I’ve amassed a sizeable amount of sealed product, which I am lucky enough to store them at my parent’s attic. Since I live in a city far away and have to travel a lot for work, so this is the best way to store it.
Now, my parents had a recent moth outbreak in their attic. Luckily, nothing happened to the collection, but it got me thinking about how to better protect my collection.
Everything is already tucked away in cardboard boxes. But I was thinking about, putting them in extra plastic bags. But could this speed up any mold or moisture? Do you have any other ideas or advice?
How do you store your collection and keep it save?
Looking forward to hearing your stories and advice
Hi!
I dont have much tcg sealed product, but i do have some more sealed video games and they must be treated carefully if you want to maintain them in good condition.
For example I got a lot of PS2 sealed games, i got them with a plastic sleeve to prevent them to get scratched and damaged, and then i have them placed inside pelican style cases.
They are well protected there, kept away from dust, humidity/water or anything that can damage them.
I have a combination of storage options. For most of my vintage cards, I store them in binders to build complete sets out of. I double sleeve the holos, and use regular penny sleeves for the non-holos. I find the double sleeving prevents the holos from warping or changing shape from the humidity changes.
If I don’t have a holo in a binder, I always store it in a sleeve and toploader to keep them nice & straight and well protected. Any valuable non-holo I store in a penny sleeve, just like my binders. Some non-holos I will even store in toploaders as well if they are expensive enough. I do not use magnetic or screw-down cases as I find them finicky and ready to damage a card at any time… I just don’t trust them compared to traditional toploader. Everyone has a preference of course. For storing these cards I just use standard BCW type cardboard boxes or I’ll use deck boxes.
For stoaring my slabs and high-end cards in toploaders, I use a box like this:
This way I keep the more high-end stuff in one place and the low/medium in other boxes so things stay more organized.
For sealed boxes, I just use Ikea storage boxes. I know it’s lazy and boring, but it’s the easiest and cheapest for me. If I wanted to display them, I’d buy those acrylic display boxes people sell… but I just don’t have the extra space to display anything right now. Again, personal preference on all these things.
Last but not least, I keep all of my stuff out of sunlight or other harsh environments. Attics I find are generally very warm and the basement can be too moist depending on the foundation. So I like keeping things on the main floor/rooms if I can in a balanced environment to avoid any damage.
If you are talking about a sizable collection of sealed product (e.g., dozens or hundreds of booster boxes, tins, etc.), you should look into renting a climate controlled storage unit.
Humidity, stability and circulation, that’s the trinity to master. Oh, and floating debris, I’ve had particles migrate into cardsavers and latch themselves onto holo surfaces, happened to a mint 4th print Charizard actually, sheer luck I got it off without hurting the card. I haven’t vacuumed down there in ages, I’m ashamed really.
Overall my basement is a lovely place though. Things remain remarkably balanced there whether there is +30 celsius and wet or -30 and dry outside.
I guess I should be more vigilant about it than I am, keeping hi-tech humidifiers/dehumidifiers, measurement tools and fiddle more with the heating cables and such, but so far I haven’t had any climate-related issues. I keep the hinges off the tubs, and no bugs survive in my basement for long as the entire property is infested with spiders.
I am currently using my attic, but once I get more I will start using a climate controlled storage unit. They seem to be the safest and most consistent (environment wise) as you can get.
@genchiro This was also my first thought. Depending on typical weather conditions, size of the collection, etc, you may want to find a climate controlled location such as a storage facility. IDK exactly, I’m not at that point, and have plenty of space in my current residence. @Dyl nailed it!(thought it was funny he made it a request.)
Luckily it’s only the long-legged males that wander indoors, all the big nasty females have the grace to build their nests on the outside of the house.
I have used heavy duty customizable utilities cases, to store the rarer sealed stuff and slabs, flame resistant, shock absorbing, etc, BUT for cheaper cards, IDWant to spend as much, so this is a nice balance, and already has the dividers formed.
I keep my sealed things in my basement, it’s cool and dry. I keep my graded cards in the same cardboard box and padding that psa returns them in and I keep those in various cabinets in my home office. Gotta keep the singles and graded cards handy in case I feel the urge to admire them.
Humidity is the enemy man… Attics and basements tend to be very risky because they can be very humid. Sealed product should best be kept in plastic containers and stored with decadent packs. More valuable vintage product should have its own case as well ideally with storage in a dry place. Safes can be risky too because they trap humidity. My theme decks and boxes have an acrylic case, stored in a cardboard box, inside a plastic storage bin with decadent packs in an air conditioned room with humidity gauge.
