A review of the Zion card collection vault (safe)
Hey everyone! For those of you who don’t know, I’ve written multiple articles on protective and fireproof solutions for graded card collections in the past. My research and observations can be viewed in the links below and are likely worth a read as they will tie into my review here.
Safes 101
Safes 202
Heat resistance testing for PSA slabs
Let’s get into it: the Zion Cases card collection vault! When I first saw this advertised, I was pretty excited! I’ve not seen a safe geared towards the graded card community before and would love to look at what they offer.
Manufacturer’s specifications:
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Dimensions: 26(h) x 17(w) x 14(d)
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Weight: 125lbs.
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Top (showcase) drawer inside dimensions:
1-1/4” high
10-3/8” wide
7” deep
- Three (storage) drawers inside dimensions:
5-1/2” high
10-1/8” wide
7” deep
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Anti-theft solid steel and 16mm heat-resistant fireboards
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500DPI biometric fingerprint sensor
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Stores up to 20 fingerprint scans
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3 methods for quick entry: key lock, biometric fingerprint, and 4-digit backlit keypad
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Advanced outside battery compartment
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3-spoke vault handle
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Emergency alert system
A special note on the product page from Zion Cases: This product complies with UL 72 Standard for 30 minutes fire resistance protection at 1200℉. Neither seller nor manufacturer shall be liable for unauthorized access, any injury, loss, or damage to personal property direct or consequential, arising from the use of, or the inability to use the card vault safe sold through Zion Cases. The user shall determine the suitability of the vault before the intended use, and the user assumes all risk and liability whatsoever in connection therewith. card vaults are not intended to protect against environmental hazards, including fire, and water.
Finally, the price point as of 12/16/24 when I pulled this information: $1,795.00 with an added shipping price of $137.18. Before tax, this safe will run you a total of $1,932.18. So, for those of you on a budget of about $2000, this is a pretty close fit.
A lot to look at here and I think my review should start with the most confusing part. “This product complies with UL 72 Standard for 30 minutes fire resistance protection at 1200℉.”
So, what is the UL 72 standard? The link here gives a much more in-depth review of the UL 72 standard. The easiest way to understand UL 72 is realizing it’s just a standard relating to fire protection safes, cabinets and files.
The standard goes into specific testing procedures for fireproofing; the most interesting part of the standard is actually the classification of safes that meet metrics for internal temperature. Arguably this might be the most important detail when buying a fireproof safe.
Zion does not post the classification of their safe, and after 3 customer service emails as well as a post asking for clarification on their Meta ads, I have had no luck getting a definitive answer for classification.
Based on my own personal observations I feel quite safe in stating that this safe meets the class 350 rating. As Class 150 and 125 have very different build qualities, I think it’s a very safe bet to say this is a Class 350. If Zion would like to clarify the classification, feel free to reach out to me!
With understanding the standard out of the way, let’s look at the pain points Zion is attempting to fix for the graded card consumer. This safe is meant to:
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Keep cards organized: “Showcase Drawer” and Three “storage” drawers
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Quick Access: “3 methods for quick entry: key lock, biometric fingerprint, and 4-digit backlit keypad”, “Stores up to 20 fingerprint scans”
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Protect cards from theft: “Anti-theft solid steel”, “Emergency alert system”, “Crafted from solid steel and weighing 125 lbs”, and “large steel bolts” are all claims made on this product.
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Protect cards from fire: “This product complies with UL 72 Standard for 30 minutes fire resistance protection at 1200℉”
Alright! Let’s break down each claim and see how the card collection vault stacks up!
Organization:
As far as safe’s go, there is nothing quite like this on the market. As it’s literally the only one I’ve ever come across specific to TCG and graded cards. The drawer system seems good! Able to hold “282 graded slabs, or 1,260 top loaders (or any combination)” as advertised.
Assuming you have a way to know which drawer holds what you should be good to go. Is that level of organization alone worth ~ $2000? I would say no, there are plenty of good options on the market for storage to and from shows or for at home use. But this safe does more than just organize, so lets look at those other factors.
Quick Access:
There are literally hundreds of safes on the market that utilize a four digit punch code access. I would imagine this one operates about the same as there are no specific call outs as to what this does differently compared to other units of a similar build.
Finger print recognition is nice, and being able to hold up to 20 different finger print scans means this safe is designed for multiple employees to come in and out of the safe at frequent intervals. This is a nice feature for ease of access.
My main concern here is the “Key lock access”. Typically a safe like this that uses electronics to get in and out of utilizes a battery component. In the event the battery dies or the electronics get damaged the back up is a physical key to open the safe. While this idea is good in theory it results in much larger issues covered below.
Protect cards from theft:
Following up from the paragraph above, the key lock system is a huge vulnerability. As shown in this video the ability to pick a lock on a safe like this is much easier to do than you would imagine. Those 16mm steel walls don’t matter if your weakest point is actually a key lock. Granted each tumbler system is different but someone with a very small amount of skill can very easily open one of these. For home use, I would say this is too much of a vulnerability. It would take less than 5 mins to get in and out of a safe like this assuming someone is targeting what you have specifically.
But lets not look at this safe from just a home use perspective and instead review it from a commercial one. Some guy with a key jiggler likely is not going to get behind your table and just open it with nobody noticing, right? I would say that’s true. However, when we see theft at card shows, how is that typically done?
It’s a simple “pick up and go” that works rather well for people intent on ripping someone off. This safe only weighs 125 pounds empty and around 152.31 pounds fully loaded. (1 psa slabs weigh around 1.55 oz. 282 x 1.55 = 437.1 oz / 16 oz ((pound)) = 27.31 pounds).
This is light enough to easily push a dolly under and move. Or, a person in decent shape could lift a few inches onto a pallet jack. By making the safe a part of your vendor set up it actually attracts attention and tells people: “I have the good stuff here!”
While I will admit theft is uncommon at best, it’s still a reality both at shows and at home. Is this safe providing the protection that is needed?
Fireproof protection:
While the UL standard 72 is nice, it’s completely useless if the classification is 350. When it comes to fire, time is a factor and this is not buying your precious inventory/collection the time it needs to achieve that objective. You can review my work here discussing fireproofing and what temperature slabs become damaged beyond a regrade.
Alternative solutions:
So what does work for a quick access safe option at a card show? You can easily find a metal security container that offers roughly the same amount of anti-theft protection as Zion does for a fraction of the cost. Some even have drawers! Obviously, it’s not any better than Zion but the price point makes WAY more sense if your business needs require you to have something employees can get in and out of quickly and have a need for organization.
Final opinion:
For me personally it’s nice to see a company take a risk and attempt to get into the safe and vault market for trading cards. However, the implementation with Zion’s card collection vault leaves a lot to be desired. What may be worse though, is the suggestion that this product is in ANY way able to protect cards from fire. It’s clear from the construction of the safe that it falls within the class 350 category and as a result will act like an oven in a fire and not piece of mind.
On top of the misinformation about fire protection, the fact that Zion’s customer service is unable to understand what it is they are selling sends up a huge red flag for me. It gives me pause to purchase a product from Zion as I’m not sure if they fully understand what exactly it is they are selling.
While I will admit the storage capacity and organization combined with quick access for multiple employees is nice. I could not justify a $2000 purchase for just those attributes alone. Zion’s attempt to “have it all” from protection to organization to theft and fire protection is reaching too far at this point for them. Overall, I would not purchase this product.