Penny Sleeves and Archival Safety

[wastewater]

I imagine I am similar to many people on the board in that I have been through a lot of different storage techniques and manufacturers over the years. I use a lot of top loaders and have dumped a number that have yellowed over the years but was wondering about the safety of penny sleeves that may be aging. Does anyone know if penny sleeves have always been PVC free/archival safe and are the ones I obtained circa 1990 OK? The cards I have from that era appear fine but I want to make sure that there won't be any issues in the future.

Thanks

[wastewater]

Another question, are top loaders safe for storage of pictures and such or should these also be put into soft sleeves. I see where BCW and Cardboard Gold say there products are archival safe but Ultra Pro is marketing soft sleeves to put in theirs. For large or oddball sized items this can be problematic.

[Leon]

I use a lot of top loaders and penny sleeves. I just decided that for the amount of money they cost I would always use new ones I have which are PVC free. If I acquire a card I will be keeping it's going in a new holder and sleeve (if it's staying raw).

[steve B]

The new penny sleeves are pretty good, I'm still waiting on my UV experiment after having tossed the old stuff.

I had some cards left out in an odd spot that got some sun for - Lets just say a few years.....The pages and penny sleeves became very brittle, but didn't stick to the cards or leave any residue.

I thought they also kept the cards from fading, but things got a little crazy clearing out the hobby room to make it into a babys room when she arrived 3 weeks early so I lost track of which were in sleeves and which had just been on top of the pile.

So I've put some 80's commons that are in G or less in various sleeves in a sunny window. I'm at about 1 1/2 years, and there's a little fading, but too early to tell if it's all over or just on the bits that stick out.

There are mylar sleeves that come in card sleeve sizes. Expensive, but archival for sure, and crystal clear. Lots of sizes that work for photos and other stuff too.
http://www.bcemylar.com/sleeves.cfm#timeloks

I have a few from years ago, but most cards go in a penny sleeve with a toploader for nicer cards.

Steve B

[Exhibitman]

I think the concern over migrating plasticizers may be overblown. I've purchased old collections and cards from old collections with old sheets and holders that were brittle and piss-yellow and the cards have been just fine. Now I would definitely prefer to go with an inert and archival substance just so that I don't have to replace yellowed brittle holders in the future, but I don't think the cards are in danger from anything they are in as much as anything in them [i.e. lignin oxidation and acids].

[celoknob]

Originally Posted by wastewater

Another question, are top loaders safe for storage of pictures and such or should these also be put into soft sleeves. I see where BCW and Cardboard Gold say there products are archival safe but Ultra Pro is marketing soft sleeves to put in theirs. For large or oddball sized items this can be problematic.

Yea, I have stuff (photos, etc) like this too. Size too odd to put in soft sleeve so I put it directly into Ultra Pro toploaders. I don't have the answer but have had the same question whether this is ok for storage longterm.

[Bugsy]

Also be aware that calling a product "archival," doesn't actually mean anything at all. It's not like there is a government agency regulating what can and what cannot be called "archival." It is a relatively new buzzword in the collecting community used to sell plastics. The manufacturers love stamping this word on their packaging. The reality is that your cards are probably doing just fine in plastics from 10 years ago.

Chris

[Exhibitman]

It's not all that complex. Real archival quality as used by museums means one thing--polyester film aka mylar. However, for our purposes polypropylene is sufficiently inert and inexpensive.