OAMC #1 - Where to Begin?

Welcome to the first installment of Organizing a Million Cards (OAMC). On this first post, I want to focus on beginnings. 

The biggest issue for many collectors--especially those of us with large collections--is the overwhelming task of figuring out where to start. What usually follows are lots of plans, good intentions and loosely followed guidelines that end in the same mess as last year. This is why we must employ the old Army standby--discipline.

First and foremost is figuring out what constitutes your collection. Set ground rules. For example: I am a set collector. My definition of a Master Set varies from others. I follows these rules.

A Master Set consists of:

• The Base Set (SP's only if they are part of the actual set like A&G or Gypsy Queen or easily found like Donruss.)
• an example of an SP (This means one from each series if applicable.) 
• an example of each parallel within reason. (I usually do not hunt lower than /25.)
• all insert sets. 
• examples of insert parallels.
• Checklists if not part of the set.
• Errors/Variations if not intentional for SP's.
• an example of each auto/relic within reason. (Again, no hunting below /25.)

Set collecting is my foremost reason for collecting. Baseball is my priority. Hockey follows. Football and Basketball I collect up to 1995 unless its Topps with few exceptions. Non and Multi-Sport are sporadic. I have everything on a spreadsheet and then tracked in TCDB. 

This gives me clear guidelines and targets. I know what it is I'm after and what I'm doing.

Now, how are we organizing? I am not in my forever home and space is an issue. With this in mind, I went the Target Wire Racks route with a combination of 5K boxes and 660, 800 and 990 ct boxes for the larger sets. Everything is in order by sets, while more valuable cards are in top loaders or One-Touches in the larger 5K boxes at the front of the collection. The order echoes my spreadsheet and each of the boxes. 

This gives me a clear path of where everything is. I am still overwhelmed, but the path forward is clear.

So from this point, rules need to be set. As I learned towards the end of 2022--put cards away after they get logged on TCDB. Right now, I am finishing putting away thousands of cards that were logged and have 8 missing cards on my hands. This is what happens when stuff gets put aside. 

Once I fix this, the next step is to finish logging what I own and have not sorted followed by sorting and logging doubles. We are talking upwards of a million cards here and that chaos is what will be in the following posts.

Things should be interesting going forward. I plan to talk about the challenges of a large collection and the joy of getting cards out to people who need them.

For now, enjoy the beginning of a crisp new year. Happy 2023!

Joe