I recieved a Mew card in the mail yesterday and, to my extreme annoyance, the top of the top loader had been taped together.
Now, I can see the logic in this, please don’t misunderstand. It makes logical sense to stop the card from falling out.
However, when the card sticks to the tape? Yeah.
I messaged the seller about this and reccomended instead to wrap the toploader in a sheet of paper or envelope. This was the response:
The tape is actually light tape. If you take the top-loader and pound the bottom edge of the top-loader onto a hard surface, like a table. The card will fall to the bottom. The soft sleeve inside will protect it when it falls to the bottom. If you still have problems, let us know. If you are afraid of damaging it, you can send it back and we can take care of it and re-send.
While I appreciate the guesture, my point was entirely missed (which was, of course, that they shouldn’t tape toploaders closed due to the above reason)
I am at a loss of how to respond to this message, so I likely wont and just archive the sale. The card, at least, I was able to save and not damage.
I have zero problems with taped toploaders on their own.
My issue is taped toploaders with open side-up sleeves inside of them. If they would just put in the sleeve upside-down, they could tape toploaders for days without upsetting me.
Or better yet: Use team bags.
That is what I switched to for my sales because it is a cheap solution to taking that risk.
I use to use tape as well and always placed the card in the sleeve up-side down so the tape never stuck to card.
I now wrap the toploaders in paper because I feel better about it.
But I have had cards stick to tape and it SUCKS. It makes me very angry and many people push it aside as my fault when it is theirs but…unfortunately I think people will continue to tape.
Love this thread. TAPE IS THE AK47 of the collectible world.
If you only knew how many rare comics have been damaged by taped bags and boards and how many cards have been damaged by tape no one would ever use it again on anything inside a package. Yes tape a box but don’t use tape as a protectant.
It also leaves a STICKY RESIDUE when removed from a top loader which makes it only scrap usable after.
Fun monkey has the right ideal…splurge a few pennies on a team bag and put the top loader inside there then seal it. Plus…card savers are pretty good cause no card can escape it, it’s just not as stiff.
What’s the difference between a “penny sleeve” and just a “sleeve”? I tried to Google it, but only come up with the definition of penny sleeves (which is what I think I’ve been using for all of my cards).
I think it is in reference to how cheap each sleeve costs. A penny per sleeve, or almost a penny per sleeve. Typically they come in packs of 100 and are around $1-3 per pack. Maybe a bit less if you purchase in bulk.
They are not premium sleeves by any mean but they get the job done.
Also, the difference in the actual type of sleeve I was talking about was Ultra Pro deck sleeves and penny sleeves. Deck sleeves have a tighter fit and keep the card from moving around much better. The penny sleeve fits around the deck sleeves. I face it the opposite direction of the original sleeve to keep the card from ever slipping out of the original sleeve and to keep dust or anything else that might potentially get in there from getting in. A lot of people do this just as one extra step of protection. It’s a smidge more peace of mind for a penny.
And I still agree skinst. My rule is NO tape inside package. Some will put bubble wrap around the item then tape it. That still breaks my rule. What is do is wrap the cardboard or bubble wrap protection in Saran type wrap as some of you already know.
In my early trading days I had a guy send all of his cards in taped toploaders. I complained about the sticky residue left on the card which only resulted in him accusing me to sending him horribly damaged cards (of course a lie to try to redirect the situation) and trying to file a claim against me. It’s amazing how much trouble a little tape can cause. I’ve taped toploaders in the past, but only when putting the sleeved card in upside down so that there’s no risk of hitting the tape.
Putting the card in an upside down sleeve doesn’t stop the sleeve getting stuck to the tape, is what I meant, my apologies.
It can still get stuck, and has for me in the past, and can cause damage when trying to unstick the card anyway, and in the struggle, can we say possible accidental bends?
I dunno maybe I’m too pedantic. But in this case… yeah ^^;
Yeah the sleeve can get stuck, but if you’re patient and careful, it’s not too hard to remove the tape. It’s usually just a tiny bit of tape on the sleeve anyway. I’ve never damaged a card from a stuck sleeve. I have, however, damaged a card that got stuck to tape on a toploader.
Jason P…you recently rec’d a package from me. What did you think about the type of protection used ie: the Syrian wrap? Would you prefer a taped up top loader or a top loader in a team bag?
