Collecting · 6 October 2026 · 1 min read
Sleeve, toploader, done: protecting your hits
The two-minute routine that keeps a card mint from the wrapper to the binder.
Every card that leaves the stream goes into a penny sleeve and a toploader the same night. It's not fancy, but it's the single biggest thing you can do to keep a card in the condition it came out of the pack.
Penny sleeve first
Slide the card in top-first, never by the corners. The sleeve stops surface scratches and keeps dust out.
Then the toploader
A rigid toploader stops bends. For thick relic and patch cards, go up a size, forcing a card in is how corners get dinged.
Thinking of grading?
If a card looks sharp under a light, keep it sleeved and handle it as little as possible until it goes off. Centring you can't change, but corners and surface you can protect.
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