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Posted By: <b>Darren J Duet</b><p>I've decided to free cards in my permanent collection from their prisons.<br />What is the best way to do this, anybody have experience at this?

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Posted By: <b>josh k</b><p><a href="http://www.brucemo.com/cards/articles/deslab.htm" target=_new>http://www.brucemo.com/cards/articles/deslab.htm</a>

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Posted By: <b>Josh K.</b><p>But the real question is why? I know many on this board do not like graded cards, and I certainly understand the reasoning behind not getting a card graded in the first place. My question is, why "free" a card that has already been graded unless you are trying to get it regraded by another company in hopes of a higher grade. It seems to me that by taking the cards out of the slabs you are (1) risking damage to the card by just doing so; and (2)depending upon your storage methods, risking future damage to the card because it will likely be less protected after removal. Can anyone enlighten me?

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Posted By: <b>Greg Ecklund</b><p>There isn't much risk to removing a card if you know how to do it right - if you are apprehensive about it just start off by trying to break out a few commons. At first, I was unsure so I just bought a few 60's Topps commons from each company and practiced breaking them out.<br /><br />For me, I break them out because I want all the cards in my collection to look the same and be in the same holders. Because I buy both raw (the majority) and graded cards, I break the graded ones out rather than spending the money to get the raw ones graded. <br /><br />I also frankly don't want to directly give the grading services any money - some of the prices people are paying for graded cards today just makes me laugh, and I'd rather not participate in it any more than I have to.

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Posted By: <b>Aaron M.</b><p>Aesthetics. <br /><br />Some people (myself included) think ungraded cards in simple (or deluxe) cardholders just look better than those in grading service slabs (although SGC and GAI holders are much more attractive than PSA holders). If you have no intention of re-selling the cards, then why not have it present the way that's most aesthetically pleasing to you (or conforming to your collection).

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Posted By: <b>Darren J Duet</b><p>Hello Josh,<br />I prefer to buy graded cards if I am not buying in person -- Helps me feel better about authenticity. I do not submit cards from my personal collection to grading companies unless I'm uncertain of its authenticity. Once a card has made it into my personal collection I much prefer to have it free. I like to touch(albeit carefully)and smell the card as well as view the card directly. These pieces of paper are fascinatingly intricate. I've seen the MONA LISA and I tell you the experience would have sucked had it been slabbed in a PSA 4 holder.<br /><br />Darren

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Posted By: <b>jay behrens</b><p>And then there are those of us that are clumbsy oafs and need to protect the cards from ourselves. I only slab the best or rarest of my cards.<br /><br />Jay<br><br>I like to sit outside, drink beer and yell at people. If I did this at home I would be arrested, so I go to baseball games and fit right in.

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Posted By: <b>Josh K.</b><p>Thanks for the explanations. Personally, I like the look of my cards in the GAI and SGC slabs (fortunately, I have not had any problems with GAI slabs as some others have mentioned in the past). Im not as crazy about the psa slabs - In fact, they are pretty ugly. However, it seems like a waste of money to break them out in order to get them regraded in a nicer slab so I live with it. <br /><br />One of the comments above brings up an another question Ive had - how do most of you store/protect/view your cards. I for one prefer to be able to view them so I have purchased binder pages that hold slabbed cards (they fit psa and gai but not sgc). They are in a nice three ring binder that permits easy viewing whenever the mood strikes me. Ive thought about purchasing some display cases, but Im a bit concerned about the damage that might occur from constant exposure to sunlight.

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Posted By: <b>Greg Ecklund</b><p>I keep all of my cards in the Card Saver of the appropriate size - Card Saver II's for Topps size cards and smaller and Card Saver IV's for Exhibit cards and Hall of Fame Postcards/Perez Steeles. That way, they fit neatly in many of the storage boxes sold by dealers and can easily be sorted and handled.<br /><br />The only cards I have that aren't stored at home are my Turkey Reds, which are in a safe deposit box at the local bank.

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Posted By: <b>warshawlaw</b><p>I jsut use a 4-pocket page--holds the cards tightly and lets me put them into an album to view. Overall, bindering the cards this way is a more efficient use of space for me given the configurations of my storage area.

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Posted By: <b>Josh K.</b><p>For anyone who uses binder pages, do you put the cards in card savers and penny sleeves first, or directly into the binders. Does anyone know whether any of the binder pages will hold sgc slabs? As I mentioned, I have some molded binder pages that hold psa/gai slabs but not sgc's.

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Posted By: <b>Josh K.</b><p>Apparently I need to read these posts a bit closer. I now realize that my question regarding sgc slabs was answered above. Nothing like attention to detail.

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Posted By: <b>Bryan</b><p>I feel that I may be the lone man out on this one. I know that a ton of people store most of their cards in pages. Me, on the other hand, I put all of my vintage T and E cards in screw downs holders. For some reason I look at my beat up e93 common as a t206 Wagner and that it needs to be preserved for all eternity. Not the most cost effective way to handle things, but I tend to drop things from time to time and I have found this is the best way to prevent anything from hurting my precious cards:)

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Posted By: <b>Darren J. Duet</b><p>Hello Brian,<br /><br />I store my primo cards in 1" lucite screwdowns; Over the last 28 years I've emassed a huge collection of these "bricks" not to mention the treasures that they preserve. I could probably build a home with lucite bricks. A room in my home is dedicated (more like reinforced)with them and their contents. So don't feel like a loner on this one.