Certainly, a major concern of collectors is properly storing and/or displaying their cards. As we all know, cards are flimsy, can bend easily and improper storage can lead to bent corners or misshapen pieces of cardboard.
Personally, I store my cards two different ways. The complete sets get the box treatment. I’ve used specific card storage boxes, however I’ve been working at a deli the last few months for extra cash and have begun taking the boxes that blocks of American cheese are shipped in and using them for storing cards. You take a lot of risks with boxes. If they shift a certain way it may cause damage to the corners and you never really get to see or enjoy the cards. If there are cards in a set that I know have a higher value than most, I’ll put them in a top loader and special inserts get the plastic sleeve treatments.
For sets in progress and for those loose cards that I’ve collected for one reason or another, I place them in plastic sleeves in a binder. I keep a lot of the cards that I want to protect in a binder and so that I also have a chance to look at and enjoy these cards. I keep many of the Penn State football rookies I’ve collected through the years, as well as other cards that I feel deserve other than the box treatment, like the Sunoco set (please hold laughter) from a few years back.
Cards area a difficult collectible. They aren’t easily displayed and are a collectible that can end up inundating your house. And of course, they’re always those people who say something like, “you paid how much for a piece of cardboard?” I suppose I’ll have the last laugh after they see my collection of early Jeter.
