How do you like your cards packed?
We all receive cards from dealers or other friends, mailed and insured in some fashion. My question: How do you like to receive cards? I'll offer a few observations, and then get out of the way:
1. Holy Grail Packing. A few years back on SNL, the late Phil Hartman appeared in a series called "The Anal Retentive ..." I remember two in particular. The Anal Retentive Fisherman possessed an "outboard motor cozy," to keep his machinery safe from dust. The AR Carpenter, after cutting a piece of wood, put the remaining piece in a plastic bag, zipped it, stapled it, put in it another plastic bag, wrapped the whole mess in aluminum foil and labelled it.
I get cards from people who have studied these techniques. The cards arrive in boxes. These are full of electrostatic peanuts (in my house, "flumpter"), in the midst of which is a package showing my name and address. Inside this package is a smaller brown envelope lined with bubble wrap, again with my name and address. Inside that is a triple round of bubble wrap secured with transparent packing tape. The card lies within.
The irony is that the card is generally a common I've purchased only to fill out a set.
2. No Frills. On the other end are those who pack cards of some considerable value as though they were wrapping yesterday's fish catch. The card lies inside the usual bubble wrap lined brown envelope, receiving no further protection. On several occasions, slabbed cards packed this way have arrived in cracked holders, though I'm sure they didn't leave home this way.
Well, that's enough of that. What, in your opinion, is a reasonable way to send and protect the cards we love?
(For my own part I HATE flumpter, and have sliced through both the triple bubble wrap and slab with the knife I use to open anything.)
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