Nice presentation sk.
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Thanks ^^!
best mew collection on the planet
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Ah yeah those Ultimate Guard ones come close, but something still feels missing. The main thing it has over the others is that it is zip up. It still suffers from the page scuffing issues that static binders with irreplacable pages have though. My ideal binder page would literally be a giant toploader with slots for 9 cards where youād be able to flip through them like you do posters at the store.
I have recently been experimenting with zip up BCW 3-ring binders with side-loading Ultra Pro pages for some of my miscellaneous cards. The obvious con of this is that the rings are scary of courseā¦ imagine if you could bind pages together with something like those clear book report covers insteadā¦
Someone make it happen!
Iām sure you understand, that every single plastic used in card preservation is susceptible to scuffing right?
Oh goodness, youāll make me blush ^///^!
I updated my collection if youād like to see more photos of how I store them, as well 
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I do, the issue is that in these static card portfolios, you canāt just switch out a page once itās been damaged which means that if one page gets messed up somehow, the whole binder sort of becomes garbage depending on how OCD you are. Iāve noticed with the Ultra Pro ones at least that the middle page of the binder also usually comes scratched up from the beginning about half the time probably due to the way itās manufactured, which doesnāt help either.
Like I said, I just *enjoy* my cards more in a binder than in PSA cases. Sure PSA cases optimize the value of your cards, but if Iām never going to sell them anyway, what does it really matter? As long as the cards can stay in a good enough condition that they look minty to me, thatās all that matters.
Itās not like Iām keeping any Pokemon Illustrators in my binders. My collection mainly consists of - all the Base Set through Gym Challenge 1st edition cards (except for the base set holos which I do keep in PSA casesā¦ in my binder I substitute regular Shadowless holos in their place). And like I said all of these cards are absolutely Mint. I also keep a complete series of the Vending Series cards (including Masaki, Quick Starter, and Vending Sheet 00) in Mint condition. I also keep the Japanese Carddass cards from 1996-1997, but these are only in Near Mint condition.
Anywayā¦ if I were to cherry pick the most valuable holos and put them into PSA cases, it would kind of ruin the experience of looking through the binder for me. Personally, I really just want to limit my PSA graded cards to my 1st edition base set holos.
Speaking of cards standing upright - my dragon hide binders only hold 360 cards a piece (double sided). But when I close them, the pages are super flat and even. Iām pretty sure my cards are not being bent at all, thatās one of the main points of this binder. Is it really going to do my cards harm if the binders are laying flat down? Regardless, these binders easily stand upright.
I considered this option, but even though I think itās a great option for a premium collector, if I want to put all my cards in toploader binders itās going to take up A LOT of shelf space, and I just donāt want to do that. I like how my Dragon Hide binders keep my entire collection compact and snug; it looks great on my shelf.
Iām with you, but again with the stipulation that I wouldnāt want the binder to be too bulky.
The other binder I really considered along with the Dragon Hide binders Iām using now was the BCW Z-Folio binders. The fact that they zip up was very appealing, and they look pretty nice. But ultimately I went with Dragon Hide because they look just beautiful, and the lack of a zipper makes the binder even more compact. I find that the binders close up so tightly anyway that Iām not too worried about dust getting in there; especially if I double sleeve my cards.
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Oh, and speaking of double sleeving -
Can anyone tell me if KMC perfect fit sleeves will fit well inside all of the Ultra Pro outer sleeves I already own?
Or would I be better off buying Ultra Pro perfect fit sleeves (I read that these bend yours cards though, at least temporarily).
I must have been thinking about wings when I wrote that!
@hyruleguardian ā Do you have a picture of the binder in question? I used to use Ultra Pro Premium binders but it looked like the cards would on the edge would be bent in the long-term.
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It will still fit, but for the smoothest experience using KMC Hyper Matte outer sleeves is the way to go. The only inner perfect fit sleeve Iād use is KMC, they have it down to a science at this point. Basically all of the other brands have consistency issues.
The dragon hide binders are very similar to the ultra pro premium binders when it comes to the pages, but the huge difference is the cover - the dragon hide binders have a rock solid cover - theyāre extremely sturdy. Along with a nice elastic band, the cover really closes the pages nice and tight and straight. By comparison, the ultra pro binders have a very flimsy cover, leaving your cards susceptible to being bent.
After looking into it, I realized that the KMC Hyper Matte sleeves youāre discussing - the clear ones - have a āfrostedā appearance on the back of the card. I would really rather have something that is 100% clear on the back, despite the fact that I am just going to be leaving the cards in the binder for the most part.
I think Iām going to buy a bunch of KMC Perfect Fit sleeves. So is there another outer sleeve better than the regular ultra pro sleeves I already have that have completely clear backs?
As long as the cards arenāt being bent you should be good! Keep an eye out for this in your filled binders.
KMC makes non-matte sleeves that are completely clear front and back as well. Iām sure other brands also exist but I donāt use them personally so I canāt attest to their quality.
Also upon further research, I stumbled upon this interesting product:
Itās probably not top-loader level thick but certainly presents another new viable option; you may not even need to double sleeve with these.
EDIT: Also check out Tolarian Community College on YouTube for the best sleeve reviews. They are a MTG channel but everything applies to Pokemon as well.
Oooo Iāve got one of those sleeves! Theyāre great! I order them from here usually: www.ebay.com.au/itm/162154823815
Oh nice, someone actually has them! So when they advertise these as āhard sleevesā, is it closer to a top loader or is it more of just a regular sleeve?
Itās like a really stiff, thick plastic. Not so much as stiff as a toploader but somewhere in between it and a regular sleeve. Theyāre super good if you donāt have a toploader binder (or donāt want one)
It makes it way harder to bend a card accidentally too.
I also have some of these, I would recommend putting them in a toploader over the hard sleeves but if you are storing anything in deck boxes they are perfect.