It Was Time

It was time.

It was time for me to do another sorting project. This time, it was another big one.

Over the past few years, I have come to realize with all of the trading I do it would be a lot easier to have my cards sorted by team. So I did that with my base and rookie cards. However, my inserts I have not. And since I have four sports of them to sort, this was going to be quite the project to tackle.

I decided that baseball would be my first one to tackle since that and football were my biggest projects. Basketball and hockey don't have nearly as much.

So I dug right in. Pulling two binders worth of cards out, then sorting them, then rinse and repeat. As of my typing of this I still have a couple baseball insert binders to go.

I definitely couldn't have done any of this project easily without the help of my card sorting tray I got from BCW Supplies. I actually have three of them but could use a couple more the way I in-depth sort my cards and it helps keep my desk clean and neat.

 

Here are some cards freshly pulled from a couple of binders

And binders as they empty. I will reuse all of the binders and pages for other projects I have planned. I don't let anything go to waste.

Well, I should probably end this post so I can go back to the project at hand. I also should mention, if you plan on doing any sorting projects like one I am doing or even ones that are simpler, go grab yourself a Card Sorting Tray from BCW which you can find HERE.

While you are at it, let me hear what projects you have started on for sorting?

2019 Sorting Project

It started on January 1st and may take me to the next January 1st to tackle the biggest sort I have ever done. My goal in the end, securing the fact I will be able to find my cards a lot easier.

However, to begin such a sort, I had to do something a bit backwards first. I had to finish up sorting the way I have always sorted to move onto the "Big Sort". I know I should have just kept this stuff out and sorted it in the new fashion, but I don't have the room and honestly with all of this laying around, it would bog me down more than get me going with momentum. I like to take things one at a time. This would be way to much to able to do that.

Not to mention I don't have the space for my plans. I had to use multiple sorting trays, a bench, a box, my floor, my entire desk, etc just to sort the stuff that has been sitting on my desk forever.

 

Thank Goodness for BCW Sorting Trays!

 

A bench I have to hold my oddball stuff by number.

 

Sorting tray again.

 

Oh my desk!

 

More desk space eaten up.

I still need to put this all away the old way. It's going to be quite the journey.

What's going to be my big sort? Well, it's taking apart every sports inserts, pulling out the 90's stuff for a binder on it's own, then pulling the rest out to be put into penny sleeves, by team, then into boxes instead of binders. The binders I empty will be used for putting my players back in like they used to be. I think the players I currently have in boxes are worth more than the new inserts of today. The 90's inserts will be sorted by what they are and finally grouped together to see if there are any other sets I want to build.

This is just Part 1. Part 2, I need to take apart two binders of Griffey Jr, sort them by year, by brand, put them back into a binder than do my online checklist.

Part 3 is moving my NY Giants relics from a stack on a table, into boxes sorted by player to make it easier for me to do posts with if I choose to do so.

Part 4 I am also going to take apart my relics and autograph boxes and sort them by team.

I am sure along the way I will find other ways I want to tweak things and maybe even change my plans from above as I go. All I know, it's going to take awhile. That Griffey project alone will be grueling. As all of that goes along updates on here along with some changes to things will come as well.

All I know this is going to keep me busy for awhile. So if you see me disappear and maybe miss some posts, I probably got lost in the cards. Don't call for help. I will find a way out.

2 Years Later: The Sort Is Done

Two years. That's how long it took to un-sort to re-sort 23 years of collecting base cards for four sports changing them from a by year, by brand, by number to simply by team and by key players from each team.

I was trying to find a way to simplify the way I collect. Especially since I don't set collect as much as I used to. The sets I put together and ones I am still trying to do were kept intact.

The one thing that was most helpful during this two year project was my 2 BCW Sorting Trays. Not sure I could have completed this big project without them. Or at least in the two years.

 

They helped take this ....

Turn it into this.....

 

Which in the end, turned into this...

Which later turned into this. Baseball teams each got their own 800 ct box.

Football, hockey and basketball were put into bigger 4 or 5 row boxes. The players for each sport I pulled got their own 4-5 row boxes as well.

In the end, I can't tell you the amount of cards I sorted as I don't even know that. But, the years were focused on 89-now. You know how it is when you load up on the junk wax years.

What I can tell you for numbers was the breakdown of key players I yanked for each sport:

Baseball 80 players

Football 110 players

Basketball 60 players

Hockey 20 players

I didn't yank all of the stars as I mainly focused on offensive players more than defensive. Not a lot of collectors care much pitchers and defensive lineman.

I am just glad to have this project done as I have many others I want to tackle next including sorting my baseball rookies by team. Once again, that may take awhile from all of the junk wax rookies I have.

So now I wanna hear what your most challenging sorting project ever was? Let me know in comments!

Review: BCW Card Sorting Tray

This arrived yesterday. I think someone from BCW Supplies must have read my Sorting Series because this genius of a product is right up my alley.

As stated in my Sorting Series, you can find the series on the blog by searching Sorting, or maybe you already read them but you know I really sort when I bust a box or even a pack of cards. I have a pile for rookies, rookie inserts, star players, commons, inserts, my teams, and so on. This beautiful tray will help me BIG TIME in sorting cards. I usually have to make my piles on the table and at times they fall over causing me to having to re-sort them. Now, with this, I can place them into the slots. And there are plenty of them. Overall, the BCW Card Sorting tray holds 20 slots and 4 deep slots on the side. This thing is also much bigger than what I saw in previews of the item.

 

This is just an example of the card sorting. This isn't cards that I have sorted yet. As of now, I am caught up so my tray at this point is empty. But look how easy it is to use and how much room you have to sort your cards with.

If you sort cards like me, I truly recommend getting this nice tray. Or even if you don't, it will still come in handy to keep what you do sort separate. I can tell already that it's going to be a HUGE help the next time I make a card purchase.

To Find This Product And More Check Out The BCW Website: http://www.bcwsupplies.com/