How do you store your collection?

General
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Would love to hear how people out there store their valuable Pokemon cards. I’ve seen quite a few of these threads with sports and Magic cards, but not too many for Pokemon, so here we go!

For me personally, I’m considering Pelican cases (www.pelican.com/us/en/product/cases/air/1525) because of the fact they’re both dust proof and air tight for handling extreme temperature ranges. However, I’ve also heard some suggest air tight may not be the best due to the fact that cards need to “breathe” – otherwise they may get damaged. If anyone has used these cases or knows about long-term card collecting, would love to get your thoughts on this, especially with many valuable Pokemon cards being holo foiled.

Any particular links you can share to how/where you purchased your storage (as well as their benefits) would be super helpful as well!

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Here is my current setup. Its a mess, because I’m preparing to move. My PSA storage isn’t ideal, but when I get a permanent place I’m buying a huge safe.

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Not to get overly detailed but I value my collection at a couple thousand dollars.

I have my cards inside a small Wal-Mart fire safe that I have stored inside a five foot tall 500 lb “theft and fire proof” safe that is bolted down along with my other valuables and other non-replaceable items.

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Sometimes I think I spend more time on storage than I do actually collecting haha.

My PSA cards are locked up in a fire-proof storage box. Not Pelican, but something similar. It’s a little pricey, but it’s super heavy duty. It is an air-tight seal, but once a week I open the case and let the cards air out for at least a few hours before shutting them up again.

Here’s a link and some pics. www.ebay.com/itm/Fireproof-Trading-Topps-Card-Storage-Box-Safe-Case-Waterproof-PSA-10-Pelican/232574337280?hash=item362682c100:g:sk0AAOSwSypY~NbO

The only thing I wasn’t satisfied with was the foam insert that came with the case (not stiff, firm enough), so I found a website where they’ll cut you a “pick and pluck” foam block based on your size requirements. Really happy with the results. The foam is really high quality. www.caseclub.com/custom-foam-inserts.htm

As for the rest of my collection…

I keep binders for specific purposes - 1) Japanese holo sets ranging from Base to Mysterious Mountains, 2) error/miscut binder, 3) WOTC promo binder, 4) Japanese promo binder, 5) random new stuff binder

When I get a card that doesn’t fit comfortably into any of the above binders, and is worth roughly $15+, it goes into a perfect fit sleeve and a magnetic Ultra-pro one touch case. These are then sleeved and stacked in a plastic bin.

WOTC commons/uncommons/non-holo rares are sleeved, toploaded and stacked upright in a plastic bin.

Pins, Coins, and small sized figures also get their own bin, as do sealed packs, sealed promos and larger sealed stuff, like magazines.

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@pokeaddict84 where did you get your storage from?

@lugiaslair249 any thoughts on the whole air tight case? Do you think long term the vault would cause any damage because of the thought around cards needing to “breathe”?

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Well, a set of instructions came with the case, and it recommended that you open the case to let it breathe every so often, I believe once every two weeks. I open it and let it breathe overnight once a week. I’ve only had the case for a few months, but so far I haven’t had any issues. I’m not an expert, and I haven’t been using the case long term, but I personally am not worried about damage, provided that I keep a close eye on my cards and let them breathe on a frequent basis - which I do.

Of course, if anybody reading this has had a negative experience with this type of case, details would be greatly appreciated. :blush:

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www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NQ0FYCU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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I don’t think they’re breathing inside graded cases anyway so not sure it matters?

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If only they were breeding inside the cases.

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I really like the way your master sets look on your shelf. What kind of containers are those?

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I believe they’re Unikeep binders.

www.unikeep.com/binders-and-accessories/3-ring-binders/

Check out @scratchdesk 's thread on them here > www.elitefourum.com/t/pokemon-set-binders-unikeep-fully-enclosed/17440/1

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Thank you for the information. I didn’t know these existed! They have a very clean look to them and I like it a lot.

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I agree. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to find any way to get them in the UK. Shipping on their website says $114 with one item in the basket, and Amazon.com doesn’t ship them to UK.

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I’m sorry to hear that. I just checked out Ebay as well and even then they’re still $21 OBO. :slightly_frowning_face:

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Amazon is by far the cheapest. You can buy a case of them (36 binders) for around $120.

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@pokeaddict84 where do you get your covers for the binders from? And with the binders being transparent do you ever worry about light getting through?

A bit random but what are the 2 gold cards you have on the top shelf? Pretty cool :grin:

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Sterilite Clear Latch Bins. LOTS of them.

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Same but more.

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My room is dark and the binders are opaque. On top of that all my master sets are perfect fits even the commons so everything has tons of barriers for light. Very little light is hitting the cards. The gold cards are the Ultra Prism Secret rares.