Quick question regarding toploaders...
 

I'm in the process of figuring out how to store my cards neatly. I was thinking of putting them in toploaders, but much of my collection is comprised of smaller cards (tobacco, Goudey, etc.) that do not fit neatly. I was thinking of using semi-rigid card savers, but I just noticed that both the Ultra Pro and Card Saver brands are made of Vinyl. I assume this means they contain acid/PVC, which of course I want to avoid at all costs. Maybe I should store them in semi-rigids with PVC-free penny sleeves? I would like to avoid using penny sleeves if I can. Can anyone give me advice on what to do?

There is non pvc vinyl. You might want to check ultra pro's website just to confirm there pvc free. I believe mostly all current collectible supplies are pvc free now.

I checked online, and there are plenty of toploaders described as PVC free, but nothing on semi-rigids. Ultra Pro advertises on the toploaders themselves that they are PVC and acid free, along with most of their other products but NOT the semi-rigids. The fact that it is omitted that worries me.

Can anyone find a source that describes semi-rigids (regardless of company) that are PVC/vinyl/acid free?

I use Ultra Pro penny sleeves inside Ultra Pro top loaders and I think I am fairly safe.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/500-4x6-Phot...#ht_619wt_1037


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I used to sell both tobacco size toploaders and binder sheets. They are very safe for cards. I still have a bunch of the binder pages of interested.

My opinion is top loaders with penny sleeves is the best way to go. Excellent protection, and the smaller cards should be okay with the penny sleeves.

I do not believe semi-rigids are PVC free. I've never seen any brand that claimed that. I use them, but always with a penny sleeve.

Autographs in semi-rigids - nearly 10 years later…
 

Sooo….This thread pretty much scared the crap-ola out of me the other day.

First, some background: I have never been much of an autograph collector or a modern card collector, but in 2002 my wife bought a few packs of Donruss Diamond Kings for me and I really liked them. I decided to get a few of them autographed and the first players I had sign them were Albert Pujols, J.D. Drew and Jim Edmonds from the Cardinals. Edmonds liked the cards so much he actually encouraged me to try to get the whole set signed. So, I bought a set from a dealer and what seemed like a ridiculous idea at first has turned into a 10-year project and I’m actually getting very close to completion.

I had not looked at many of the cards in years until this weekend and, thanks to this thread, I went through the set and switched them all from Ultra-Pro semi rigids to penny sleeves and top loaders. I noticed what seemed to be some fading on a few of the cards, and have posted some pics here. However, upon further review, I’m not sure the signatures have faded, but maybe they just weren’t strong to begin with.

For comparison sake, the pics I have posted are of teammates who signed the cards on the same day (Yes, I’m so anal that I document the dates of all the signatures as I go along): Chipper Jones & Gary Sheffield on August 10, 2003, and Jim Thome and Bobby Abreu on August 24, 2003. You can see that the Sheffield and Thome sigs appear lighter compared to their teammates who signed the same day, but I don’t think this is from the Ultra-Pro holder – I think maybe they just signed the card quickly and a little lighter.

The good news is that the major stars and/or really tough signatures – Jeter, Mattingly, Schmidt, Griffey, Ichiro, Jones, Pujols, etc. seem to be fine. I’ve always had the cards signed with a black or blue Sharpie.

(Note: I used to put all my cards in penny sleeves and top loaders. Then in the late 1990s I switched to Cardsaver IIs and Ultra-Pro semi-rigids for several reasons: Ease of use/quicker to load; Take up less space in a box [thickness] and Cost – I buy them by the case and they’re a cheaper overall option than buying penny sleeves and top loaders. From now on I'll just use the semi-rigids for my few modern cards that I think are worth saving but that probably don't have a ton of value).

Awesome collection of autos. I've often thought about picking a set to put together signed. But then again I still haven't finished my set of signed cards of the Indians '95 roster(not specific to year or set). How in the hell did you get most of them to sign? Are you connected, lucky, or paying for sigs, when necessary?

Harvey mesellman sells books. Have had great luck getting return autos on cards and also losing cards in the mail. It's worth the shot though. I also am sure I mispelled his last name

I had one of those when I was a kid. I generally had really good luck. I used to also have a lot of luck mailing the request c/o the teams. However, that was then, and this is now. There's so many players nowadays that seem disconnected, that I just can't imagine receiving an auto back from... Maybe I'm just being too harsh on these guys, but it seems like they're all about the money..