While postcard collecting is fun and fulfilling, storage can sometimes be a question mark, This article looks to document postcard storage options, as well as dimensions of common postcard styles.
Card Savers:
There’s really only one option here, the Card Saver IV. These measure 4.5" x 7.13" (11.43cm x 18.10 cm). They hold many postcards you’ll come across, but aren’t quite wide enough for some of the big boys. I don’t personally use these due to their size limitations.
Toploaders:
There are a lot of options here. The following show up when you google “postcard toploaders”:
BCW “Postcard toploaders”, 5.88" x 3.75" (14.92 cm x 9.53 cm)
BCW, Ultra Pro 4" x 6" toploaders (10.16 cm x 15.24 cm)
Ultra Pro 3.5" x 5.13" toploaders (8.89 cm x 13.02 cm)
But what I would actually recommend is a 5" x 7" (12.7 cm x 17.78 cm) photo toploader. There’ll be some wiggle room, but they’ll be able to hold pretty much any postcard you run across, even the XY the Movie postcards (more on those later).
Sleeves:
There are two main types of postcard sleeves. One, which I would not recommend are called “Postcard sleeves”. Go figure. These are 3.69" x 5.75" (9.37 cm x 14.61 cm). I find that these aren’t big enough for even more common postcards. I would recommend what are called “Continental postcard sleeves”. These measure 4.38" x 6.25" (8.57 cm x 15.88 cm). These should be able to handle most of what you need.
Binders:
I made a decision to go with a binder that only displays postcards vertically, but you can also find binders that display postcards horizontally, or a mix of both. What I use, and I admit it’s not ideal, is a 4" x 6" (10.16 cm x 15.24 cm) photo album. I chose the binder I did because it was one of the few that displayed vertically, and fit a good number of Japanese releases. It doesn’t fit some fan favorites like Fukuyama illustrated postcards, but does fit PCJ releases. Would be great if other postcard collectors would like to share their binder recommendations here!
Common Postcard Sizes:
Fukuyama Postcards:
5.75" x 4.13" (14.61 cm x 10.48 cm)
Pokemon Center New York:
4.31" x 6" (10.95 cm x 15.24 cm)
XY the Movie:
4.75" x 6.75" (12.07 cm x 17.15 cm)
Munch, Pokemon Center Japan New Years Postcards:
3.94" x 5.81" (10.01 cm x 14.76 cm)
If anyone has any binder recommendations or other postcard dimensions they’d like to share, please share! I plan to add some additional postcard sizes in the future, and ideally reformat into a table.
