General Forum

I think I have asked this before, but I wanted to bring it up again with a little more information.  I am planning to work on a project that will move some of my collection to binders so I can view them easier.  I still need to sort them out which will take probably a few months, but just wanting to know for when I am ready.  

My question is can anyone give me a real comparison between BCW Pro pages and Ultra Pro Platinum?  I know the general idea is that the Ultra Platunim are the best.  But how do the BCW pro pages really compare?  I don't necessarily need them to be top of the line, but I also don't want them to feel junky (crinkly) or easily rip.  I have seen vidoes online and they appear to be just as clear and non crinkly as the Platinum pages.  

I have tried Ultra Pro Silver Series before that you get at Target, and those were awful.  Believe it or not, I used to have some pages that Hobby Lobby sold and those weren't too bad.  They were actually better than the Silver pages by far.

My main gripe with Ultra Pro, is that I can't seem to buy their products directly from them.  It seems I have to go through Amazon or somewhere else.  Amazon always confuses the heck out of me when I go to their website.

I love that BCW allows you to purchase directly from them, and that is why I am leaning towards BCW.  Anyone think I will be extremely disappointed if I go the BCW route?

Edit:Spelling

I really like BCW pages. I like the way they look and feel. Their one drawback is that Ultra Pro pages are about 1/16" deeper, so with BCW pages, it seems the pocket only covers to the top edge of the card and no more.

Not sure about others, but my local shop has carried the Ultra Pro pages and binders for several decades

Oh, and about the BCW site, I buy directly from them and I've never had a complaint.

I like the Ultra Pro pages better myself.  I sleeve the cards before putting them in pages, and the BCW pages seem a little more cramped.  They tend to squeeze the sleeves width-wise and make them wrinkle up between the card and the pocket.  With the Ultra Pro pages,  the sleeves lay flat between the card and the pocket for an improved viewing experience.  I buy the 65 pack at Target, for about $19.99 if I remember correctly.

The most important acceptance criteria for 9-pocket pages for me is that they have to have continuously welded seams.  I can't stand the pages with the stitch welded seams.

-Tom

Just an update on this.  I asked BCW to send me some sample pages and they were nice enough to actually send some to me.  After getting them, I can agree with what was posted above about their size.  The clarity and feel of the pages were great.  But the middle row of pockets would not cover the entire card.  The top of the cards in the middle row were all sticking out.  The top row and bottom rows fit but barely, and I was using standard size and thickness cards.  

I am a little disappointed because I of course use BCW for boxes and I really like their company.  But I’m glad I got to test them before buying a case of them for my project I am working on.  

I’m actually a little confused as to how a company that specializes in cards and has been around so long makes pages that don’t securely and completely fit cards. 

I recently bought Rembrandt pages, 250 pgs for $20 I was told they were the company that produces Ultra Pro. So I picked up a box and I'm very happy with them. 

I've always been an Ultra Pro fan myself. And yes, Shaw, Rembrandt was the original maker of the UP pages. Not sure what happened with the Rembrandt name/brand. Maybe U.P. was such a money maker that Rembrandt split U.P. off as a different company (subsidiary) and/or re-branded their own company, kinda like how Score became Pinnacle in the mid-90's.

It's decided for me for sure that I will be using Ultra Pro Platinum instead of BCW when I start my little project.  Question though, do the Ultra Pro Platinums still cover the entire card in the middle row?  I don't remember that being the case before but I am second guessing it now. 

I haven't worked with a page in a couple years and now I am starting to wonder if the Ultra Pros were like that too since the BCW pages had the top of the cards sticking out in the middle row.  

I believe Ultra Pro International started in Netherlands (home of the artist Rembrandt). They still have a warehouse there. Maybe they just dropped Rembrandt and changed to Ultra Pro.