Buy/Sell/Trade Forum

One thing I have noticed is that the  card savers grow brittle over time. Like they have been sitting out in the sun or something. I have never purchased them but get them all the time on cards that I buy.

As to tape on a top loader, I hate scotch tape or even worse when packing tape is used. All you need is a two inch strip of blue painters tape. It holds well but is easily removed with no residue.

Well, I just received a damaged card in the mail. A toploader was used between 2 pieces of paperboard (cereal box) then in an envelope. It came to me in the clear USPS "Sorry" bag. Luckily it was just curled about an inch from the end (the toploader held the bend) and should flatten out in time.  Sad part is people think this method is automatically better than using only penny sleeves,paperboard,a little strategically placed (No chance of touching the card) tape and an envelope.

A semi rigid may have fared better but uniform thickness like I use has never been an issue. I am mostly on the receiving end and more often than not I can see the roller marks on the envelope or slight tears because the envelope was not of uniform thickness. I do not use the "Non machinable" writing/red stamp on an envelope because I do not see how all the sorting equipment along the way catches a one in a million envelope (the one that says non-machinable on it), I have received them in the mail with roller marks from the sorting machines.

It depends on the post office.  The no machine envelopes cost .70. They sre supposed to be hsnd sorted.  Humsn error happens.  I bought a stamp that says no machine.

Top loaders in the automation machines = trouble (usually mangled top loaders and/or cards).

I have seen that a strategically placed card saver with some protection (and secured with painter's tape) can get 1 card or 2 very thin cards (think late 80s Donruss) safely to their destination in a PWE. Using a greeting card (even used) can get the job done.

I use card savers as dividers and for PWE shipping (only cards I can replace). They are also called "Card Ruiners" in this house due to what I have received in the mail. :(

I have always used toploaders for my cards and for shipping as well.  I've been shipping and receiving cards since 1994 and have never had a card damaged or messed up by machine when shipping 1 and 2 cards in toploaders, in long PWE.  I have really been surprised how many folks here use semi-rigid holders.  The only damaged single cards I have received were in "card savers".  At least 3 were not in a soft sleeves and the cards were scratched(soft sleeves should be used) and bent.  Card Savers were not made to go through the postal machines, most end up with slight bending.  Since I have been here, I have also had several trades come in with neither card saver or toploader.  They arrived in soft sleeves only, between two very thin pieces of cardboard.  The cards, 5 or 6, were not secured between the cardboard and 2 cards were damaged.  I usually ship 5 or 6 cards, 2 in the toploaders, the others in soft sleeve between the 2 in toploaders, secured with painters tape on all 4 sides. So receiving 5 or 6 with minimal protection and sliding within the envelope surprised me.  Card savers get tossed in the garbage, where they belong.  

For PWE shipping (rare for me, but for single or occaionally two), I use a toploader in a long envelope, secured to the center of the envelope with tape with no issues.  The only time I ship in card savers is secured in thick cardboard in a bubble envelope, but most of the time those shipments are toploaders as well.

For home storage, card savers in a two-row graded card box, all day, every day.  This saves a ton of weight, you can fit many more cards, and if you've ever accidentally dumped a box of cards in toploaders and see how many cards slide out and get damaged, they're much safer in card savers.

I should mention card saver IIs (CS2s) are useless for standard size cards (though they work fine for tobacco or minis), card saver Is (CS1s) provide plenty of room to safely insert and remove cards.  Soft sleeves are only needed for foil, high gloss, or auto'd cards.

A "Non-machinable" item must by physically brought into the post ofice. It is then weighed, marked accordingly and put in a seperate bin. The person who sent the card probably just wrote "non-machinable" on the envelope. It just gets thrown in with the regular mail when that is done.

Toploaders for my regular hits cards (aka not base or inserts) one touch for my PC. Never semi-rigids. There was a Gretzky roohie hit at Vintage Breaks last week and they put it into a semi rigid and I almost cried, a card that clean and that valuable into a semi rigid is just plain wrong

I use toploaders for most of my “big cards” in my collection. Typically, any cards greater than $2-3 go in toploaders, cards between $.50-$2 go in penny sleeves, the exception being my sets. All of my sets go in their own box with the commons raw, stars in penny sleeves, and top rookies or the like in toploaders on top. 

The one exception to this is my 1953 Topps set I’m putting together. Trust me, I did A LOT of research on this. What I finally decided on was storing them in 4 pocket pages in a binder, in a penny sleeve and card saver 1s. The cards had a slight tendency to slide out of the pockets, so I tape all pockets down so the cards stay put. For me, this works very well. And, even if the card savers have brittleness issues in the future, it really shouldn’t be a big deal as the cards are in penny sleeves. Just need to cut them out. I don’t get all the hate for the card savers. Yes, I prefer toploaders, but the semi rigids hold their own IF USED PROPERLY. 

I have also had cards damaged in trades from card savers, but it’s not because of the card saver itself, it’s because it was used improperly. I’ve had people send me 5 cards unprotected other than just stuffed in a card saver 2. I don’t know what that dummy thought would happen, but ever card had corner damage. My favorite was when someone sent me a relic card in a card saver 2. That will never go well. But, if cards are put into a penny sleeve, and NO MORE than two cards are and no overly thick cards are put in, they will work fine.