Help! Tell me how......

[Brer-Rabbit]

You organize your pins.

Since I have started collecting (Oct of last year) my collection has really started to grow. I have some sets that I have framed and have them hanging in my office. But, I have alot of other pins, some open stock, many LE's and I have got to start organizing them. I started to pull them all out and organize them today and I was just overwhelmed. I really need all your expert pin collecting advice!

I have many of my pins on their original backs, in their original bags and just carefully placed in a box, so they don't scratch eachother . Some of these are duplicate traders. I have some of them in large pinrtading book (the one that was recalled because it almost killed someone ). I I am having a hard time deciding how to organize them.

So here are my questions:

How do you organize your pins, traders, open stock and LE's?

Which do you decide to keep in the zippered pin book?

What do you do with the black cards when you do put them in the book?

Where do you keep your most valuable pins? (i.e. MSEP spinner (is my most expensive) )

I really want to have them well organized when I go to the event in AUG so any and ALL advice is welcome!

Please HELP ME?????????

 

[TIGGERSMOM]

Welcome to the great confusion - allI can tell you is I have organized mine and reorganized them a few more times. Each time I decide a new to do it.

Right now I have all my CM pins in one section - then resorts - parks (broken down by park, MK, AK, etc..) next is holidays - special events, characters and the new book is the events pins.

I know I will probably change this again - some are now actually framed - only took me a year to decide on these.

Good Luck!

 

[megashark]

I'm not sure this is the best idea, but it works.

I have mine in looseleaf notebooks. I actually bought the books at WDW, but found I hate the inserts, they don't give enough protection, and you can't keep the cards.

Now I use Trading Card holders, nine to a sheet. There are different kinds, so if you're getting them for the first time, by just one package and make sure they're strong enough. I don't know the brand, but there's a brand which has a little sliver hologram by the holes, this is nice and heavy, and doesn't fold up like the weaker ones.

In between the pin pages I put a heavy duty sheet protector I bought at office max or some such place. Instead of putting paper in the sheet protector, I cut a piece of felt (Walmart, 20 cents each) and slip that in. That way I don't have to figure out how to put holes in the felt, and I stll have the cushioning.

I'm up to about 10 books now and have more to go...

 

[snowgooseltd]

We were at the World in April/May and the pin traders' vest was on sale. I bought the largest one (could not talk the CM into selling me the beautiful wooden hanger, with the AK logo on it) and it is hanging on the wall of my computer room. I have tons of pins displayed on it and can remove one or more easily to wear or take with me to a potential trade. The don't get scratched and I can look at them to my heart's content. I also have several folders with business card plastic pages that hold like pins...ie: Princesses, holidays, Cinderella and Pooh (two of my favorites, so they each have several pages.)
Then I have several lanyards hanging on hooks, across from the vest, and those each have a theme...CM, Christmas, traders. I know, I'm sick...or so my husband says...except when he's confiscating anything with Mickey's ears on it. We know who's sick!

 

[Luv2Roam]

Brer-Rabbit ~

Funny! We started about the same time and are posting about our growing pains at the same time!

 

[Beverly Lynn]

I used to keep mine in a huggies wips copntainer until mousefan and sorceror matt talked to me about how to handle and keep my pins.....I learned....and I bought those foam sheets and have my pins on those right now sitting in a drawer........no rhyme or reason to them yet I am still in the novice stages of pin collecting and buy at random or when my wonderful friends go and buy me pins I pay for them and keep them and then when someone says hey I need this pin I say hey I have that and thats where it ends.........still a novice.....but I'm learning.......

 

[Brer-Rabbit]

Thanks for sharing everyone! I could really use more advice though........Anyone else care to help out a fellow pin collector????? PLEAAAAAAAASSSSSEEEEEE?????

 

[RweTHEREyet]

My keepers are presently sorted and pinned to hand towels by subject--resorts, pakrs, special event, characters, CM, Tokyo, etc.

I am in the process of inventorying them.

My traders are in the large pin bag that I can just pick up and take.

My hubby bought a 16' roll of that rubber shelf liner type stuff that is thick enough to use in workshops. The pins still on the cards seem to do well on this fabric. I am still trying to figure out howw to best use this stuff. It is also a good protective fabric and can be cut into any shape. Anyone have any good ideas for using this stuff?

 

[ladyandtramp]

I got this idea from another Pin Happy person at a pin meet -- he used the "stiff" foam sheets from craft stores -- it is stiff enough to hold its shape and not bunch up. But you do have to do the work of putting the grommets in it (three holes...) to put the pages into 3 ring notebooks. I bought some 3 ring ZIPPERED notebooks from the Disney Store when they went on sale and put 4 - 5 pages (because I use the foam as separater pages too) of pins in each book. I sort each book then by a category -- i.e., Park (Magic Kingdom), Park (Epcot), CastMember, Tokyo, Holiday/Special Events...

I like the zippered books because if a back falls off (gosh, that never happens!), the pin doesn't get lost because it is still all zippered up.

I also bought one of the pin vests and am planning on doing exactly what snowgooseltd said she did! Great minds MUST think alike .

Megashark -- the trading card sheets you were referring to are from Ultra Pro. They are they best in the business (take that from someone in the non-sports trading card frenzy for over 15 years now ). The sheets also come in varying configurations (instead of 9 pockets, they also have 1 pocket, 2 pockets, etc). Ultra Pro have also made some sheets that they sell in the photo department of your local Kmart/Walmart that hold the various photo sizes - 5x7, 3x5, 4x6 (which could be used for those bulky pins on cards). They also make sheets that hold 5 or 6 rows of photo NEGATIVES that could be really cool for mounting those pins that you never had a backing for in the first place -- maybe for loose traders or something.

So much fun. So many ideas. So little time!

 

[snowgooseltd]

Jan...you're right! Great minds do think alike!! There must be many great minds like ours who have nothing better to do than collect, sort, label, resort, frame, unframe, sort again, never trade ( because "I can't give up THAT pin") and start all over again when a new theme comes along...ie: Walt's 100th. My friends think I've gone off the deep end, but even my husband's getting involved now. We used to take a trip to WDW every other or three years when the kids were small, now we're there at least twice, sometimes three times a year since October of 1999. Disney knew what they were doing.
By the way...the plastic sheets that hold 10 business cards (available at Walmart) hold the small black card and the pin comfortably. It's a good way of storing the smaller pins.

 

[tigger2esq]

my non traders are currently sorted by theme into ziplock baggies (except for my star wars and cinderella pins which actually made it into frames) my traders are divinded between my lanyard and a small WDW merchandising bag.... I meant to pick up a pin bag at Disneyland when I was there last week on the way out of the park--but by the time we left--sheer exhaustion had clouded my braind and I didnt remember till three days later!!!!

 

[dumbogal]

I went to Michael's Craft store and purchased the Craft Foam with the sticky back. I then stuck it to a plastic sheet protector, so I didn't have to worry about it ripping out of the binder. The sheet protector acts as a sleeve for the backs of the pins, so they don't scratch the pins on the next page (is any of this making sense) I then placed the sheets in a binder, and I was able to print a sheet of paper with my screen name and favorite picture of Dumbo for the front of the binder. I got the sort of binder that has a plastic sleeve on the front where you can insert a sheet of paper. It looks really good, and is so cheap and easy.

I then sort my "Traders" into the binders, so I can take them with me to trade. This way all of my Treasures & Keepers can stay in my Pin Bags where they have the most protection.

Forget about my methods of "organizing", I am still hashing that one out. I change everything around way too often.

TTFN,
Joanne
dumbogal@erols.com