How-to-protect-your-trading-cards

How to protect your trading cards.
If you wish to learn how to protect your trading cards,please read on,

1.Keep out of sunlight or strong light.

If you wish to compare mint cards with lower grade cards,simply put a selection together of say 50 mint cards then add the poor quality ones.The poor quality ones will stand out as dirty or wider due to the fact that they are worn or handled a great deal.Those that where kept out of sunlight will be white and bright.So now you can see those that are lower standard,quickly.

2.Use top quality pages

.BCW and Ultra Pro are the ones I recommend and use continuously.For cigarette cards I recommend only one type.Archival clear.There have been several types on the market over the last 30 years.Those that are flimsy and bend easily,can eventually break down onto the card itself.I suggest you check.Archival clear tend to be stiffer in their construction.

3.Cool dry conditions are the ideal conditions for any paper products.

Check out old books and magazines exposed to humid damp conditions.You will find them discolored on the edges.To preserve books or cards to their limit,wrap in acid free paper.Art suppliers normally stock this type of paper.The cardboard boxes available are another excellent alternative.

Warnings.What to watch out for.
1.
During the 1990s,in Australia,albums where released to store AFL and Rugby League sets.The quality of the plastic sleeves,was diabolical.If you doubt me,simply smell them up close.Not very pretty.I have seen many sets ruined during the 1990s.So imagine what they are like now!Go check them now!As a collectors item they are quite rare and valuable.I warned many of our customers in the 1990s when I became aware of the problem.Hopefully they will benefit now with increased values on the cards and albums.Other albums that suffered the same fate where the early Dynamic Marketing albums.Disney Classic album was a great design but.....smell the plastic!Mario Brothers and Disney Adventures suffered a similar fate.They are still valuable as collectors items.Some are beginning to ripple or warp on the front or back.Well if you throw them away.......

2.
The coatings and laminates used during the 1990s on SOME card sets has led to certain series cards, sticking together.If you have experienced this please let me know by email,I will try to update the info in a later release.If the cards are in sleeves they are NORMALLY ok,but some can break down in the sleeve.Suggest you start looking through those old treasures and weeding out the bad.

Just to illustrate what can happen with early Dynamic Marketing albums(listed above)
The albums are still highly collectable.The pages can be replaced.......but what about the cards?

A Tazo album that had been standing up...vertical.The pog pages have deteriorated and begun to bend the paper pages.
Again the pog pages can be replaced,so Ive now put the album horizontal to allow the pages to straighten naturally.
With both illustrated examples its your choice to throw the pages away....but I know which one I'd be looking for
the one with both new and old.

Welcome back to regular visitors to this page.Hopefully by now,it will slowly be becoming obvious that nothing lasts forever!Above you will find some deteriorating plastic sleeves,new in 1992.17 years later....they are beginning to damage the cards within them.
My point is this.There will simply not be enough high quality cards on offer,when,not if card collecting becomes widely popular again.Sadly we are in the middle of a recession again.When things improve....... I have enquiries every day with collectors wishing to sell.My advice....hold on.Surely you will achieve a better price when things improve and even more cards have bitten the dust.
WARNING have you been preserving your cards in plastic boxes/cardboard boxes?Have you laid your cards horizontally not vertically?Well those cards from 93 onwards have gloss finishes that dont last too well.They will effectively glue themselves together.Thats another few thousand sets etc that will be eliminated from the market in years to come.If your selling your collection keep this in mind!Although I recommend the use of plastic and cardboard(what else is there?)the collector should remain vigilant.
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