How to preserve your trading cards

Does just picking up that old Mickey Mantle baseball card take you right back to your childhood? Whatever cards you're collecting, whatever your reasons, and whichever your favourites are — here are tips on how to make sure you preserve the memories.

Baseball cards have long been popular among collectors. In recent years, however, they have been joined by hundreds of different types of sports and nonsports trading cards. A number of methods and materials for protecting these cards have been developed, among them are sleeves and cases. Here are the three most popular types.

Soft sleeve. The most common and least expensive form of card protection is the soft sleeve, which is a thin plastic pouch that envelops the card and protects it from scratches and overhandling.

Top-loader. The next step up from the soft sleeve is the top-loader, which is a semirigid plastic cover that provides some added protection against bending and creases. Many collectors prefer to place cards in soft sleeves, which are then housed inside top-loaders.

Screw-down or snap cases. The Rolls-Royce of card holders is the screw-down or snap case, a hard-plastic casing that protects cards from most types of damage but is still clear and suitable for display. These are two-piece cases held together by small screws. They are considerably more expensive than either sleeves or top-loaders and are usually reserved for only the most valuable cards.

Storage systems for trading cards have evolved from the shoe boxes of yesteryear — although they remain popular among fledgling card collectors — to various kinds of specialized binders and cartons. Today's trading-card collectors can choose from a range of options to house their collections:

Boxes. There are different-sized boxes, each type specifically designed to hold top-loaders or unprotected and sleeve-enclosed cards.

Binders. Cards can also be placed in special protector sheets, which usually hold nine cards per page, that are designed to fit inside three-ring binders. Storing cards in binders is a more expensive option than boxes and arguably one that offers less overall protection. Still, binders make the cards more accessible and can be a good option for displaying favourite cards or parts of a collection.