All I Do Is Sort,Sort, Sort, Sort

The last few weeks I haven't been blogging too much or been doing much else other than, sort, sort, sort ,sort with me and my sorties. 

 

Well, me and myself.

Whether it was sorting my set needs above.

Putting away my Christmas cards finally all in one place.

 

Or finally putting most of my Ken Griffey Jr's in one place by year, it has been quite the adventure into sorting and it's not even close to being done yet.

Along with these main projects which was mostly putting stuff away, well the Griffey and Christmas projects were long coming, I still have other stuff in my collection I want to re-sort and re-box/binder. 

Just need to find the time to do it. That's the toughest part and it may require me to take some time away from blogging to do it as I have limited free time every day.

We will see.

All I know is that I will use the chipping away approach I have been using already. Every little bit gets me closer to where I want to be.

Even if it takes a year more to complete. I will get there.

Or will I? Do any of us actually get there. Because all we do is sort, sort, sort ,sort,sort.

While Posts Have Been Posting...

It may feel on here that I haven't missed a beat while the posts have been posting, but honestly, I haven't checked fully in on this blog in awhile.

All of the posts that have been posting are backlogged ones that have been desperately needing to see the light of day. So instead of posting my few small and far in-between mail days, I have been tweeting those out and letting these backlogged posts take up the blog.

Well, except for today. I decided to pop in with something fresh and update on what I have been doing in my spare time instead of putting up new posts.

I have been sorting. Every minute I have had a chance, I have been sorting, re-organizing and tearing it down and apart. This is by far the most work I have and will be putting forth into my collection since I started in the 90's.

First off, I have been stripping apart my once insert binders. Originally I was just tossing all the inserts into binders and that was it. But, I got so sick of looking for stuff I thought I had and since it wasn't by team it would take forever to look for. Well no more!

I finished baseball and football awhile go and now it's basketball and hockey time. I have to pull all of the cards out of the binder which is time consuming to say the least, then sort them by team using the handy BCW Sorting Tray. Which I suggest once again you go grab one for yourself HERE. Don't think I could have done this project without it.

Since I only have one tray free to work with, the other two have NY Yankees and rookie cards in them to be put away, so I have been transferring each sport by the tray onto my desk which I cleaned a spot for.

After that, I have been making sure to have BCW Penny Sleeves (which I found much more sturdy than it's rival counterpart), and BCW Trading Card dividers on hand so I can keep this project moving forward. I already had Shoe Boxes on hand.

 And Shoe Box Houses to keep it nice and neat. I have been labeling the outside of the boxes as I go.

Now a bunch of empty binders and pages remain. But, don't worry, those won't be empty long.

The next part to tangle once basketball and hockey inserts are done is my Rodney Hampton binder. I have decided after much back and forth that I want to put those in a box as well by year. That way if I am looking for something I can just go to the year and find it.

This is just some of the sorting I am tackling.

I still have the following to do,

• Sort hockey rookies by team. Last sport that needs it done
• Move star players by sport from boxes into binders for easier access
• Finally combine my football rookie inserts and my football rookies. Football rookie inserts must be pulled out of binder, sort by team to be put away
• Sort hits by team 
• Locate some non sport sets I have been wanting to binder

My point is to make it so I can locate cards easier. This should be a big help, but a lot of work and very time consuming.

I will try to keep you guys updated on my progress when I can. In the meantime, at least until November, enjoy the backlogged posts.

Another note before I close, I have been keeping my want lists and set needs updated on here. Just in case you are looking to trade :)

The Origins Of A Cardboard Addict: It's 3am IMust Be Sorting

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She said it cold outside and hands me my winter coat
She always worried about things like that
She says go grab a box of cards and something for her from Walmart
And I only shop when it's snowing.
Then I come home late, and did some busting.

And I said baby
It's 3am I must do some sorting
When she says baby
Well I can't help but be quite so I can sleep
I turn on the fan to give her some white noise, I am gonna get this done I believe it.

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It was mid to late 90's and on my off nights from school or on school vacation, I would stay up either late or get up very early depending on how I felt. I remember staying up plenty of late nights sorting cards or getting up very early the next morning, sometimes at 3 am to do so. I was never sure why I ever got up that early, but I did. It wouldn't actually be much longer after that when my mother would wake up because my father was a farmer at the time and that's what they did.

So there I was sorting cards at 3am, having a cup of coffee (I probably shouldn't have had that under the age of 10 but who was I to complain) and eating fried eggs with toast. Back then I liked my eggs runny but today I wouldn't touch them that way. Has to be cooked thoroughly now.

You learn so much as you get older and your tastes and texture wants change.

The memories of doing this was recently revived when I spent this past weekend, not at 3am but more like 6am, doing an overload of 90's card sorting. I have been working on pulling cards out of boxes of sets I want to build, putting them by brands into piles and then having to sort them all by number.

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I did a little bit of sorting, gosh it's better than nothing.
And the color and size of the stack of the cards, I hoped I had them all
I swore I had more cause the stacks weren't quite as high as I was used to
 🎶🎶🎶

 

I can't remember a time I was this excited about putting sets together. Well, I can. It was the 90's when I last cared about doing base card sets. Today's products just can't touch the magnificent ones put out back then and I will be posting each one of these products on this tray in a series for further breakdown along with the memories I have with each one.

My thought to be small project took actually two weekends to accomplish and for the first time in many years, I reverted back to a system I used a lot of in the 90's.

 

My chicken scratch handwritten numbers. I haven't done this in years and years mainly because I don't do much in terms of set collecting anymore. Usually I don't do sets or the few that I did, I used this computer and entered them. But with so many numbers to do, I hand wrote them all but they will end up on here at some point to see if I can get some help from you guys to accomplish them.

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I believed that sorting was something I was used to

And the more cards came in for days and days

I think that happiness is to get this all cleaned up

But, in the mail box, more came in

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If you didn't know by now, you must have picked up on the part I was listening to 3am by Matchbox Twenty while I did this sorting. I am always 50/50 on what I will put on while I am sorting. Sometimes it will be a sporting event for background noise or I will dig out a CD I haven't listened to in awhile. This time I felt Matchbox Twenty fit the bill.

 

I originally had multiple Matchbox Twenty CD's, but I had combined them all down to a greatest hits album to save me some space on a shelf. There were so many great hits I can't even list them all on this CD. Other than 3am, one of my favorites was Back 2 Good and I would listen to that on repeat multiple times.

I am glad to finally have most of the base sets from the 90's I want to complete ready to seek out wants for, but there are still some I will uncover another time. I also still have a lot of 90s insert sets I need to put together as well. I just know when it comes to sorting and re-sorting, it never ends and probably getting up at 3am to do so would be a great idea if I am ever going to get it all done.

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And I said baby

it's 3am I must do more sorting

when she says baby

maybe this time I should help and I said you would be scared of it cause sometimes it's even more than I can handle.

 🎶🎶🎶

Ken Griffey Jr Update

Two weekends ago, I spent countless hours taking Ken Griffey Jr cards out of toploaders and a binder. Then spent another countless hours on sorting those by year which wasn't that easy I found out. My eyes and those years on the back of the cards don't match up as well as they used to ten years ago.

But, I got two thirds of my job done in one weekend with one more binder to go. That one however will take awhile on it's own.

 

Here I show some of the progress in the beginning on the start. Piles of toploaders off to the side, believe me the stack is much bigger than that, and the Griffeys sorted by year on the front. I didn't turn them around by back side on the tray as I wanted to actually see the fronts.

And here is the progress thus far put by year on my desk. Notice something a tad odd, well, I did as I sorted through the first binder and those toploaders. Not ONE SINGLE, card from 2011 in the mix which is the empty gap in the second to last row.

From some of my research, there wasn't really any Ken Griffey Jr in 2011 other than a few Panini, very few Topps and mostly Tri-Star cards. I wonder why. I didn't realize that there were no Griffey cards in a year. Now I need to see in this final binder if I have any in general. How do you not have one of the All-Time greats in your product???

More updates to come on this big sorting project. I have so, so much to go with this Griffey project.

Big Sort 2019 Update!

And so it begins.

Just last week I finally finished the final touches on putting everything away that was on my floor, desk, shelves, etc, etc, etc and now my Big Sort of 2019 can begin! Not sure I would have finished any of this part without my BCW sorting trays.

 

This was the final pieces I had to take care of. (Also take note of my desk decorations Gavin ;) ) 

The big sort begins with my Ken Griffey Jr collection. Something that has been needing be done since the 90's. Yes it has been that long.

 

I started a little bit on this last night. Very little.

 

I have two binders and the stack in the middle to sort by year. By year, oy! Then these will put into a checklist on my computer then to be uploaded to here. I expect a month at least into this project.

I will continue to post updates as I go along and show off some cool Griffey's as well. My hope is that this part of my collection will be as organized as my Rodney Hampton. I will not be surprised either if I have some dupes to trade as I have been eye balling cards over the years I thought I needed. I will post those as well.

I am kinda of curious how you guys sort your bigger player pc's? Maybe it will change the direction I plan to with this one.

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.

The Low Budget Collector Part 5:Hobby Project

If you are a low budget collector like myself, you will find yourself having those moments where any form of funds is unavailable. Even the shipping ones.

These moments can sometimes drag you down almost to the point of wanting to quit the hobby. Believe me, I have been there so I know how you feel when you get there as well.

What I have found to be soothing in those times, is enjoying what I already have. There is always some form of sorting to do. I created projects for myself in the last couple of years that helped me bypass those feelings of wanting to quit. It's really, really hard not to add something new, but sometimes is nice just to enjoy what you already enjoyed once.

The two projects I tackled were long ones. This doesn't mean you have to do a long project if you know hobby funds is coming up, just find a small project or base it on the time you expect your next round of funds. Or you could start a big one and work on it during those fund-less times. That's what I did with my first project. My second one was more of covering a longer distance of months.

My first project I took ALL of my boxes and took out my partial sets and sorted them all by team for four sports. Then had to sort all of the non sport by number.

This project was a year long one. It felt so great to have that one done.

My second year project was fixing all of my binders. Sorting some by team, sorting others by shinyness, sorting some by my favorites that I want sets of, so on and so forth.

 

That was a few month project.

There are actually a few more sub-projects I want to get done with the binders but I am currently holding out til my next gap of needed downtime. I know there will be.

I hope Part 5 of this will help you in some way today to keep on collecting no matter the circumstance. This is the point of these posts and even though some may be obvious like this one, it will hopefully still get you in the right direction without wanting to quit the hobby. I am also hoping it may give you a new way to save money and collect.

SORTING:The Rest

Last year I tweeted out this photo on Twitter of my desk,

Immediately I had a comment of "wow that's such a disaster someone please help this guy sort things out." 

I responded with, "that's not a mess, that's how I sort. It's a bit complex."

I made a promise to that individual that I would do a segment to explain my sorting and here I am.

It really isn't as complex as it looks, at least to me. But, it is a bit in-depth with as much as I collect and as many sports as I collect.

So I thought I would make this series breaking down everything I collect and how I sort it. I hope this will explain the picture I tweeted and maybe give you some ideas for your own collection on how to sort.

Today I am showing off how I sort the rest of the sports and non sports I collect. Yes, I collect way too much. But, is there really such a thing??

When it comes to non sport, soccer, UFC, NASCAR or any hit I get from the rest of the sports I collect, they get loaded into penny sleeves, toploaders or 10ct boxes depending on how thick of a hit I get.

These hits then get placed into shoe box houses by what they are to make it easier to find something when I need to.

Up next, the base I sort by number. This is a very long process sometimes. Unlike the key four sports, I don't usually pull out an specific players or people so the stacks are bigger.

 and place into boxes marked oddball or non sport depending on what they are.

Finally, the inserts from all and 2015 Americana only get placed into binders by what they are. Every part has a small binder for it.

  

 

Once I get everything bindered, they get stacked on shelves. Not standing up of course as that damages cards in the long run as the pages start to fold overtime. They are stacked alternating so one side doesn't get squished and so I can fit many on one shelf. You may notice numbers on the outside of the binders. At one point I used to number them and keep what's in them in a notebook but that got too complicated with the alternating as I can't see all of the numbers now.

 

Another part I failed to mention above, is my giveaway/trade pile. I pull that stuff out and set it aside as I go along for people I normally trade with and which giveaways I run.

Well, that's it for how I sort everything and marks the end of this popular series.

Thanks for reading and your thoughts on my sorting are welcomed in comments. Even toss in how you sort as well.

SORTING:Football

Last year I tweeted out this photo on Twitter of my desk,

Immediately I had a comment of "wow that's such a disaster someone please help this guy sort things out." 

I responded with, "that's not a mess, that's how I sort. It's a bit complex."

I made a promise to that individual that I would do a segment to explain my sorting and here I am.

It really isn't as complex as it looks, at least to me. But, it is a bit in-depth with as much as I collect and as many sports as I collect.

So I thought I would make this series breaking down everything I collect and how I sort it. I hope this will explain the picture I tweeted and maybe give you some ideas for your own collection on how to sort.

Today I am showing off how I sort football cards which is one of my more complicated and in-depth sortings.

When I take a stack of football cards, I split them into many sections. This is something I have done every since I have been in the hobby. 24+ years of the same thing.

So for football I kick it off with the hits, Anything I feel that has good "book value" for inserts, $25+, and any hits get set off to the side to be placed in penny sleeves, toploaders or 10ct plastic boxes for jersey cards or thick cards. These all get placed into 2-row shoe box houses by sport. There are boxes I mark for hits and another for inserts.

Second, I pull out all of the rookies. Rookies with team logos get sorted by team and placed into binders

Rookies without any team logos and just college uni's, get placed into a college binder. Some players I could probably figure out which teams they go on while others don't ever have one. So to make it easier on myself, they all go in here.

Rookie inserts and parallels are pulled out as well and placed in a binder by themselves.

Star Players like Russell Wilson find themselves in by-player boxes. But, not their rookies as they are in the rookie binder. See how confusing this can be? Other players in here range from the 90's with Dan Marino, John Elway, Mark Brunell to players of today like Cam Newton, Julio Jones and Antonio Brown

 

However, there are three players I don't put in the boxes including Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Brett Favre. I think their value is higher than the rest so they stay out of boxes and go into binders.

 

Football inserts, less-valuable ones and excluding who I consider star players, find themselves in a binder by themselves. In my binder reorganization project I will be pulling out 90's sets I enjoy. I had considered putting all of the card by the products they were, but that would take me forever. Maybe that will be a later on project.

And of course I have a team for football. The Giants are pulled out and put into a few piles. Hits in one that go into a special place. Rookies and rookie inserts go into a binder and the Giants players all get sorted by player into a binder.

And finally, the scraps. This is everything I don't collect or put into binders. The base of the base like this Brian Sipe. 

These are put into big ct boxes marked NBA by team and fit nicely under my desk. These cards I used to put by brand, year and number but I dismantled them last year in my box resorting project. I feel it's easier putting them by team as I don't ever plan on putting together most of those sets I had once started.

 

 

Once I get everything bindered, they get stacked on shelves. Not standing up of course as that damages cards in the long run as the pages start to fold overtime. They are stacked alternating so one side doesn't get squished and so I can fit many on one shelf. You may notice numbers on the outside of the binders. At one point I used to number them and keep what's in them in a notebook but that got too complicated with the alternating as I can't see all of the numbers now.

The sets I have collected already find themselves remaining in the boxed set boxes or in 800 ct boxes. That's it.

So football is a bit more in-depth for me since it's my favorite sport to collect. Baseball is close behind.

Another part I failed to mention above, is my giveaway/trade pile. I pull that stuff out and set it aside as I go along for people I normally trade with and which giveaways I run.

Only one more sorting part to go in this series and it involves my new love of non sports cards along with other oddball sports I have. Stay tuned!

Thanks for reading and your thoughts on my sorting are welcomed in comments.