[nittany13]

Just a note - I am asking those who only keep one card per pocket and do not double face. I would be surprised if any serious collector would do that this day and age anyway.

There are no wrong answers here. I am just curious what method other collectors use, and if possible - why. I want to rearrange my cards so that everything is uniform and I am torn how I want to display the cards I store in pages.

Now, the survey...

A.
Do you display your cards in pages with the front of the card shown on the right on every page? We will classify this as back-front, back-front (bf,bf).


or...

B.
Do you display the cards so the fronts and then the backs are shown on two adjoining pages? We will refer to this as front-front, back-back.


Now I just want to state something about the pocket pages of today. I discussed this about five years ago, but I believe the statute of limitations to bring it up again has expired.

I use Ultra Pro pages to house some of my cards. The pages are alright I guess, specifically the nine pocket ones. However, back in the mid-80's when I used to collect baseball cards there used to be another manufacturer of pages and I personally find these to be of higher quality. The ones shown above are the ones in question. Back then there was a scare I recall of pages leaking chemicals on to the card causing discoloration, but I must have had these 25-30 years and have never experienced that. I believe that issue concerned another manufacturer at the time anyway.

Taking a closure look, and it is still hard to see in the photos below, one can see the company information. The company is called Command Plastics based out of Akron, OH. These are labelled as MVP-9T, the 9T meaning nine pocket top load. I recall the company originally manufactured pockets with an open side pocket instead of a top - I do not think it went over well.

These pages seem to display the cards more clearly, are more sturdy and are easier to handle. The cards do not seem to "pop out" at the top as much either. I do not like when the card top peaks out from the top because I worry about fraying. I do not like the idea that I have to take my finger and push the card back in again either. I will admit the issue is not as bad with the Ultra Pro nine pocket ones, but it is with the eight pockets.

Some of the cards are peaking out a little. I am contemplating removing all my vintage cards of this size and placing them in four pocket ones instead like I did for my 1956 Topps, which are too wide for eight pocket pages anyway.

I also thought about keeping my standard sized card in to six pocket pages instead which will leave more than enough clearance at the top, although the binder capacity will be lowed a third.

In summation I never understood why this company ceased operations of this product, at least I think they did anyway. The company still seems to be in business though. There have been major improvements of card storage products over the years, but IMHO the card pocket pages is not one of them.

[jephthah1]

I have never seen the 8 card pages. Not sure if I like the horizontal storage.

I hear you, though, concerning the cards poking out of the top of their pockets. I got to where I would push them back in using the page itself, so as to not have to touch the card over and over; or I would drop the binder onto the table, upright. That didn't always work though.

I pretty much do not store anything in pages anymore, and hope to one day get all of my sets into boxes.

[nittany13]

I have never seen the 8 card pages. Not sure if I like the horizontal storage.

I hear you, though, concerning the cards poking out of the top of their pockets. I got to where I would push them back in using the page itself, so as to not have to touch the card over and over; or I would drop the binder onto the table, upright. That didn't always work though.

I pretty much do not store anything in pages anymore, and hope to one day get all of my sets into boxes.

Ultra Pro produces different types of pages for different sized cards. The ones in the eight pocket pages above are 1955 Bowman. From 1952-1957 the cards were larger than the 3-1/2 x 2-1/2 ones that we are used to today. Those cards will not fit in a typical nine pocket page.

Currently I am collecting Eagle base cards as a side project. I am not pursuing anything right now, as it relates to Eagle cards, pertaining to game worn jerseys, autographs or very low print runs - in other words nothing too expensive.

The cards within my main collection, consisting of a few select players, are all stored in penny sleeves and top loaders however.

[jephthah1]

Ultra Pro produces different types of pages for different sized cards. The ones in the eight pocket pages above are 1955 Bowman. From 1952-1957 the cards were larger than the 3-1/2 x 2-1/2 ones that we are used to today. Those cards will not fit in a typical nine pocket page.

I learn something new every day!

[jplarson]

I never thought of option B before, I'll have to try it out once and see how I like it. But for all my sets, I try to keep them separated in their own 3/4", 1", or 2" binders. I don't prefer putting multiple sets in one binder. But D-ring or basically something that doesn't form a circle is the way to go. Had a couple pages of Collector's Choice go south on me with some creases from the rings.

The only real annoyance I have is the need to keep binders on their side. If I stand them up it puts some stress on the top hole of the pages and puts weight on the bottom row outside card which I'd rather avoid.

Good topic!

[savagenate]

I store a lot of my rainbows in Ultra Pro pages. I like being able to see my cards, rather then pull them out of a box to go through them. I use the back/front method, but seeing your pictures above, I may change that for my rainbows so you can see the whole thing rather than turning pages. Why oh why can't they just make 1 base, 8 refractors, and the super????? They'd fit perfectly in the top loaders, and we all know the super gets special treatment...it would look so much nicer and be easier to display! Lol that's my rant :p
If you are worried about the tops of your cards, you could look into this. (Hopefully I can post the link here) I plan on buying these to hold some collections that I can't afford to grade or use mag cases with. They have a flap that goes over the top, so no more peeking! Check em out...I haven't bought one yet, but they look legit.
www.toploaderbinder.com

[wolverine74]

Option A for me, I have never thought of doing it the other way

[jplarson]

Why oh why can't they just make 1 base, 8 refractors, and the super?????

The insert sets that have 10 cards or base sets with 100 make me cry . So sad seeing the one remainder on a page all by his lonesome.

[y2hood]

I'm an option A guy myself.

[savagenate]

The insert sets that have 10 cards or base sets with 100 make me cry . So sad seeing the one remainder on a page all by his lonesome.

Exactly!