Preferred method of storing early 50's Topps and Bowman?
 

As I am not a binder kind of guy, I'd love some input from forum members as to how they store their early 1950's Topps and Bowman cards. Obviously they will not fit into a one touch magnet (which I use for all my modern Bowman Chrome autos), so I'm curious what the preferred method is.

Am I best served by an oversized penny sleeve (made for these cards specifically) and top loader inside a team bag? Or Should I go the card saver route? As I have never used card savers, do I want to use the I's or the II's?

Also, am I best off getting the penny sleeves on Ebay, or do you guys have another go-to merchant? I'm assuming that Ultra Pro would be the way to go.

Drop your extensive knowledge on me guys :) Thank you!!

Card Saver Is + 4 pocket sheet
 

Someone posted this idea awhile back and I decided to store all of my cards this way. Basically, you take your cards of varying sizes that are PC size or smaller(bowmans and topps are good examples of bigger and smaller cards that work) and center them nicely into Card Saver Is. Don't just throw them in there askew because you won't like the final storage then. Then use the 4-pocket sheets meant for PCs. Card Saver Is fit nicely inside these pockets without a whole lot of extra space. I store only 4 per sheet (not double-sided) so you can see front-back nicely. Again, they will look better if you took the time to center them in the Card Saver Is. I don't do this for the "extra" protection it provides, I do this so I can then easily remove groups of cards from these pockets, stack 'em up for some project or inventory purposes, and not have to put them in penny sleeves or something while they are out. I especially like this for type collecting, because it lets you store cards of different years / sizes all in the same binder with similar access and presentation. Roughly, a standard BB Card binder would fit approximately 60 filled 4 pocket sheets (240 cards) this way. Its not great for larger sets but works nicely for smaller ones. Good luck!

toploader
 

I put all of my ungraded cards right into toploaders and then an old shoe box. I purchase all my supplies from a local card store. I am a bit OCD about my collection, and want to make sure every card has a holder that fits it perfectly. Plus, I am not a huge fan of having extra card holders laying around.

I like the ultra pro penny sleeves. I haven't used any for oversized cards yet--actually had no idea they were available--but that seems like a good way to go as it cuts down damage if/when you remove the card from the toploader.

Storage/Display
 

No help here. I am a binder kind of guy :)

I use a combined approach.

Nice condition- Penny sleeve in a toploader.
fairly nice, but worn corners - Penny sleeve
Complete beaters- nothing, unless there's something like sticky tape residue. Then it gets a sleeve.

A handful of nicer cards get hardholders.

Steve B

Based on some of what I've seen from your collection, I wonder if I shouldn't change my approach to storage, lol.

By the way, I've tried submitting a reply to your private message, but it doesn't seem to be going through. It might be because I'm a new member (though I can't find anything in the rules about private message limitations), I don't know. But they're not showing in my outbox.

No offense was taken, my friend :) Thank you for your input!

And thank you to everybody else that has replied. I'm wanting to buy some nice stuff, so I just want to make sure they are protected!!!

By the way, is there a specific maker for these Card Savers I should be using? Ultra Pro maybe?

I'm about as OCD about my collection as you can get.

I originally started out by storing my Bowman Chrome autographed prospect cards in Ultra Pro one touch magnet cases, 35 pt. Then I started hearing horror stories about cards sticking with screw downs, and became worried that the 35 pt might not leave enough room for the card so the autograph would not be damaged. So I got about 40 of the 55 pt one touches, and started switching them. Well, I did some more research, and have found that the 35 pt are pretty safe for my cards, so now I'm in the process of switching back to the 35's.

My chief concern with the top loaders (and team bags) is that they can be bent. Sometimes I find I have two left feet, and I don't want to accidentally bend an expensive card.

I'm sure I'll get my system down with the help from the net 54 members, then I'll start sharing my collection. I'm going to be scanning all my cards (old and new), and uploading them to my website.

Jason,

I really like your idea of using the card savers in four pocket pages. I've been wanting to put my 1954's in a binder for a long time and never wanted to go with the six pocket horizontal sheets that work for 55's and 56's. I always thought the 54's would just look stupid being sideways in the binder. This method will allow them to be displayed right side up and still be in a binder. Right now they are all in penny sleeves and toploaders.

Thanks for the input man.

Best.

AndyH


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I buy large groups of Card Saver Is from Columbia Sports...when purchasing in larger quantities, they seem to have competitive pricing for the supplies they offer.

I purchase mine from Cardboard Gold. Fair price, and I get them usually within a couple days.

http://www.cardboardgold.com/card-saver-1.html

I bought a case recently for submissions to PSA, and have plenty of extra boxes. Sounds like you will be needing a full case, though. And I can't compete with these guys on shipping prices.

I keep an eye out for old bicycles at yard sales and clothes pin them to the spokes.