Introduction to LaserWeld Insert Sleeves for Mini Cards

Standard trading cards are 2 1/2” x 3 1/2”, but cards of smaller sizes exist. In fact, the original trading cards were smaller than this at about 1 5/8″ x 2 3/4″. A major issue facing anyone collecting these “mini” cards is the simple fact that most supplies are designed for cards significantly larger. Everything from boxes, sleeves, binder pages, and card holders are too large for safe use. However, BCW produces LaserWeld Card Insert Sleeves for these smaller cards. A U-shaped pattern is laser-welded into the center of thick polypropylene sleeves, which creates a pocket to center the mini card in a 2½” x 3½” form. The card is placed in the pocket, and then the sleeve can be placed in any standard Magnetic Card Holder, LaserWeld 9-Pocket Page, or other storage solution.

BCW offers LaserWeld Insert Sleeves in two sizes for mini cards:

Tobacco Card LaserWeld Insert Sleeves
Exterior Sleeve Dimensions: 2 7/16″ X 3 1/2″
Interior Pocket Dimensions: 1 9/16″ x 3 1/8″

Tobacco company Allen & Ginter started placing cards in their packs of cigarettes in 1875 and these cards often depicted baseball players of the era. In 1890, Allen & Ginter merged with some other tobacco companies, including Goodwin & Company, to form the American Tobacco Company. The American Tobacco Company produced the iconic baseball card set known as T206 which includes the famous Honus Wagner card. Used as advertising materials in cigarette packs, the T206 tobacco cards were 1 7/16″ by 2 5/8″, but the size of modern tobacco cards varies slightly.

If you want to store your tobacco cards in a standard-sized card holder, Tobacco Card Insert Sleeves are the solution. These sleeves will allow you to place the tobacco card in regular magnetic card holders or LaserWeld 9-Pocket Pages.

1948 Bowman Card LaserWeld Insert Sleeves
Exterior Sleeve Dimensions: 2 7/16″ X 3 1/2″
Interior Pocket Dimensions: 2 1/16″ x 2 1/2″

In 1948, Bowman released their first set of 48 baseball cards packaged with gum. Like the T206 cards before, these are smaller than modern trading cards, 2 1/16″ by 2 1/2″ in this case. While this size hasn’t been as popular as tobacco minis, there are several releases that are close enough to this size to make use of the 48 Bowman Insert Sleeves for use with standard card accessories.