Hello, was hoping you guys can help me out. I am sure it has been discussed on here many times.

I have all my autograph cards in binders right now. In order to keep them safe for long term should i take them out of binder and store them in top loaders?

Thanks!

I personally keep all of mine in binders for ease of storage. Though top loaders are no doubt much safer. You can simply put them in toploaders and put these in a box or something if you want to keep them all together. I like to keep my autographs in binders relevant to their set(s).

Really a matter of personal preference but good question none the less.

As long as the 9-card pages are archival safe your cards should be fine. You just need to make sure you store them so cards don't get bent.

See pictures here:
http://nonsportupdate.infopop....4605353/m/8847006516



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I can only tell you what I have done with my autograph cards, some of which I have been storing dating back to 1988. They are in binders of Ultra Pro Platinum 9 pocket pages, laying flat on top of each other. Originally they were in another brand of pages, but I switched out later on.

I am careful about maintaining limited light, humidity and comfortable temperature. So far I have seen no ill effects or damage to the cards, and more importantly, to the signatures. I can't say that it will never happen, just that it hasn't happened so far.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
I can only tell you what I have done with my autograph cards, some of which I have been storing dating back to 1988. They are in binders of Ultra Pro Platinum 9 pocket pages, laying flat on top of each other. Originally they were in another brand of pages, but I switched out later on.

I am careful about maintaining limited light, humidity and comfortable temperature. So far I have seen no ill effects or damage to the cards, and more importantly, to the signatures. I can't say that it will never happen, just that it hasn't happened so far.

Yes that is now what I have been doing, lying the binders flat so the 9 pocket pages don't have a chance of bending.

I think my biggest problem with those photos in the thread Goldenavenger referred to is that the binders were not full enough, which left way to much space for the pages to bend. After that, I ended up taking pages out of the almost empty ones and putting them altogether to make just a couple of full binders so there's less chance of it happening.

The pages bent, but not the cards, right?

otim

quote:

Originally posted by otim:
The pages bent, but not the cards, right?

otim

yes just the pages, not the cards. But I'm sure if they had stayed like that long enough the cards would have ended up a bit curled like the pages.

I have noticed though, like my Buffy Evolution parallel set, were kind of curled when I bought them, same with the Connections set. So I'm guessing it's a normal thing for those different thicker kinds of cards?

The few promos I store in pages, I put in ultra pro 90 card portfolios and seal them with a food saver. It keeps out moister, dust and air. When you seal them, hit the seal button before it sucks all the air out, if you suck all the air out you could damage the cards.

I like to have my cards in their own binders upright on my self, for easy access.
I place a rigid cardboard tightly held in the rings, which holds the pages tightly together and upright in the binder without any bending.

quote:

Originally posted by Neilsy:
I like to have my cards in their own binders upright on my self, for easy access.
I place a rigid cardboard tightly held in the rings, which holds the pages tightly together and upright in the binder without any bending.

Sounds interesting, when you say the cardboard is held tightly in the rings, what do you mean exactly? Do you put holes in the cardboard so it is held in place? I'm trying to picture in my head what you're saying but having trouble

I've collected sports cards forever where condition is everything. I have found that the best reasonable way to store and protect higher value cards is to have them in a penny sleeve, in a toploader then have the toploader put into what is called a team set bag. Team bags are basically a penny sleeve that seals around a top loader.

I think binders are great for storing lower value cards, but for long term storage you will probably have issues. The major issue I've seen is discoloring of the first three cards on each page. It happens when albums sit for awhile. Dust and other particles settle on the cards and can ruin them. It would probably take many years for this to happen, but it does happen. I would also only store cards in binders if they are full. The pages need to support themselves and if you have only a few pages in a 3" binder they will bend and flop around and can cause problems.

I just store the sealed toploaders in a 3 row card box and keep the lid on. I've been collecting for 20 years and have never had a problem with surfaces scratches, discoloring, bending, etc.

quote:

Originally posted by Juelle Lou:

quote:

Originally posted by Neilsy:
I like to have my cards in their own binders upright on my self, for easy access.
I place a rigid cardboard tightly held in the rings, which holds the pages tightly together and upright in the binder without any bending.

Sounds interesting, when you say the cardboard is held tightly in the rings, what do you mean exactly? Do you put holes in the cardboard so it is held in place? I'm trying to picture in my head what you're saying but having trouble

I made a small hole in the cardboard then forced the rings through the hole. The cardboard then sits tight in the ringbinder and wont move around

quote:

The cardboard then sits tight in the ringbinder and wont move around

I like reading about these storage methods used by other CTalkers...

One concern I have about keeping cardboard immediately adjacent to the collection over the long-term is IT IS HIGHLY ACIDIC. This is very evident if you've stored documents or paper items in a cardboard box over time. The paper edges and corners become discolored and there is an acid odor.

However you can buy special cardboard that is buffered (acidity removed) in a magazine size. If it was my collection, thats what I'd use...

I'm picturing the same type of cardboard that's used with comic books, you know the kind that goes into the plastic sleeve with the comic. Good idea.

can anyone tell me if a binder is possibly a little too full, is that just as bad/worse than a binder that is only half full?

quote:

Originally posted by Andy28:
can anyone tell me if a binder is possibly a little too full, is that just as bad/worse than a binder that is only half full?

I'm going through a consigned collection now. All the cards were in pages but the binders were not shipped to me.

It's obvious some of the binders were overfull as there are ring marks on the cards next to the rings in the page. Sometimes it was 4 or 5 pages of damage, so these were really filled to bursting.

So yes, overfull can cause a great deal of damage too.

Ed

oh they are not so full as for the rings to touch, they are slightly overfull, im just worried about the cards curling?