I’m a bit of a Trading Card “Nerd”.
I can’t help it, it’s a passion of mine. I love collecting, I love playing and I love introducing people to trading cards. Specifically Pokémon. When I first started collecting Pokémon cards back in… 1999, you had 2 options for storing your cards. In a shoebox or in a binder. And I’m not talking about those newer UltraPro binders with the matte covers and side-loader sleeves.
I’m talking about those 3 ring binders with those loose 9-pocket sleeves to hold the cards. Those old binders and pages are notorious for scratching up your cards. If you examine your card, you may find scratches on the holographic picture and/or "holo bleed" along the edges.
But don’t blame yourself! That was the best option at the time. Nowadays though, there are much better ways to store your cards! Even if you’re going to use the same binder you had when you were a kid, please take the extra precaution of sleeving your cards first. Primarily your holographic cards.
This may seem silly, why would you put a card into a sleeve only to then put it in a sleeve in the binder? Well, simply so that the card doesn’t get scratched. The sleeve does. The card will be safe and secure in the sleeve, so that whenever you take it in and out of the binder, it won’t get scratched!
So what other options are there?
Remember how I mentioned shoeboxes before? Well we’ve kind of come full circle now. Maybe not shoeboxes specifically… but storage boxes of some sort are a totally valid option! With the right precautions, of course. Card sleeves, card sleeves, card sleeves. Then, I recommend using a Top Loader. It’s essentially a thicker card sleeve. You put the card in the sleeve and then into the top loader and then you’re good to go. Your card is safe and secure. You can now put your cards back into the shoebox, and back into the attic to forget about them for another 15 years.
If you’re looking to buy anything that I talked about here, I’ll have links to the individual items below!
Card Sleeves: Click Here
Top Loaders: Click Here
Binders: Click Here
