We’re approaching a brand new year in the collecting sphere; goals have been met, new ones are on the horizon, grading is still popular than ever, and cards are still finding their way in binders.
For the year 2023, most of my cards (not all of them) found their way more in a master binder rather than graded.
Autographs from various artists during the past Overload season that I hold very dear to my heart are now all in binders with the exception of Masakazu Fukuda and Kouki Saitou that were graded prior.
Why the shift? For me a fun activity I do with my gf is we take our master binder to card shops and fill in holes we need to complete our collection. Never thought in a million years she would be into it. I couldn’t do that with slabs.
Dont get me wrong, it’s fun to take slabs to events and show off which are your favorite prized ones.
@smpratte videos that are exclusive to binder videos got me realizing that I personally am collecting wrong, and I know I would be a lot happier if I stop worrying about the cards monetary value and just enjoy it for what it is. It’s what kept me in the hobby when I almost left a few years ago.
I know this topic was last created back in 2021, and is still widely discussed on e4 discord. With a lot of new folks arriving since, I’m curious do you prefer binder, graded or a little of both? Why?
binder only except for maybe like 3-5 of your favorite cards graded. I cannot be bothered unstacking a pile of graded cards to look through them, I’d rather flip through a binder.
In 2023 I went from 1 binder to 4 binders and 0 graded cards to 0 graded cards. Maybe if the market continues to retract and I figure out more about what I want to do I’ll end up with more binders next year. But I certainly won’t end up with more graded cards
I think it depends on what the card/set is I am collecting. For example, I have binders for 1st Edition/Shadowless/Unlimited base, Komiya artwork cards, my Psyduck binder , Southern Islands, etc. For these cards, I want the experience of having them laid out in a binder format and seeing set continuity as well as ease of use. For other cards that are more one offs that I just really enjoy or may otherwise be more expensive, I like having the graded variety. But I could see myself cracking more of my slabs one day and moving towards more binders; the upside of a slab is I can always crack it if desired
I will always be a binder guy: that’s how I started when I was a kid, and what I kept doing for years. Like you said, sometimes I just don’t want to think about monetary value or wonder if my cards is really a PSA5-8-9-10-whatever.
Seeing all the cards together, sorting them and flipping through is a wonderful nostalgic experience that leaves every secondary thought behind and reminds me of what I truly love about this hobby.
Sure I learned to enjoy grading and having my favorite cards slabbed, but I promised to myself that they will be a fraction of my collection.
Always have, and always will prefer binders. The pro-level binders with the black background highlight the cards better. They take up less space, and most importantly, there’s just something “proper” about taking a binder off the shelf and examining the cards.
Slabs are good for some things, but they just don’t create the same feeling of nostalgia, and don’t allow you to appreciate the art like a binder collection can. Binders can also be utilized in many different ways. Full-page spreads. Displaying your decks with playsets of cards (4x3 binders). Putting certain types, species, artists, etc together. This can’t be done as easily with slabs (though there are options.)
That’s my take. But it’s important that we all do what makes us feel good about our collections and collecting. You could also make a display case, but then it requires more rooms in your house(s).
I like having a mix of both myself. I find it adds ‘balance’ to my collection. I can buy far more binder/NM copies of cards than PSA 9s and 10s or whatever high grade slab for the majority of cards I collect. 10s have an added chase factor to collecting, so I can see the appeal of going for them for a lot of people who want something extra special. I do love my PSA 10s of my favourite cards, however if I only focused on these I’d have a far smaller collection built at this point. I also get a lot of enjoyment of seeing my binder(s) eventually get completed after many months or even years of collecting.
So I think both have pros & cons depending on what you’re after. A lot of it is psychological, and then there’s also an element of financial risk involved. This is why I like owning both.
This is a great topic. I’ve actually been feeling lately that I’ve been slowly brain washed by grading companies and the hobby at large to care more about condition than I actually do… high grade or bust mentality. That’s not to point blame on anything or anyone but more of an observation on the psychology of collecting and social groups. Perhaps it’s just a me thing. But with that realization I’ve thought about moving almost exclusively back to binders to get back to the root of collecting. As a kid I never really payed much attention to condition, didn’t ever spend time looking at the back of cards or comparing condition to my other cards. If my younger self new the premiums I was paying for the slightest increase in condition, I’d be appalled. Obviously I’d still rather have a mint card than a damaged one but sometimes it just doesn’t make sense to me. With the exception of course for specific cards that I feel should be encapsulated for safety, provenience, etc. as others have pointed out.
My goals as of late are pretty lofty so it will be a while before I can get back to focusing on my binders but I’m really looking forward to taking things less seriously, slowing down and just chilling with my binders.
I think both have their place in the hobby! I truly believe that the people that think you should be 100% graded or 100% binder are missing out.
Going back to binder collecting is something that has made me enjoy things more recently, but I still see the value in grading and appreciate the cards I do have graded!
I love both equally and believe that they serve different purposes in my collection.
Binders are superior at showcasing large numbers of cards, and especially those that belong to a coherent set or theme. Slabs retain value better, are easier to buy/sell, and are better at highlighting the quality of the given card. Both belong in my collection and I tend to go back and forth with progress on one or the other.
I would grade 100% of the cards in my binders if PSA or CGC said they would do it for free. But I wouldn’t spend a penny on grading fees because that just means fewer raw cards could be bought for the binder.
I will say, the most fun part about binder collecting for me is that it takes most of the financial aspect out of the equation. With my graded collection I find myself checking up on recent sold prices and listings to see what the current value is at. With binder collecting, I really only care about the price when I purchased the card and once it is away I never think about how much it is worth
I am binder gang through and through. My choices for not to grade were financial because I share the same sentiment as @eeveeteam that the money I save from grading goes into my collection. I feel binders also give me the freedom to choose and display my collection in my binder the way I like them.
I do recognise the advantage of grading for monetary value and I think I will only do it if I want to sell something, but it won’t happen for the foreseeable future.
Yup, this is a great thing about raw/binder copies. You stop caring/worrying as much about the financial side of things and it’s just lower risk all around. At the same time, you still get to own all the same cards in your collection and be ‘invested’ in the market. So if you’re less worried about investing and other collecting aspects, binder copies are just great. Most of the time I store my slabs away, while binders I can just grab off the shelf and go through and enjoy them when I want.
This is why I enjoy having a mix of slabs & binders as I build my collection up.
Binders are their own brand of fun. Completing a set or merchandising a binder to fit your own tastes. Filling in blank slots is satisfying. Flipping through pages offers the best experience for viewing more than a few cards. Even things like picking out just the right binder, or having them all lined up on the shelf feel intentional and fulfilling.
Grading is just a different type of fun. It’s more about challenge. Your experience with tracking down mint raw cards and pre grading being paid off when you get the submissions back is uniquely satisfying. Grading mint (vintage) cards yourself takes skill that I suspect folks in here take for granted in themselves. Grading a 25 year old PSA 10 is no joke.
Buying pre graded cards is definitely the least engaging route in my opinion, but it’s the result of how challenging it can be to grade the cards yourself and so it often just makes sense. If I could feasibly get every PSA 10 I wanted the hard way I would. I guess there is some fun in figuring out which cards are under appreciated, often due to folks not appreciating the challenge in the second part of my post.
TLDR: Binders look awesome, grading feels awesome, buying slabs is in 3rd place.
I like both but atm. it looks like I won’t get any graded additions for collection in 2023. The want list isn’t long but rather difficult yet I don’t feel any pressure about it, if I stumble upon raw copies with good price then so be it.
Pretty much all I’ve done this year has been picking various missing singles ( or upgrades ) for older binder collections. The highlight of 2023 has certainly been 151: opening large amount of boosters after long break has been such a joy, really pleased with pulls but now it’s time to focus on finding missing singles for regular set, after that I’ll definitely look what 2024 has to offer.
Preza now makes a graded card binder. The plastic is pretty thick - I think it might interfere with the clarity a bit. However it feels sturdy and a good “best of both worlds” especially for people with smaller graded card collections.
, Southern Islands, etc. For these cards, I want the experience of having them laid out in a binder format and seeing set continuity as well as ease of use. For other cards that are more one offs that I just really enjoy or may otherwise be more expensive, I like having the graded variety. But I could see myself cracking more of my slabs one day and moving towards more binders; the upside of a slab is I can always crack it if desired 
But it’s important that we all do what makes us feel good about our collections and collecting. You could also make a display case, but then it requires more rooms in your house(s).
