How to Protect and Organize Tall Boy and Widevision Cards

As the name suggests, Tall Boy sports cards are taller than traditional sports cards. Tall Boys are about 4 11/16 inches tall, compared to the standard 3 1/2 inches height. Tall Boys are the same width as common cards, 2 1/2 inches.

The Tall Boy format has been printed several times by Topps. Here are a few notable Topps releases (links to Cardboard Connection details and checklists):

1964-65 Topps Hockey Cards
1965 Topps Football
1969-70 Topps NBA Topps Basketball
1970-71 Topps NBA Topps Basketball
2012 Topps NFL Football Tallboys Autos (1965 design)

Upper Deck has also released Tall Boy hockey cards under their Parkhurst brand with a classic design, 1994-95 Parkhurst Hockey (1964-65 theme). The TCDB Checklist contains more information.

Topps has also released Star Wars Widevision cards. These are the same size as the Tall Boy cards, but the orientation is turned 90 degrees. This gives Widevision cards a format similar to a movie screen, and most of these cards depict classic Star Wars movie frames.

To protect, organize, and ship a Tall Boy or Widevision card collection, BCW offers several options.

Tall Card Sleeves
1-TSLV
BCW Tall Card Sleeves are made from acid-free, 2mil thick polypropylene, and sold in packs of 100 sleeves. These are your first defense against dust, oils from your hands, and damaging the card edges.

Tall Card Toploaders
1-TLCH-TALL
Tall Card Toploaders protect loose or sleeved Tall Boys or Widevision cards.

Semi-Rigid Holders for Tall Cards
1-SR3
Semi-rigid card holders are commonly used when submitting cards to grading companies, as that’s the preferred holder from the grading companies.

250 ct. Slider Box
1-SB250
This is a 2-piece design, with a lid that slides over the base. Both pieces are crystal clear, acid free plastic. The “250” name is based on 250 cards fitting inside the box, however that name is for standard cards. To enclose the Tall Boy or Widevision cards, the cards will be turned 90 degrees from the normal cards. In that orientation, this slider box can hold about 190 cards.

BCW cardboard boxes are good for storing and shipping Tall Boy and Widevision cards, although Monster Pads or similar fillers like bubble wrap are helpful to prevent the cards from sliding.

300 ct. Card Box
1-BX-300
To store loose or sleeved Tall Boys or Widevisions, the 300 ct. Box is the appropriate size. The “300 ct.” size refers to 300 standard baseball cards fitting in the box in the long direction, so expect to fit less Tall Boys in the box, as the larger cards are flipped 90 degrees.

330 ct. Card Box
1-BX-330
BCW’s 330 ct. Box is the ideal size for BCW Tall Toploaders. Make sure to not get confused with the 300 ct. Box, as this similar size is not quite tall enough for the toploaders. We have witnessed some other brands of Tall Toploaders not fitting in the BCW 330 ct. Box, as some other brands of Tall Toploaders are larger than the BCW brand.

400 ct. Box
1-BX-400
To store Semi-Rigid #3s, the 400 ct. Box is the appropriate size. The card will need to lay flat in the box, not the traditional format standing on their edge. A Monster Pad is useful to fill the extra length of this box. In the photo above, and extra piece of cardboard was used to fill an 1/8 inch space on the side of the semi-rigids.

Super Vault Card Box
1-BX-SVAULT
To store a larger collection of Tall Boy cards, try the BCW Super Vault. Super Vaults have the super strong, full lid design. The Semi-Rigid #3s fit great in this box (the larger holders in the back of the box pictured above). The Tall Card Toploaders also fit in this box, although they are not as wide as the Semi-Rigid #3s so are not snug on the sides of the box (the smaller holders in the picture above).

6-Pocket Pro Pages
1-PRO6T-100, box of 100 pages
1-PRO6T-20, pack of 20 pages
If you prefer to store your Tall Boy or Widevision cards in 3-ring binder pages, BCW offers 6-Pocket Pages. These are made from acid-free polypropylene. The tall cards fit best in these pages when they are loose. Sleeved Tall Boys fit in the pockets, but the sleeves are tight.