So yeah, might be the most amateurish question you read for a while, but anyway:

In everyone's experience, has anyone found it at all detrimental storing autograph cards in regular sheets in binders like normal cards?

Is there any real difference between doing that and storing them in single-card protective sleeves?

Does the kind of pen used to sign the card make a difference?

I'm mostly thinking about long-term fading of the signature, things like that.

Cheers.

This is a very valid question. So far I've not experienced fading in the signatures on my auto cards, but you have to avoid long or continued exposure to light, and all exposure to sunlight. I believe the red and green ink signatures will fade sooner than the black & dark blue autographs given the same storage conditions.

Binder storage pages & individual card sleeves are made of the same materials if you buy those that are advertised as archival (UltraPro, BCW, etc)
Both will protect your cards from dust, dings, finger smudges. So far I have not experienced damage or fading to the signatures from using these to store & display my auto cards.

BUT if the sleeves or pages start to discolor or form cloudy or oily areas (plastics start to visibly break down), you need to remove the cards & replace the sleeves or pages ASAP.

Heat, humidity, light, & significant temperature changes will speed up plastics degradation so avoid exposing your collection to them.

There are mylar soft sleeves and some stiff heavy ones too. No degradation with these so I'm considering them more & more.

(This is all based on my experience and what I've read on the subjects. I am surrounded by extreme climate "storage challenges" in TX)

Thanks for the response.

quote:

Originally posted by BILLZEE:
I believe the red and green ink signatures will fade sooner than the black & dark blue autographs given the same storage conditions.

Given the consistency/feel of the ink in such pens, I'd expect silver autographs to be the same as these.

quote:

Originally posted by BILLZEE:
I am surrounded by extreme climate "storage challenges" in TX)

That's certainly one way to phrase "crazy-*** weather"


So yeah, I basically store everything in sheets in binders (which in turn tend to live in cupboards) except currently for autos and costume/relic/prop cards, which are all in sleeves and some then in turn in toploaders. But starting to think I should put the autos in the sheets with the rest, the ones that are signed directly onto regular-thickness cards, anyway. Just wanted to check that there's no detriment in doing so

quote:

So yeah, I basically store everything in sheets in binders (which in turn tend to live in cupboards) except currently for autos and costume/relic/prop cards, which are all in sleeves and some then in turn in toploaders. But starting to think I should put the autos in the sheets with the rest, the ones that are signed directly onto regular-thickness cards, anyway. Just wanted to check that there's no detriment in doing so

Yep I agree with your approach.

I only collect on-card autographs, & you just reminded me that I made no distinctions to auto cards with signatures on tape. Personally I don't like them & have very few. Would imagine that the same storage suggestions would also apply with tape autographs.

I've had no problems with 9 page storage, I also keep them in penny sleaves in the 9 pockets, it helps prevent any smearing.

quote:

Originally posted by BILLZEE:
Would imagine that the same storage suggestions would also apply with tape autographs.

Yes, I'd expect so too, although I don't have any. I have one cut autograph which is a very thick card, so it's in a sleeve in a toploader.

quote:

Originally posted by John Tirohn:
I've had no problems with 9 page storage, I also keep them in penny sleaves in the 9 pockets, it helps prevent any smearing.

I tried that, but none of the sleeves I have fit in the pockets without wrinkling up quite badly. I assume there must be some narrower sleeves out there that are subtly different to all the ones I have.

I use Ultra Pro Platinum 9 pocket pages for all my autograph cards. I take no other measures, except to keep them away from light and heat. I have had some for over 20 years and they are not fading or degrading so far. I say so far because I can only tell you up to now.

And I do agree with BILLZEE about the ink colors. I find that red tends to get runny and green tends to look faded, not because of the pages, just because of the quality. Silver and gold signatures are often signed in that type of pen that tends to chip or get blotchy. I also worry about pre-prints when I see the silver signatures.

Plain old blue or black ink works best for me.

I store them all in 9 pocket pages within pennyy sleeves, I found a great peeny sleeve that slides into the 9 pocket pages without wrinkling.. they are "Max Protection TCG Soft Card Sleeves" part #23020

My more expensive auto I keep in peeny sleeves and toploaders, only as I store them somehwere more secure.

When you say heat has an effect, I assume you are talking about getting too hot? Is cold better for the cards?

quote:

Originally posted by drofdarb:
When you say heat has an effect, I assume you are talking about getting too hot? Is cold better for the cards?

Yeah, a cooler place is better, especially in the summer. And dark too, unless you are looking at them. Everyone knows about the effect of sunlight on signatures, but any kind of artifical room light will cause fading eventually. With temperature, the worry is about the chemicals in the plastic breaking down and effecting the ink someday, or the pocket molding around the card and sticking.

I have only had that happened with unautographed cards that had extremely high gloss, like the old Fleer Flairs. In those cases the card gloss is also degrading over time and climate. If you leave them in pages you will have to cut them out, if you leave them in boxes they will adhere to each other and you will be left with a solid brick. You have to put wax paper between these cards before storing to keep them from gluing together.

Heat will melt plastic and cause any chemical breakdown to occur faster, so the hotter it is the more chance there is that something bad will happen. I just try to maintain a comfortable room temperature no matter what the season.

As to colder, I don't think so. It might seem like hot being a bad idea, cold would be better, but then you might have to worry about condensation under the plastic if you tried to keep your cards abnormally cooler than a comfortable room. Trapped moisture will ruin cards if it happens, so I wouldn't risk it, although I'm sure someone has tried to freeze cards someplace.

quote:

As to colder, I don't think so. It might seem like hot being a bad idea, cold would be better, but then you might have to worry about condensation under the plastic if you tried to keep your cards abnormally cooler than a comfortable room. Trapped moisture will ruin cards if it happens, so I wouldn't risk it, although I'm sure someone has tried to freeze cards someplace

Yep, Raven sure does know what shes talking about!

As I mentioned before, you can have card problems from significant temperature and/or humidity changes. If you store your binder of cards in an unheated room or a garage in cold weather, then you move the binder into a warm or muggy environment, you can have big problems with many modern cards.

The mini-condensation (that often will occur in the sleeves & page pockets) will wreak havok on chromium, omnichrome, & glossy UV card surfaces.
Been there, done that

Hi

Well some people feel that nothing but a screw down display case is 'good enough' for preserving their favourite/most valuable autograph(s).

This of course is a lot more expensive in terms of storage cost for one screw down holder compared to a box of x 9 pocket pages.

I have always stored my autographs with their respective sets in x9 pocket pro pages.

Occasionally I will used a hard topper for an individual autograph but it ends up in a page eventually.

I wouldn't keep an autograph in a single soft sleeve as I think there's no 'tough edges' (ie binder/topper/holder) to protect it.

So long as the page(s) clean with no marks/stains/discolouration and the card itself is kept away from direct sunlight/very bright artifical light. The darker the area you can keep cards/binders the better. If you have spare draw or box it usually suffices.

I've never known a card to fade because it was kept in a page as oppose to any other type of storae (unless thrown loose into a box and left the elements of air/dust and possible liquid hazard of a split drink or water damage.

Hope that helps and best of luck with your card collecting.