One of the most important things to remember out collecting your baseball cards is that you will want to keep them in excellent condition. Baseball cards that are kept in pristine condition will keep their value up. If you get the slightest of dents or scratches in your cards, it can lower their value tremendously. There are many things that you can do to keep your cards safe, and you should make sure that you follow them.
- Storing Them In A Binder or Album
A great practice that you should get into is storing your cards inside of a photo album or binder. You will easily be able to see the cards as both the front and back will be exposed. The album will have plastic pages with slots where the cards are slid into. Typically, baseball photo albums have nine slots per page. In some cases, storing your baseball cards this way can be expensive, but it will protect your cards.
- Using Penny Sleeves
To keep your cards safe, you can use penny sleeves. Penny sleeves are rigid plastic sheets that hold individual cards and keeps them protected. When cards rub up against each other, it can cause a lot of damage. These cards are typically sold in packs of 100, so you should get these to see how you feel about them. These can be used with other storage methods.
- Store Your Cards In Soft Sleeves
Soft sleeves are just like penny sleeves except for the fact that they are not rigid. You can easily slide the cards into the sleeves. These soft sleeves are good for individual cards. You will find these for sale in packs of 100.
- Top Loaders
Top Loaders are a great way to store your cards and will help to keep them safe. They are created out of a semi-rigid package. Most people will use top loaders as an added storage practice. They will put their cards in a penny sleeve or a soft sleeve and then into the top loader. This is a good practice for short term storage only, and you should be aware that the corners and edges can be caught. If you have corner damage to your card, this can greatly lessen the value of your cards.
- Using Baseball Card Boxes
Another common practice in storing your baseball cards is to get baseball card boxes. These boxes will help to keep your baseball card from moving around so that they do not get damaged. You can find these card boxes in many sizes, and you can easily use your top loaders and store them in here. It is not recommended for very valuable cards as something may get into the baseball card box and cause damage.
- Using Screw/Snap Holders
If you have valuable cards, you will want to get into the practice of storing them well. You cannot just put a valuable card into a penny sleeve or album and forget about it. They may become damaged and ruin the value of the card. Screw and snap holders are a great way to store your valuable cards. This method has you using a two piece case that screws together once you put the card in. You will want to make sure that you do not screw the card in too tightly as it may cause the card to stick to the holder, and you will want to make sure that the card does not get pinched.
- Semi PVC Rigid Holder
If you want to get an easy style holder, you should look at the semi PVC rigid holder. This holder will help to protect your card against damage. They are the most recommended for valuable cards. In fact, there are many collectors that will only purchase cards that are being shipped in this semi-rigid holder. It is important to note that this storage method is the most expensive of all but well worth it if you have valuable cards that you need to protect.
- Keeping Your Cards In A Dark and Dry Environment
Figuring out what storage you are going to use with your cards is important, but just finding a container to store your baseball cards in is not enough. You will want to make sure that you keep your cards in a dark and dry environment. Humidity can quickly destroy the cards, and if they get wet, it can destroy any value that you have in the cards. If they are exposed to the sunlight, the UV radiation can yellow the cards. Yellowing of the cards can ruin the value of the cards. You will want to make sure that when you are not viewing your cards, they are not exposed to any moisture or light.
- Not Handling Them Without Protection
Everyone loves to look at their card collection, but the truth is that every time you bring your cards out, you are risking them getting damaged. To protect your cards, no matter what storage method you use, you will want to have them in some kind of covering. Fingerprints can cause damage to the card, and if you accidentally drop your card, you can also cause damage. The best way to view cards is to do it in an area that is clear from pets and other people. Protecting your cards is of the utmost importance when you want to retain their value.
- Using Only Acid-Free Storage
One of the most important practices that you need to get into when it comes to storing your cards is to ensure that everything is acid-free. If you choose a storage method that has acid in it, it will quickly destroy the cardboard that the card is made out of. You can easily find plastic sleeves that are acid-free for this purpose.
Following all the practices above will help to ensure that your cards are well protected and that they retain their value. If you are not storing your cards properly, you could easily ruin your card collection and never see any money from your hobby.
