I’m at a crossroads here. I generally collect because I like to look back at my cards from time to time. I have a fair few binders of cards and hundreds of graded slabs, and the latter just doesn’t do it for me. I can’t put them side by side and view them easily, whereas the binder is just incredibly aesthetic and nostalgic. But of course I want to protect the cards and keep the value as high as possible for if I do decide to sell, or if I want to take insurance out.
How does everyone else deal with this internal dilemma?
The best way to overcome this dilemma is to buy raw duplicates of all of your slabbed cards for your binders. That way, you can enjoy the aesthetic of those cards too, but retain the graded copies for future sales if necessary.
It might take a considerable amount of time, money, and patience, but it is well-worth it if you truly want to enjoy your collection both ways.
I have tons of slabs that I can’t look at and its even caused storage problems. My planned solution for the future is to have one of those custom wall slab holders. I know that there are those that hold like 30 or like 5 or small numbers like that, but I hope one day they make a huge one that will hold 100+. I’m just bringing this up because this hope keeps me from stressing out because one day I will be able to view my cards easily, instead of rummaging through a ton of shoe boxes.
As a current solution for me is I just look at my scans from myself or PWCC. Put those scans in a folder and scroll through them every now and then.
I also think that binders are much more aesthetic and storage will be a problem for me, so I use this strategy:
-if I simply want a card → raw in a binder
-if I really like it → slabbed duplicate
I think this is a very common and money-saving approach, hope this help!
I’ve always been a binder collector and have cracked countless slabs for my binders.
I think there is far too much worry about binders to be honest. I’ve had cards in binders for 20 years that have not changed since they were put in there. No cryogenics, humidity gauges, hyperbaric chambers.
This is not to say in another 20 years they have not fallen to pieces, but I like to think they’ll be okay. I have nothing against people who go after graded, but it just isn’t for me.
Maybe every decade I’ll resubmit the cards I’ve cracked for my binders ( I still remember what they graded) and we can see what they get haha
I don’t think I’m ever going to try and collect two of everything haha. Maybe a different question… What do people use as storage for PSA or other slabs? Have been looking into binders but they’re not too common and mainly 2x2. I don’t mind a bigger binder to fit more in per page!
Frame them and cover all your walls in slabs.
It will be very intimidating for your guests and very hard to deal with for robbers.
It’s an all-win situation
I think this will always be a challenge to some degree. For me personally, I tend to focus on the highest grades for my slabs and put the rest in binders. So basically the highest value cards are slabbed and then I save money filling the binders with NM or lower grades. Most of the time with slabs I enjoy just knowing I have the card in my collection, and will usually only display a couple of them at a time and the rest of the time store them away. This way I can enjoy going through my binders or just take out a new slab from time to time to remind myself of what I’ve acquired over time.
Eventually in the long run you may acquire doubles. For example, I have several PSA 10 1st Ed Base Set cards and then I have the same NM cards in my binder set as well that I’ve acquired over time.
Anyway, I have a storage box dedicated to my slabs. In addition, I also will store certain raw cards in a double sleeve + toploader. These are mainly cards that could be slabbed, but for space reasons I keep them raw because I can store way more toploaders in the box than slabs overall. I’d sooner have them in a toploader than a PSA 8 slab case basically.
You say that you want slabs to protect your cards. What are you protecting them from? There is nothing really to suggest that sleeved in non-ring binders will damage your cards in 30 years as we see all of these vintage sports cards from 40+ years ago that were stored in rubber bands still getting PSA 5s in this day and age. There just isn’t enough data yet to dispute that. Also for protection, do you mean you want to preserve your cards for what, 60+ years? Slabs have not been around long enough either to let us know how they age over that long of a time period to show that they actually keep the card pristine for that time period. If anything, we already see slabs get moldy after only a couple of years in certain climates. To me, the only reason to buy a slab would be because you are strict on condition and want the third party assurance on a grade. For this argument, I do not think you need graded cards.
I’m here to give you the advice you’re looking for: stop collecting slabs unless they’re exceptional additions of high personal value. Collect your cards in a binder and let the slabs be the special exceptions.
Exactly this. I read a lot of threads here and on other sites, since I was paranoid about too, but almost nobody reported damage from keeping cards in a binder. Just buy quality products, don’t overload it, be careful when you sleeve them or reorganize things, and if you can store it vertically.
Slabs are awesome for other reasons: if I want to give a closer look to a card, I feel a bit more secure if slabbed, instead of taking it out of a binder every time.
Also they’re a beautiful in their own way. They still can warp and suffer from uv-damage though, so you must control the storage environment like you would do in a binder collection.
There is also the option of toploader binders, but I honestly didn’t like how they look. Maybe could be something in between that you could consider.
Binder collector here. Raw is superior. Grading cards are expensive and not space efficient.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but from a physics perspective, I don’t see how slabs protect cards better than a binder.
The inside surface of the slab is solid, so wouldn’t it rub against the card and damage it? On the other hand, if you put it in a top-loaded sleeve to protect it from scratches before putting it into a side-loading non-ring binder (I cannot recommend Card Codex from Arcane Tinmen enough), it can’t get scratched, no damage from binder rings, and dust won’t get in either. Even if it moves around it is cushioned by the sleeve. The only type of damage it is susceptible to is impact, but hopefully you shouldn’t be dropping that binder…I guess maybe damage can be incurred if you bend the binder pages, so just be reasonably careful when flipping the pages.
Heck if you really wanted to protect a card, double-sleeve it and put it in a top-loader. Costs about $0.5 per card. Unless you throw it into water it should be fine.
The money I save from buying raw instead of graded goes towards more cards
Looking back at my childhood collection (12+ years old), the cards that I never played with were the ones in the best condition. That one reverse foil HGSS Heracross that I never touched when I was a kid and stored in a binder? Perfect condition. And we all know how easy reverse foils scratch. So I’m convinced that damage is only incurred if you ever take it out of the sleeve and play with it unprotected.
TLDR IMO if you want to enjoy the card (collector), just buy a raw copy and take the necessary measures to protect it with sleeves, and if necessary, top-loaders. If you want it to hold value (investor), get a graded copy. I am a collector so I just buy raw.
I have 1 slab, and I only have it just so I can be satisfied with acing a slab. Everything else goes in a binder. And I’ll eventually get a duplicate of the slab card for my binder too. Otherwise I buy cheap slabs and crack them for my binder. Don’t really feel anything for slabs honestly.
