Pokémon TCG: Sword and Shield—Brilliant Stars

Pokemon Book Organization

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Prime

Content Developer<br>Blog Admin<br>Contest Host
I was looking through my book, and was thinking that I could probably organize all my cards in my book instead of having like a book of foils plus 4-5 boxes of common/uncommons. This lead me to wonder how others organize their pokemon book. Do they just put in their holos and keep everything else in a box, do they organize by sets (x4 for some people), do they organize by evolution and pokemon number? Do they organize by type?

How do you organize your book?


To answer my own question and get this started, I put all my foils in my book. But I am starting to hate having to dig through box after box to find the right pokemon like Lanturn of Ninetails, I am thinking about organizing my book by evolution. That way I can look through all my pokemon cards at the same time and don't have to go through all my 4-6 boxes looking for them.
 
I organize by modified set numbers. They go in order that they come out(HL, RG, TRR, etc.) And then Promos and other cards are after that.

Anything that's not modified is thrown into a pile. =P
 
Metal Master said:
I organize by modified set numbers. They go in order that they come out(HL, RG, TRR, etc.) And then Promos and other cards are after that.

Anything that's not modified is thrown into a pile. =P
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I do the same thing. Except I put my promos and prized cards into a blue binder. And I put my older cards into a little bin.
 
My books are of rares, holos, ex's, "special rarities", and promos of various varieties. I have one 16 page 4-pocket book of holos and Rare SH's; one 8 page 4 pocket book of ex's, Unowns, and Matricies; and one 9 pocket binder of RH's sorted by set, promos, and rares sorted by set and number.

I keep a single booster box of each set with no more than 4 copies of each common and uncommon sorted first by type and then by Pokemon evolution chain. Everything over 4 that is NOT insanely broken, I put into my Xtras box, which is pretty much unorganized, and generally used to make junk league decks.
 
All my cards go into binders. I like to maintain a professional way to display the cards I have acquired throughout my Pokémon career.

First, I organize my cards by set. (If I recently bought packs, I would organize them by rarity.) Next, I organize everything by card number. Because of the number of cards I have, I usually dedicate one page per card. Doing this method, I go through about three to four binders per set, one for my Rare holo, Rare, and Uncommon Pokémon cards, 1-2 for my Common Pokémon cards, and 1 for my Trainer, Energy, Pokémon-ex, and secret Rare cards. I prefer to use a single color of binders for one set to distinguish them easily.

When traveling to places for events, I only take my binders that have cards in the current modified format.
 
My organization is centered around deckbuilding. I organize Pokemon by type, because, usually I want the Pokemon in my deck to be of a certain type (no more than 3 Pokemon types in my deck unless I'm going for a "rainbow" deck with Yanma [RR], Lady Outing, etc.).

Then, they are organized by evolution lines. Evolution lines take priority over the type organization. For example, even though Jolteon is lightning and Flareon is fire, I put them both in the colorless section because they evolve from a colorless Pokemon. The most recent Dragonair is lightning, but I put it in the colorless section as well, next to all the other Dragonair, because they are traditionally colorless.
All the Ditto from DS I put in the colorless section, because Ditto is traditionally colorless.

My fire type Larvatar from DS go in the fighting section, because all the other Larvatar are fighting.

The water type Slowking from UF, I put in the psychic section, because most of the Slowpoke/Slowbro/Slowking in existence are psychic.

As for trainers, they have their own section as well and are organized by what they do (Energy manipulation, straight draw power, Pokemon healing, bench manipulation, deck searching, graveyard retrieval, etc.)

This may not seem like the most logical of systems, but I believe it to be the most practical (which is just as good). I try to organize by evolution line and then by type, with each type having its own section in the book. But I don't run by absolutes with this. I just do whatever I think will be best for deckbuilding

I know some people organize their cards by Unlimited and Modified, but I find no need for that because I play both formats and it's not really that hard to remember what is Modified-legal.
 
Energy box
Commons/uncommons, organized by types
Non-holo rare/*** trainers/reverse holos --- all in a box
holos, good trainers, special energy, and good pokemon---binder
exs, good pokemon that get traded a lot---smaller binder
 
Well i have a folder dedicated to each set, and them some boxes where i keep my cards in each set in order by number
 
I don't have a huge amount of Holos/Exes, so I keep them in a folder, and my other cards are sorted by element.
 
Matt: We use binders for each set in modified. We also have 1 binder for EXs, 1 binder for energy, special energy and Trainer cards. We keep them in the order of the set numbers given. Lastly, I have started a single binder with Promos and other unusual cards from Japan.

Hope this helps. Those CC bags come in handy to haul the binders around.

Keith
 
I have multiple binders. A Worlds binder currently with nothing in it. The small binder you get while winning a CC's there's some DS cards, Promos and EX's. Some other stuff in my other binders, and I share them with Espeonchris14. Pokemon binders just basically help you with not just trading, but deck building and storage. I have 2 Binders to trade and a deck building binder in the works.
 
i put on binders my non-modified collection, i organize them by set and number, if i don't have a card i leave a space for when i aquire it, I usully place the "rarest" version of said card if i have a first edition it goes on the binder slip if its a reverse holo it goes on the binder isntead of the normal version, but i don't try to collect 1st editions or reverse holos, would never afford it and its not worth it.
All the extra commons/uncommons i put them on a box ordered by set number and set for easy finding, the extra rares i put them on a different binder mostly ordered by set but not too picky on that, just the best way to have them look 'pretty' and be vailable for trade. I also have a "promo" binder, that is where i keep the Promo sets and promo stamped cards like Wizard of the cost stamped, japanese promo, prerelease etc, id on't necessarily collect them but i like having the few i do.

Now for modified sets, i keep my commons and uncommons on small boxes separated by type, it makes it really easy to separate and make decks, trainers separated on another box, and i have a big energy box from years of playing. The Rares from new sets i keep them on a small binder and i'm not afraid to trade them any of them to make a deck, i don't start collecting a set until its no longer modified.

the ones i don't know is Base Set 2 and Legendary collection, i have a lot of them but not enough to have 'complete sets' i don't know if its worth the trouble to collect them since they are just all reprints and i have a lot of unfinished sets ;D, or if i should just throw them in with their original set or as a different set but not "binder" worth it. that is how i have them now, just in the box..


sadly i take apart most my decks since it'd be too hard to have too many assembled sets, but i do try to occationally rebuild the old theme decks i have bought and older decks i used to like playing and 'retire' them, i have a box with some decks like my old rockets zapdos, tazz, random theme decks, 'worlds' decks etc.
 
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Prime said:
How do you organize your book?
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I might do a little overkill but, I am keeping my 10 year old son's cards for him so he doesn't have friends come in and take or damage his cards.

I put the cards from each expansion into its own binder. I put the in by number and no further modifications. I have the 9 card, plastic pages, into which I will put up to 4 of each card. Any more than 4, except trainers get put into the trade/discard box.

I also enter all the cards on the computer with a count of each card in the expansion. There is also a list on the computer that lists all the cards available in the modified format and how many I have. That way, If I want to build a deck, I can find the card and see how many I already have. I can know immediately if I need more or if I can build a deck with what I have.

This takes a while to setup but updating is easy.

I know that went a little beyond basic binder information but, my setup utilizes the binder and a computer.
 
FireRules! said:
I might do a little overkill but, I am keeping my 10 year old son's cards for him so he doesn't have friends come in and take or damage his cards.
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don't go too overboard, you'll kill the fun of the game...
cards get stolen/bent it happens, don't let your collector ways take away the fun your son might have from them. :thumb:
 
sdp said:
don't go too overboard, you'll kill the fun of the game...
cards get stolen/bent it happens, don't let your collector ways take away the fun your son might have from them. :thumb:
Click to expand...

Maybe I didn't explain too well... I really try to only keep them from being "lost" to others. He still gets to play with them and trade. I also let him decide what type deck to build. That might have something to do with why he doesn't alwasy do too well. He is learning and his decks are not as crazy as they used to be.

Who knows, someday he might be very good and be really happy. He does not like to lose and in the last City Chamionship, he did very bad. The only time he smiled was when I bought him some new booster packs and he got some nice cards. He prefers to do well, especially since he won States last year for the 10-.
 
I made my own box. Actually, I insist on going all-out on my Pokémon boxes and making them as flash as possible. The current one was completed just a couple of weeks ago as the cards outgrew the previous one. Anyhow, that's another story, maybe I'll put up some pictures sometime...

At the moment I don't have a trades binder because, right now, the Irish tournament scene is a bit like Britain in the movie 28 Days Later. Just me, all alone, by myself, fighting the occasional rabid zombie. So I just store and treat the rares/holos same as the others in the awesome box of awesomeness. I only build decks for fun and rarely get to use them.

The cards arranged is separated sections by colour: the eight base colours plus colourless and multicolour. Another section houses the trainer cards, with the stadiums at the front. With the new box, I'm thinking of dividing them up further by function: Searchers, Drawers, Healers etc.

It's all alphabetically by basic Pokémon (Basic-Stage1-Stage2-Baby), and then by set. So, the first card in the Psychic section is Base Set Abra, followed by Team Rocket Abra then Neo Abra. The nonalligned critters come before the alligned ones in all cases, so I see every version of "Abra" right up to the newest, then I see "Sabrina's Abra". I have a four-copy limit for all cards except rares and important Trainers (like Potion or Gust of Wind); the rest are stored unsorted in a shoebox in the attic. This way, I can find any card I need as soon as I decide I need it, and can scan any possible alternative cards while I'm at it.

My Magic collection is geared towards more serious play. The box is similar, but is further sorted by formats, so if I'm building a Standard deck (in Pokémon it's Modified, yeah?) I only see the new stuff. I keep all my Standard rares in binders, plus some good old ones people might be after. Old crap is kept in a box at home that I only bring to big events. The binders are also sorted by colour with newer cards toward the front. I have a small box for in-demand uncommons and foils.
 
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My organization of cards has changed over time.

When I first started, I got some pages for binders (the nine-card pages). I began by organizing my Pokemon in order of Pokedex number. I kept Energy and Trainer cards in my binder in order of set number, up until about Gym Challenge, when I removed the Energy and Trainers from the binders and put them into a box. I then grouped Energy and Trainers by function for Trainers (Draw, Search, Disrupt, Attack, Defense, Recursion, Stadium, Other), and then by Energy type for the Basic Energy cards and I grouped the Special Energy cards in a stack, in descending set order.

Later on, I separated the E-cards from the originals from the Neo block, and also re-arranged to sort first by type, and then by Pokedex number. This continued until earlier this year.

Then, I removed all the Wizards cards from my binders and put them into shoeboxes in the order that I had them. I am still looking to trade and/or sell them, because I would like to focus on my Modified cards. (I do still have one of my "legendary" decks that I want to keep, though.)

Recently, I decided to scrap the type and Pokedex order and just organize them by set and card number. I keep a maximum of four of each card in my binder; the rest go into boxes, completely unorganized. Currently, I have the first four Nintendo sets in one binder and then the rest of them in another binder. I should really cut down the number of sets per binder, though...

Also, I have a "Favorites" binder consisting of my favorite cards and rare cards; those that will be hard to get off me. This includes Eevee-lutions, EXs, *s and Shinings, and cards that have worked well in decks.
 
Lets see.. I stick them by Type, then by reverse order of release. (so newest ones are first). all my cards are from Magma Vs. Aqua or earlier.
 
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