Free Shipping on Orders $50+
Most card damage does not happen in a dramatic accident. It happens slowly, in a shoebox, over years. This guide covers what to use, in what order, and the mistakes we see most often when people bring collections in.
Thin, soft, inexpensive. The baseline for anything you care about even slightly. A penny sleeve will not stop a bend, but it stops surface scratching — and surface scratching is what quietly moves a card from Near Mint to Lightly Played.
Slide the card in, do not push it. Forcing a card into a sleeve is a common cause of corner damage.
Rigid plastic holders. Always put the card in a penny sleeve first — raw card against rigid plastic scratches. A card in a sleeve inside a toploader survives posting, handling and being dropped.
This is the standard for anything valuable that needs to travel.
Semi-rigid holders, slightly flexible. These are what professional grading companies ask for when you submit cards, because they hold the card securely without the risk of damage during removal.
The best option for a collection you actually want to look at. Two things matter:
Store binders upright on a shelf, like books. Stacking them flat puts the weight of the whole stack onto the cards at the bottom.
Fine for bulk and for playing decks. For long-term storage of anything of value, a box of loose unsleeved cards is the worst common option — the cards rub against each other every time the box moves.
The worst offender, and the one people overlook. Damp air warps cards and can encourage mould on card stock. Basements are the most common place collections go wrong in Canadian homes.
Aim for stable, moderate humidity. A cupboard in a heated part of the house beats a basement or a garage every time.
Repeated expansion and contraction warps cards over time. Attics, garages and cars are all bad for this — a card left in a car through a London winter and summer will not come out the way it went in.
UV fades ink, and it is irreversible. This matters most for cards on display. If you are framing something valuable, use UV-protective glazing and keep it off a wall that gets direct sun.
Cards at the bottom of a stack take the load. Stored flat under weight, they bend permanently. Store binders and boxes upright.
| Card | Storage |
|---|---|
| Bulk commons and uncommons | Storage box, unsleeved is acceptable |
| Playing deck | Sleeved, in a deck box |
| Modern rares you want to keep | Penny sleeve in a side-loading binder |
| Anything valuable | Penny sleeve inside a toploader |
| Vintage holos | Penny sleeve inside a toploader, stored upright |
| Cards going for grading | Penny sleeve inside a card saver |
| Cards being posted | Sleeve, toploader, then rigid packaging |
Sort it before you store it. A collection nobody can navigate tends to get handled repeatedly while people look for things, and every handling is a chance for damage. Sorting by set and keeping a rough list means you touch the cards less.
It also makes an enormous difference if you later decide to sell or trade in — a sorted collection is faster to assess, which means you get an answer sooner.
Match the protection to the card. Putting a two-dollar common in a toploader is a waste; leaving a vintage holo loose in a box is a far more expensive mistake in the other direction.
If you are not sure what a card is worth protecting properly, bring it in. We are in London and we will tell you honestly — including when the answer is that it does not need anything special.
See also: our condition guide, which explains what the damage above actually does to a card's grade. Browse Pokémon singles and vintage Pokémon cards.
Get answers to commonly asked questions about orders, shipping, returns, and more.
EA Collectibles – Canada's Trusted Pokemon & Trading Card Game Store
410 Third Street, London, Ontario N5V 1X3 | (519) 852-3570 | Free Shipping on Orders $50+
Serving London, St. Thomas, Woodstock, Stratford, Sarnia & all of Canada since 2020