How should you care for your trading cards? A question each collector will ask themselves at one point or another. In the old days, you would just throw your cards in a shoe-box and hope that your Mom didn’t throw that box out in a few years. Things have advanced a bit since those days. What do people use now to care for their cards? There are several different options.
The most common, and quick, way to care for individual cards is with a top-loader. A top-loader is one of those hard plastic cases with an opening at the top, which you can slip a quality (or non-quality) baseball card into, for display and care. If you purchase a card via eBay, or Beckett.com, this is most likely how you will receive your card.
If the card is a real nice card, say a 1952 Mickey Mantle card, you would probably want something a little more secure than a top loader. (A disadvantage of the top-loader is that the cards can move around if jostled within the top-loader, and can even slip out if the top-loader is loose enough and turned upside down.) What would you use? Well a case that is made of heavy-duty plastic, with two clear “slabs” of plastic, that can be screwed together, would probably be your best bet. Something like this screwdown case would be what you might want to utilize.
And as for your commons? Throw them in a box. Actually, don’t throw them in a box. Place them in a box. Neatly. You never know when you are going to look through your old commons and find a breakout player, who toiled in anonymity for years. (Roger Maris anyone? Maybe Cecil Fielder?) Bottom line: take care of your cards. After all, this isn’t just a fun collecting hobby, it’s an investment vehicle.
Question…..Are 9-pocket pages OK to use too for less valuable cards? If you use these pages, do you put the card in a soft sleeve and then into the pocket?
Hi Chris,
The 9-pocket pages are okay to use for less valuable cards, only if you don’t mind damaging them. You run the risk of the card corners being bent and the cards slipping out of the pages. You shouldn’t be able to fit the card into a soft sleeve and then the pocket in the page. For any cards you think might have value, I’d recommend storing them in a soft sleeve and then a top loader at minimum. A four-screw, screw-down plastic case is probably your best bet (other than graded cases) for cards you know are valuable. Thanks for stoping by, look forward to seeing more comments from you.
Scott