Protecting each card within your raw Topps set

cirecs

A question for those who have built a raw Topps baseball card set from the 60s/70s/80s and have held onto it for a few years or longer --- do you utilize card savers for each individual card? Have they shown to be trustworthy over long periods of time? If not, how do you prefer to protect each card in the raw set? Toploaders seem to have long-term reliability, but are obviously bulky compared to a card saver. I'm not really into the idea of using binders. Thank you for any experienced opinions before I embark on building a raw set....

Darin

I'm interested in this topic also. I'm building a PSA graded 75 topps set, and a raw set for cards I have that aren't submittable.
Right now I have the raw cards in penny sleeves and a card saver.
I like this idea better than a binder or just putting them in an 800 count box where you can't look at them.

Dboneesq

I don't have a lot of experience in this area, but I can tell you that in the mid 80s I went around from show to show every weekend and put together a '67 Baseball set card by card. (With a little mail order help in between shows.) I put them in 9 page sheets and into a binder. I think at one time in the early 90s I switched all the cards into new pages. They still look nice today. Every so often I think about taking them out and putting them in CS1's. I had PSA slab some of the stars.

Topps29

Might be overkill, but to ensure you protect the quality of each card, I use the ultra pro platinum penny sleeves (which fit perfect in a 9 pocket plastic sheet).

frankhardy

I have all sets from the present down to 1967 Topps in albums and on shelves. From 1966 Topps down to 1952 Topps I have a little extra protection... They are tucked away in my imagination.

bishop

48 and 51 to 2016...in 9 pocket sheet and albums

Francart

Does anyone know if Ultra Pro makes pocket sheets that hold either top loaders or PSA graded cards?

craig44

Binders for me. Ultra pro makes 4 pocket pages that should fit a top loader/card saver just fine

cirecs

Thanks for all the good feedback. As for Card Savers, anyone else have experience with their "long-term" viability for storing individual cards?

gemint

I stored my 1969 set in CSIIs for about 10 years before grading came into vogue. They fared pretty well as most graded 8 or 9. I also stored my 1968-1976 sets in CSIIs for several years as I worked my way through grading them out. They also fared well. The key is to not take them out of the sleeves or, if you do, know how to reinsert them without clipping a corner. The exception for my was 1971. I put those in penny sleeves and then CSIs because they're so vulnerable to chipping. I was always concerned that some black could rub off when inserting the cards in new sleeves that were stuck together.

Piggs

I have my '52 thru '56 sets in Card Savers with no penny sleeves. '57 on just in penny sleeves. Seems to have worked well over the years. Doug

SOM

Sure, it may be overkill. But, by inserting cards into penny sleeves before putting the cards in 9-pocket pages, the chances of the cards slipping and sliding around are minimized.

Largentcollector

My favorite set looks like this. 352 card set takes two 3" D ring binders. Then I have access to them any time for scans or just looking at the set.



Just a sample.

originalisbest

Card savers for each individual card should give you no problems over the long term, whether you choose to place a card into a penny sleeve first, or right into the card saver.

The thing I personally prefer is a bit more room than not (so, Card Saver I's vs the narrower II's) -- and to avoid any warping, I would ensure that the Card Savers with cards inserted, are kept upright and tightly packed within a vault cardboard box, or, placed into 4-pocket ultrapro pages and kept neatly in binders. Either should be appropriate for long-term storage and collecting enjoyment.

originalisbest

Originally posted by: Largentcollector
My favorite set looks like this. 352 card set takes two 3" D ring binders. Then I have access to them any time for scans or just looking at the set.



Just a sample.

That's a great presentation -- really nice! It might seem like a lot of binders if doing, say, a classic 660 card baseball set -- but to me, really worth it, if the cards in question are really sharp, worth the extra protection, but you choose to keep them unslabbed.