Slabbed Cards

[pdi88]

I recently purchased two higher valued cards at Auction. One is SGC rated and the other PSA. This is the first time I've made a purchase of this magnitude and just recently reentered the collecting market after 30 years or so.

In a recent post, I heard the term "slabbed" and didn't know what it was. So, after googling it, I came across this article "http://www.sportscollectorsdigest.com/special-care-baseball-hof-says-no-to-slabbed-cards/".

Of course, now I'm wondering if I should do something with the two cards I have for better, long-term protection. I plan to pass these on after I'm gone (hopefully decades from now). Does anyone have an opinion on the long term storage prospects? Should I be doing something differently?

[swarmee]

Leave them in the slabs. People have cards graded from 30 years ago and they're not degrading. Only reason some have is if they were soaked improperly or treated with a solution that corrodes them over time, but that would happen if the cards were slabbed or in normal toploaders.
Nothing to worry about.

[pdi88]

Originally Posted by swarmee

Leave them in the slabs. People have cards graded from 30 years ago and they're not degrading. Only reason some have is if they were soaked improperly or treated with a solution that corrodes them over time, but that would happen if the cards were slabbed or in normal toploaders.
Nothing to worry about.

Thx Swarmee. That's helpful. BTW, based on the name and some of the things you're looking for, it seems you're tied to GaTech. My son is a Soph there. I just visited with him last night and flew out this morning!

[swarmee]

Yeah, I ran the Swarm cheering section during my time there from 1997-2002. I've been working on a collection of every baseball, football, basketball, golf, tennis, etc Yellow Jacket who's ever had a card.

[steve B]

As Swarmee said, the slabs are probably just fine.

As hobbyists, we look at storage as a "what's the best thing for my situation" ok, we don't all say it that way but that's what it is. Even just a penny sleeve and toploader will protect a card pretty well for decades, maybe longer, but in general we don't know for sure. I used to worry about slabs and whether acidic cardstock would degrade and the acid would remain in the slab accelerating the process. If that was a shorter term concern, we'd have seen it by now. And the slabs are probably close to archival as far as materials go.

But a professional archive like the HOF shouldn't be looking a few decades down the road, more like centuries. Archival Mylar will be stable for a long time, and the other stuff a real archive uses isn't far behind.
The slabs may be just fine, but they haven't had the testing to know for sure.
As someone with a cheap but fairly large collection, just the space to have everything in slabs is a challenge. I don't have the space.
I also don't have a climate control system, mylar sleeves and special acid free boxes I'd like to, but the cost of the supplies would be too much.

Don't put Mylar sleeves in toploaders, between the two, they're smooth enough that the air gets out from between them, and they're very hard to get apart.

[drcy]

Leave well enough alone. Unless there is a clear problem with a holder. Handling and switching holders, etc is going to be the most likely cause of damage.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by drcy

Leave well enough alone. Unless there is a clear problem with a holder. Handling and switching holders, etc is going to be the most likely cause of damage.

And especially if the holders aren't really old. I have seen a few really old holders around the hobby (Alan Hagar stuff) which could be reholdered but otherwise, I agree with all said. Leave well enough alone. And happy collecting.
.

[Rhotchkiss]

I think you should just give the cards to me and rid yourself of the issue altogether

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by swarmee

Yeah, I ran the Swarm cheering section during my time there from 1997-2002. I've been working on a collection of every baseball, football, basketball, golf, tennis, etc Yellow Jacket who's ever had a card.

How many are there?

[swarmee]

Yellow Jackets? A bunch, but probably less than I would have expected.
http://beesball.com/alltime.html
I wouldn't have even thought about it if I didn't find COMC. I've got the autographs from most of the Tech baseball players, and cards from almost everyone who has a minor league card as well. Basketball and football, I've probably got 1000+ cards of a hundred or so players. I'll have to catalog all of them someday and search out the ones I haven't stumbled onto yet. I know I'm missing a Chris Reis card; the only one I know about was from the 2009 Saints Super Bowl set, from when he grabbed the onsides kick after halftime.

[Peter_Spaeth]

As a Sox fan I knew Nomar and Varitek, I didn't realize Kevin Brown also.

[ls7plus]

Originally Posted by Leon

And especially if the holders aren't really old. I have seen a few really old holders around the hobby (Alan Hagar stuff) which could be reholdered but otherwise, I agree with all said. Leave well enough alone. And happy collecting.
.

Hi, Leon. I keep my '60 Leaf Snider in its Hager holder solely for its value(?) as an artifact of the hobby.

Highest regards,

Larry