Protecting and Storing Sealed Packs of Trading Cards

Unopened packs of trading cards have been an important part of the collectible card market, both for sport and non-sport cards, with sought after sets increasing in value. Some collectors like to keep a variety of unopened packs. No matter the reasons for keeping unopened packs, keeping them protected and safely stored is important.

Many traditional sports cards were wrapped in wax paper, hence the term “wax packs”. Today card packs are normally sealed in cellophane, plastic, or foil. Packs of card games such as Magic: The Gathering, and Pokémon are normally called “booster packs”. There are several options to keep card packs in mint condition. Below are some of the affordable storage options offered by BCW Supplies.

Packs of cards in thick toploaders
Sealed Card Packs in Thick Toploaders

While the pack itself offers protection to the cards, it is still possible to damage the wrap or get it dirty. A basic solution is to put a pack in a toploader. Most modern packs have sealed flaps at the top and bottom, and those flaps will need to be carefully tucked inside the toploader. For thin packs, such as the Pokémon booster pack pictured above, a 197 Point Thick Toploader is the appropriate size (5mm thick). For thicker packs, such as the 2021 Topps Baseball shown above, use a 240 Point Thick Toploader (7mm thick). 360 Point Thick Toploaders are also available (9mm thick). To store toploaders, BCW offers several boxes and bins.

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