Mag & One-Screw Cases - fool me twice...
 

I am officially done with any kind of recessed mag, or one-screw cases like you can get from Ultra Pro or Pro-Mold. I’ve mentioned in previous threads, one of my pet peeves is cards that slide around in holders like these, as well as some graded slabs. Just now I tried the Pro-Mold 20 point, figuring that it may be more snug than the mag cases which are nicer, but only go down to 35 point. Frequently late 1960’s and early 70’s cards that were printed on the thinner stock will slide around willy nilly, left and right in these type cases. I’ve read before here on this forum and elsewhere ad-nauseam opinions on how a card can’t really get hurt even if it moves around some in the holder, but to me it’s just unsightly and nerve-wracking as hell to see this - when some cards do it and some don’t. I guess it messes with my OCD.

Anyhow no, the 20-point cases that’s arrived this morning don’t do the job either - I tried 1965 and 1968 Topps cards, and both still slide. Maybe the pressure on the top from the screw isn’t enough to hold it down to really get a 20-pt gap?

I don’t know but sick of this, and I’m done. Toploaders and penny sleeves only for me from here on out...oy.



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Maybe all of your cards are trimmed? :D (j/k)

I've stuck with penny sleeves and top loaders myself based on information like yours.

The only cards I have found to work well with mag cases and the like seem to be 1957 - early 60's cards. The card stock was simply thicker.

CS1's
 

I see many cards that have been damaged when someone put the card in the sleeve. The corner gets a ding. Using penny sleeves and toploads can be a pain, so I have switched to card saver 1's with no sleeve. The cards don't move around and they are easy to insert into the CS. I have been seeing other dealers at shows who have made the switch. You just have to buy some graded card 2 and 3 row showboxes so the CS1's can be stored.

At the 10:00 minute mark this guy shows you how to avoid those little nicks putting your cards into sleeves.
https://youtu.be/5ipg51mjzTo

I use a penny sleeve in the single screw down holders. Works like a charm in preventing the card from sliding around the holder.

I’ve tried this before, may need to again. I recall that it was difficult to get the card positioned just right in the sleeve with the rails on the holder. But true if you can get this done properly, you’re basically doing the same thing as Beckett does with their graded holders.


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Or another perspective - am I looking at this wrong? Does it really matter if a card can move 1 mm or so every now and then within a mag case or TPG holder? I just don’t like the idea of it, but clearly since this happens with so many cards, there are some collectors who aren’t bothered by it in the least. Convince me otherwise?


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Ok, so I've done some experiments this morning, and think I may have a solution -

I like the Ultra Pro One Touches better in terms of design, but for some 60's and 70's cards they are just too thick at 35 point, which is why the cards rattle around in them. What I have found is that they are too thick still to use with the cards I have tried in a penny sleeve - the sleeve is a bit too big for the recessed area, so the result is it just sits there on the top. You could close it up and cause a subtle indentation in the card because it's just stitting there in the sleeve on top of the rail.

Though I like the screw less, the Pro-Mold one screws at 20 point seem to be a better solution - both in use with or without a penny sleeve. The recessed area is not so deep that the penny sleeve will sit on top of it, it takes some work - but you can get the card perfectly centered inside the rails with the penny sleeve and then close it up. I tried this on a '60 Topps Bob Gibson just now - and for good measure dropped it on the floor off the side of my desk. The card did not move one bit in the holder during the fall or subsquent crash and bounce on the (carpeted) floor - success.

My next trial was a '61 Mantle AS #578. This is a card I liberated from it's PSA 5 slab due to easy observable movement in that slab. I tried to do the same method using the penny sleeve, but the fit was a bit tighter - the card has a rough cut on the top, and is ever so slightly larger I think than the '60 Gibson. So I tried just putting it in the one-screw without the sleeve and voila - the fit is tighter and once screwed down, the card does not move. If you really wham it one one side while holding it in your hand, it will shift and move the small gap typically on one side or another even in PSA cases - but that's good enough for me. My thing I hate, is when you just flip a card in a slab or case leisurely in your wrist and you can see it move.

Thanks for indulging today's lesson on my OCD! I do feel better already as these cases offer UV protection where toploaders don't. I don't display my cards in a room or anything, but I do take them out of the closet to gawk at them fairly often - so UV cases are indeed greater peace of mind considering how many flourescent lights still seem to be everywhere around me...

-John

sleeve
 

Thank you, Dale. That was interesting. His technique will help, but if you try sliding a 1971 Topps BB card in like that, it will probably be damaged. I generally use a razor and slit the corner of the sleeve which helps a lot. Ultra Pro makes sleeves that are already slit, but the slits are not lined up correctly and they make it more difficult to insert a card without damage.

Agreed that penny sleeves can be a total PITA. It's deceiving sometimes how fragile corners on vintage cards can be, and especially those with rough cuts. I've never cut the sides of the sleeves, but I am very careful and have taken probably upwards of 2-3 minutes before to get a single card into a sleeve before. Usually with enough straightening out once one side is in, and then bending the sleeve from behind to go in front of the next corner - it will eventually work.

Sometimes I will also snip a very small piece of one corner off - slides in perfect and doesn't expose the corner. Of course if you are sleeving a ton of cards this becomes a tad tedious.

I have been back and forth on this again even after buying a bunch of 20-pt Pro Mold one screws last week. Yes, you can use a penny sleeve with them, but some cards just look like crap put in that way.

For right now I’m leaving it with the conclusion of different cases for different cards: Some cards just do best in a toploader. Some cards look great in a screw case. Some cards (that don’t move egregiously...) I will leave in a TPG slab.


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Apologies for bumping an old thread, but I figured it was better than starting another thread on this subject as I have one simple question. I will preface my question by saying that I have recently found out that I actually like these things. Specifically, I have a few 35 pt Ultra Pro mag holders, and I am pretty satisfied with them. While largely a vintage collector, I am also dabbling in modern Topps cards. That's largely what I'd be putting in these mags. The 35 pt is working quite well for the standard parallels. I do, however, have a few certified on card autos that I'd like to put in these as well. Do you think it is ok sticking with the 35 pt for the autos, or should I go for the 55 pt and give them a little room? I will display them on the little display stands that you sometimes see so they will be tilted back ever so slightly and, thus, there might not be as much concern about the autos touching the inside of the front of the holder anyway. I'd appreciate any insights. Thanks.

Thick card sleeves
 

"Thick card" penny sleeves (which are wider) make it easier to insert card into penny sleeve preventing corner dinging, to put into CSI for grading

I don't know if these are commercial products or custom but whatever Topps uses for its 2020 Project cards are really nicehttps://photos.imageevent.com/exhibi...lliams%201.png:

I have noticed those as well. They remind me of what the Topps Vault cards are often in. I like them.

I think those are some type of BCW mag cases, if memory serves. Robert - interestingly enough I've never had any of those. I would think the 35 point BCW would be pretty much the exact same thing as a UP One Touch.

Yep, and looking at it again, I think you are right. I am plenty satisfied with the Ultra Pro 35pt.