Pokémon TCG Storage Tips: How to Keep Your Cards Safe
There are literally tens of thousands of different cards in the English version of Pokémon TCG. That makes “catching them all” a difficult task to say the least!
Even still, many players and collectors end up with hundreds of cards. New collectors and veteran collectors a like often reach a point where we are trying to store cards in any container possible! Unfortunately, this often results in a lot of wear and tear on our precious cards, and improper storage can ruin some of our most valued cards.
Don’t let this happen to your cards, keep them safe with the tips below.
Here are a few Pokémon card storage tips to help keep your treasured collection safe:
1. Decide on a Collection Goal
While this tip doesn’t specifically talk about storage, it’s an important point to consider as it’ll help you cut down on unnecessary cards in your collection.
Are you a collector, a player or both? The answer will impact what you do with your collection of cards. If you’re strictly a TCG player you may wish to limit your collection to only a couple of decks. This would enable you to refine your decks and build the strongest Pokémon TCG deck possible. When you get cards that you won’t be using, simply trade or sell them to acquire cards that you will be using.
As a collector, things can get more complicated. There are so many great cards to collect that your collection can quickly become overwhelming. Therefore, it’s critical to set a collection goal. For example, you may want to collect an entire set of cards or all of Pokémon’s cards (like all Charizard cards). These goals will help dictate future purchases and help you know which cards to part with.
After deciding your collection goal, go through the collection and cut out the cards that don’t help you attain your goal.
2. Use Checklists/Apps
This is a crucial part of card storage that can’t be ignored. At a certain point our collection will separate into multiple bins, boxes, tins, zip block bags, and nooks and crannies. When your collection reaches this point, finding a single card can become a real challenge. The remedy is to print out either an official checklist or a fan-made checklist for each set of cards and include it at the front of each part of your collection.
You can also simply write down the names and quantity of cards as well and put that in front of your deck/collections. Lastly, there are several apps both on Android/iOS and online which can assist you in keeping track of your collection
3. Know When to Use Sleeves and Which Sleeves to Use
Card sleeves are your first line of defense when it comes to keeping your Pokémon Cards safe. When it comes to card sleeves there are a few options:
- Penny sleeves, or their DIY counterpart
- Premium Inner Sleeves
- Premium Outer Sleeves
- Double Sleeving (Combining both premium inner sleeves and outer sleeves)
Any card in your collection should have a penny sleeve. Even if you’re planning to sell or trade it, throw a penny sleeve on it. It’s a good practice and offers a small amount of protection for each card. For your nicer cards consider a single premium outer or inner sleeve. This will offer a moderate amount of protection to your cards. However, for your nicest cards, you absolutely must double sleeve. This offers the best protection for your card defending it against:
- Debris,
- Bending,
- Edge wear,
- Small spills
- And more.
4. Proper Storage Containers
You’ve hear us mentioning storing cards in Ziploc bags as well as nooks and crannies, but that’s terrible for the cards themselves! When it comes to a container to store your cards, you don’t even want to use the Pokémon Tins. Cards should always be stored in a way that they can’t shuffle around. If they can move, they’re corners will become damaged, they may bend, and they can get creases.
The best storage container is big enough to hold your cards when double sleeved with little to no movement. This also means that the cardboard deck boxes that come with many cards aren’t a great choice either. Many players may choose to go with a custom deck “tower” which holds two decks, damage counters, status tokens, and more. These offer the best protection and portability for a player’s decks.
Collectors however don’t need to worry about portability. For them it could be as simple as cardboard storage boxes such as the one below:
Or something more premium like a plastic card storage box. They can also benefit from using card albums to store their most prized collections as this allows their cards to be easily displayed as well as safely stored. Pokémon Card Portfolios and binders are great choices as they also stay in theme.
5. Get the Latest TCG Storage Accessories at the Best Prices
Alright, we couldn’t write about storing your Pokémon cards without inserting a shameless plug for ourselves! We offer some of the latest and greatest TCG storage accessories at great prices. If you’re in need of an extra deck box, card sleeves or portfolio, check out our accessories page.