an hour! Loved it as it made games easy. Now as an TTM guy I have little organization. I see a card I want signed and mail it off. I see a success from a player I want and unless I know I have one sitting someplace easy to pick it out I just buy one and mail it out. The urgency is not the same and the organization not as important.

[*censored*]

I have my unsigned stuff organized by sport, then A-Z by player. Moving them around won't damage them that much. And really now if you care about a nickel-or-less common getting a slightly fuzzy corner, then your priorities are in the wrong place. And if condition matters that highly, then why get it signed?

Signed ones I have in sleeves organized by sport, then year, set, and card number.

[Smitty5]

@*censored, thanks sharing what you do with your unsigned cards.

Since you asked, the value isn't monetary. This is my hobby and I do it because I like baseball cards and ttm autographs.

Condition does matter, the cards belong to me and I want to take care of them. I posted this to get an idea of how best to do it.

[Akweldadam]

I have most of my signed, GU, memorbilia type cards in toploaders, is there a way to organize those in a book or binder while still having that rigid support? That's how I organize my base cards which is fine with me because I take caution when putting them in, because like Smitty5 said, I like to keep my cards in nice condition.

[r0yals2012]

All mine that are signed are sleeved and top loaded but unsigned is in a box organized by divisions and another is all prospects and minor leaguers

[awz50]

Put them in organized boxes

[mrveggieman]

As far as stuff that I planning on using to get graphed I got 3 large binders of current NBA players/coaches/broadcasters that I have sorted by team. Whenever that team comes out I grab those teams players and take them with me. I also plan on doing the same for the baseball. As far as football goes that is completely unorganized except for the falcons. I do ttm also with retired football and baseball players but I have yet to organize those cards.