I want to get a binder for my collection of Magic cards, instead of just haphazardly storing them in my pre-release box. Any brands you guys prefer? Personally I'm looking for a durable binder, one that I can use almost indefinitely, and some 3x3 double sided pages that can hold duplicate unsleeved cards.
Any suggestions?
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I'm new to Magic and have a lot of stupid questions. Thanks to everyone in advance who help answer these stupid questions.
I would recommend you go check out the Professor's videos over at Tolarian Community College, as he has done a whole set of them comparing different binders, folders and pages. Here is the link to the playlist. It should be well worth your time to check out his videos, as he looks at how many cards each can hold, their quality and durability. All the things you should want to know before making a purchase. Plus the Prof is just a good laugh and a good voice on a lot of magic related things, so if you haven't checked him out before you really should.
Personally, I have a couple of different Ultra Pro Pro-Binders. One 3x3 for my regular trades, and another 2x2 binder for my key cards. You can't really go wrong with one from them if you ask me.
That is just my opinion, so make of it what you will.
Cheap non branding 1" -3" o rings. those kinds with pages sewn in and bands are nice, and great for trade binders. but im cheap.
side load ultra pro pages. i dont like the coming out the top. never had much of a problem with them sliding out the sides.
i have a decktutor 4xl and pages for my zombie colelction. its big and nice and great for browsing, not for anything else. good to keep your playsets you hardly use but it isnt something you'd take with you to the store.
i hate d-rings. they make flipping pages tedious, they make closing the binder tedious. they leave indents in the cover.
Cheap non branding 1" -3" o rings. those kinds with pages sewn in and bands are nice, and great for trade binders. but im cheap.
side load ultra pro pages. i dont like the coming out the top. never had much of a problem with them sliding out the sides.
i have a decktutor 4xl and pages for my zombie colelction. its big and nice and great for browing, not for anything else. good to keep your playsets you hardly use but it isnt something you'd take with you to the store.
i hate d-rings. they make flipping pages tedious, they make closing the binder tedious. they leave indents in the cover.
I strongly advise against most binders. Many have covers made with vinyl. Not healthy for unsleeved cards even if they're in pages.
That said, I don't like O-rings. If just one page is wonky, and the browser is careless (often), it'll leave a nice dent in your cards. Slant D rings are supposed to be the best compromise but cards will get jacked as well. I prefer the D rings if I had to choose something from Staples.
Hands down, best ones I've used are U rings but good luck finding any.
As for pages. Side load. I used top loaders for years and I realized not too long ago I finally realized I was always fighting dust getting into the pockets. I spent a lot of time and effort (as you should) keeping them clean but dust always finds a way in.
I removed nearly all but four binders worth back into boxes. Those 4 will get transferred as time permits. Worst decision I ever made transferring anything into binders. The only binder I'll keep now is BST stuff.
I have seen the Professor's videos! They were the inspiration for this thread! He did make a lot of videos though, and I have specific needs, so I'd figured that I would ask on the forums instead of binge watching all of them. You guys have good suggestions, but I heard that D-rings are better because O-rings can bend your pages while the binder is closed, thus bending the cards.
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I'm new to Magic and have a lot of stupid questions. Thanks to everyone in advance who help answer these stupid questions.
It takes all of 3 seconds to make sure a O-ring doesn't bend a page. And even then, pages are cheap. Cards are not. Use a few as spacing.
You've got a BST binder? You're gonna sit there and flip the pages for the other guy/gal? No, you don't, not generally anyways. I've seen some very inexperienced and experienced (jerks) get really rough with binders that don't belong to them.
I've already stated my needs above. Basically I need a nice place to store my small collection of cards. I have my pre-release box, but I'd like to just flip through my cards whenever I want without digging through a box, and then trying to carefully put them back without just dropping them in (so I don't scuff them).
I would prefer binders to portfolios, unless a specific portfolio holds a lot of cards. Again, unsleeved cards, and I'd like to store duplicates in the same slot. I'd also say that I want acid-free pages, but I think that's a given.
Suggestions?
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I'm new to Magic and have a lot of stupid questions. Thanks to everyone in advance who help answer these stupid questions.
More expensive cards, you should always put in sleeves in your binder.
Perfect-Size inner sleeves and a normal outer one.
Keeps the cards tighter in the binder, so even if you wiggle the folder around, they wont fall out (and even if they would, they are reasonable protected).
Also, if someone spills water on the folder, the cards are protected (especially if the sleeve is put in the slots open side on the bottom , the cards are as good as vacuum sealed in the folder and very well protected.
----
Reasonable general tip:
And the biggest deal, folders with expensive content are best kept save , not every random person should see that folder, only pull it out if you want to trade and put it back the moment its no longer needed.
----
Side-Loader Folders are pretty terrible, as cards will fairly often and easily slip out.
So these are almost unusable.
Top-Loader Folders have the biggest issue on the top-most row. Its a good idea to make sure all your cards are sleeved (open side on the bottom) to negate that problem somewhat.
You can also put a small strip of colored tape on the top to cover the openings.
----
The very large ring folders should really only be used for bulk crap cards.
I would never put expensive cards in these folders (just a matter of time till a page will bend and a lot of others will break cards).
Any suggestions?
Personally, I have a couple of different Ultra Pro Pro-Binders. One 3x3 for my regular trades, and another 2x2 binder for my key cards. You can't really go wrong with one from them if you ask me.
That is just my opinion, so make of it what you will.
side load ultra pro pages. i dont like the coming out the top. never had much of a problem with them sliding out the sides.
i have a decktutor 4xl and pages for my zombie colelction. its big and nice and great for browsing, not for anything else. good to keep your playsets you hardly use but it isnt something you'd take with you to the store.
i hate d-rings. they make flipping pages tedious, they make closing the binder tedious. they leave indents in the cover.
Selling some cards I don't want.
Generally less than tcg mid.
I strongly advise against most binders. Many have covers made with vinyl. Not healthy for unsleeved cards even if they're in pages.
That said, I don't like O-rings. If just one page is wonky, and the browser is careless (often), it'll leave a nice dent in your cards. Slant D rings are supposed to be the best compromise but cards will get jacked as well. I prefer the D rings if I had to choose something from Staples.
Hands down, best ones I've used are U rings but good luck finding any.
As for pages. Side load. I used top loaders for years and I realized not too long ago I finally realized I was always fighting dust getting into the pockets. I spent a lot of time and effort (as you should) keeping them clean but dust always finds a way in.
I removed nearly all but four binders worth back into boxes. Those 4 will get transferred as time permits. Worst decision I ever made transferring anything into binders. The only binder I'll keep now is BST stuff.
What are your needs?
Selling some cards I don't want.
Generally less than tcg mid.
You've got a BST binder? You're gonna sit there and flip the pages for the other guy/gal? No, you don't, not generally anyways. I've seen some very inexperienced and experienced (jerks) get really rough with binders that don't belong to them.
I would prefer binders to portfolios, unless a specific portfolio holds a lot of cards. Again, unsleeved cards, and I'd like to store duplicates in the same slot. I'd also say that I want acid-free pages, but I think that's a given.
Suggestions?
Perfect-Size inner sleeves and a normal outer one.
Keeps the cards tighter in the binder, so even if you wiggle the folder around, they wont fall out (and even if they would, they are reasonable protected).
Also, if someone spills water on the folder, the cards are protected (especially if the sleeve is put in the slots open side on the bottom , the cards are as good as vacuum sealed in the folder and very well protected.
----
Reasonable general tip:
And the biggest deal, folders with expensive content are best kept save , not every random person should see that folder, only pull it out if you want to trade and put it back the moment its no longer needed.
----
Side-Loader Folders are pretty terrible, as cards will fairly often and easily slip out.
So these are almost unusable.
Top-Loader Folders have the biggest issue on the top-most row. Its a good idea to make sure all your cards are sleeved (open side on the bottom) to negate that problem somewhat.
You can also put a small strip of colored tape on the top to cover the openings.
----
The very large ring folders should really only be used for bulk crap cards.
I would never put expensive cards in these folders (just a matter of time till a page will bend and a lot of others will break cards).
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