Why does PSA use slabs with little to no UV protection?
ArtVandelay
Posts: 842 ✭✭✭✭✭
We have a company in the business to protect and grade cards, yet the cheap plastic they use offers little to no UV protection. Why would they not add that UV protection, much like some of the one-touch companies have done?
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Comments
Because people give them money hand over fist without doing so.
HOF SIGNED FOOTBALL RCS
Yet PSA does with their comic slabs.
Cards are not supposed to be displayed, apparently they are meant to be vaulted /s
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
Here's what the card looked like when it was slabbed.
Here's what it looked like in the slab after not being protected from UV.
All it would have taken was to add UV protection to the cheap plastic and this card would be fine.
Short answer is most folks don't want to pay extra for it. Plus, the UV protection makes the case darker.
https://kennerstartinglineup.blogspot.com/
Just curious - where was this card stored?
PSA holders don’t provide meaningful UV protection—and that’s intentional.
UV blocking requires special materials or coatings, not thicker plastic. Those introduce tradeoffs (tint, reduced clarity, coating wear, and even complications with sonic sealing), all of which conflict with PSA’s priority: clear, consistent, tamper-evident holders.
The slab was never meant to be archival storage—it's a display and protection holder, not an environmental safeguard.
If UV protection matters, it’s handled externally:
UV-blocking sleeves or cases
Keep out of direct light
Bottom line: preservation comes from storage conditions, not the holder itself.
It's almost like PSA's spin doctor wrote this?
Interesting question… one that I have not contemplated. I will just add another component to think about:
What are the expectations of the end user? I suspect the majority of collectors store cards in a safe and secure location but what about those that have a display that may have some UV exposure?
Experience the World through Numismatics...it's more than you can imagine.
That's a really good question. I don't display a lot of cards. So no expert on this.
I remember people using these kinds of displays that offer UV protection - how good? Have no idea.
Uffduh originally recommended these to me, they are outstanding. Order in bulk now as price of plastics will soonsublimate due to world events
https://www.cardshellz.com/pages/hero-diamond-shell?srsltid=AfmBOoo_q7prRvEnocm6MtNlsd9U-SatBLDER0OA4Gaa0TS9SvEngRnm
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
UV protections in plastics don’t need to add a tint. They can be completely clear and the cost added for UV protection is at most a couple percent more than the base cost. It would actually increase the durability of the product as well. Other than the Pennie’s on the dollar cost added there’s no valid reason.
There’s one other angle though. Light is energy and energy is what causes the colors to fade. UV is just the worst offender because of the amount of energy but all light hurts. And other things so it’s like a false sense of security.
To me, I think just as bgr suggested, the cost is minimal for PSA to do so, and does not in any way need to lose any clarity on the case. Given the amount of revenue PSA generates (by their own account, they caannot keep up with the amount of submissions so business is good) why would they not want to utilize UV protection in their slabs? It just seems at this point it comes at very little cost and effort to make this switch to add UV protection.
The fact that many of the cards housed in these slabs are worth quite a lot of money and people spend upwards of $4k to grade their card that the most obvious of protection (UV) would be automatic.
agree with previous poster(s) that 99.9% of people keep their graded cards in cases and boxes, so UV protection not a concern...if anyone keeps them in direct sunlight/lighting, I guess they would have a different opinion...
It's very easy to put some SPF 50 on your slabs to prevent UV damage..
Only lasts a few hours and needs to be reapplied after swimming
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
I have 5 Pennzoni cases on my walls filled with autographed cards - and in a well lit room. I have not seen any degradation in the autographs to date and I've had the cases up on walls for years. I recall buying the Pennzoni cases because they had UV Protection. Maybe I'm playing with fire but so far, so good.
All light causes fading. UV's do it the most efficient. Even with UV protection in place I would not display a card for longer than a month or 2 at a time every couple of years and only in rooms with no sunlight, no incandescent bulls, no florescent lighting including CFC. LED lighting is about as safe as it current gets.
It's the singer not the song - Peter Townshend (1972)
Not even a minute do I buy the whole buh buh buh I'm a man-child japery - Me (2025)
More than likely it was kept in direct light. that autograph does not get that much lighter without being kept in a light.
I collect auto cards/slabs.
Not sure. I'm guessing this card was in display cases at card shows, and this was the end result.
Even if I edit the "after" scan, one can still see this card has been affected by light exposure.
Since I'm one of those who thought Zion was a Panini product? Is this a high ticket card?
A 1/1 variation of this card is on eBay in a PSA 9 for $30k.
I recently got a bunch of these. They seem a little tough to find.