Storing booster packs ?

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GlobalBoosterHunter
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Post by GlobalBoosterHunter » Sat Apr 07, 2012 6:25 am

mystical_tutor wrote: Maybe I could get a 4-hole punch and re-punch my present pages.

Gary
Tried that!

I sent off for some Ultra-Pro 9/pages. When the box turned up they were all the 3-ring version

Plastic is slippy so you can only do one at a time and also, (it's hard to explain but if the two pages are together it is easy to see) The bit of plastic on the edge where the rings go is smaller for 3-ring pages by about 2cm, four rings don't fit, they are right on the edge of the plastic. I am converting all my old pages to the 11 hole pages but it is relatively harder to get them.

Easier to get new binders than it is to swap cards into new pages, something always gets damaged!

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Post by GlobalBoosterHunter » Sat Apr 07, 2012 6:57 am

ritnecrowin wrote:WOW those binders of boosters look so cool; it makes me want to collect sealed packs! VERY COOL =D>
DO EEEET!

You don't have to go all-in and collect them from Alpha! I started because I felt the booster wrapper was part of the set (same as for my other collector cards). Empty wrappers are difficult to store and sealed boosters hold their shape better.

The only downside to booster collecting was storing them, usually a big shoe box or empty display box was used and you couldn't display your collection or enjoy looking at them.

Now you can get booster albums to match your card albums, much better!


(And of course, it means I have more people to trade with!)

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Post by GlobalBoosterHunter » Sat Apr 07, 2012 7:16 am

thulnanth wrote:
Hey Mark,

I got the album in and is PERFECT... thank you so very much for pointing me in that direction!!!
Glad they work for you, I generally don't like making recommendations as what suits me might not fit our needs, especially at $50! Still when you break it down, you get more than enough archival pages, an album, a compressor bar, a slipcase and postage from UK. And they are almost made to measure.

thulnanth wrote:The packs fit great, plenty of room top-to-bottom but just enough side-to-side...


When I was first exploring options I thought that I would be able to get two of those pages into a standard 4-ring binder. They were a little tall so I trimmed them down on a guillotine and repunched the holes. There was less dead space above the boosters but I ended up using the original holes anyway as I didn't want the pages floating mid air. They didn't look bad but probably not worth the effort.

Sounds like you are cutting it a bit fine, 59 boosters and 60 spaces...won't be long until you will be looking for album number 3.

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mystical_tutor
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Post by mystical_tutor » Sat Apr 07, 2012 3:19 pm

thulnanth wrote:Now I just have to get the last booster I need for my collection... lousy Beta ](*,) At least Len gave me an empty wrapper for a placeholder (lol).

Take it easy,
Jared
Actually Len gave you an Alpha wrapper.......

Did you ask me about a Beta booster? My memory drops things like that--the computer people call it memory leak.

Drop me a pm and lets see if we can work something out.

Gary

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thulnanth
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Post by thulnanth » Sat Apr 07, 2012 11:53 pm

Hey Gary,

Nope, never asked you about a Beta booster - your brain seal is intact :-P

I should've known Len wouldn't be opening Beta boosters, but rather Alpha. I have visions of the smoking jacket, the warm fire burning in the hearth, Len reclining in the overstuffed chair casually opening boosters while pipe smoke wafts through the air...

I'll gladly drop you a PM about a booster Gary, thanks. I have no idea what I could offer for one, however...

... at least without police finding my lifeless body after the wife finds out :-D

Take it easy,
Jared
Ray Thiel (1964-2007) - the man who showed me more wonderful games & gaming sessions than I ever dreamed possible... you ran out of hit points too young, my friend.

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Post by tap4black » Sun Apr 08, 2012 4:27 am

thulnanth wrote:Hey Gary,

Nope, never asked you about a Beta booster - your brain seal is intact :-P

I should've known Len wouldn't be opening Beta boosters, but rather Alpha. I have visions of the smoking jacket, the warm fire burning in the hearth, Len reclining in the overstuffed chair casually opening boosters while pipe smoke wafts through the air...

I'll gladly drop you a PM about a booster Gary, thanks. I have no idea what I could offer for one, however...

... at least without police finding my lifeless body after the wife finds out :-D

Take it easy,
Jared
Hey!

I have a FEW Beta cards in the stash, not very many, but at least a few!

As to the wrapper, yes, it was an Alphabooster that came from Gary but when empty, they are exactly the same in appearance as there are no corners to check to see which printing they came from.

PS Jared, when it happens, remember that I was the first to ask for your stuff! :-P
#2 All Time Finest PSA Alpha Set, GPA of 9.64, now retired and re-graded via Beckett. BGS GPA 9.40 after shipping off several pieces to JM!

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Post by GlobalBoosterHunter » Sun Apr 08, 2012 4:43 am

tap4black wrote: PS Jared, when it happens, remember that I was the first to ask for your stuff! :-P
Actually I just need some of his early boosters, does anyone have his wife's email so we can speed this along?

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thulnanth
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Post by thulnanth » Sun Apr 08, 2012 2:34 pm

Oh come on... it's Easter for crying out loud!!!

At least let me stuff myself on candy before you set the hounds of hell on me. :-P

FWIW, she'd probably take everyone down with me, and I don't think even an entire ocean could spare you the wraith that is the angry wife, Mark. (lol)

Thanks for a great laugh - hope you all have a blessed Easter!!

Take it easy,
Jared
Ray Thiel (1964-2007) - the man who showed me more wonderful games & gaming sessions than I ever dreamed possible... you ran out of hit points too young, my friend.

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goAMinD
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Info on your solution

Post by goAMinD » Thu Apr 24, 2014 7:53 am

You mention that you put your boosters into sleeves before you put them into the pocket-pages. What is the brand and size of these sleeves? Where did you find them? I'm definitely going for your storage setup. :)

I already found the Grande albums and the special SAFE pocket pages on ebay, but I need the sleeves too?

Kindly a fellow booster collector


GlobalBoosterHunter wrote:I know this is an old thread and you have already solved the problem but I thought it would save starting a new one on the same subject.

Up until recently all my boosters were stored in cardboard shoe boxes, which have the benefit of being stackable, offer good protection, and thanks to my wife, are in plentiful supply.

However, living in the sub tropics, the humidity and lack of circulating air in the cupboards has caused the boxes to become mildewed. Fortunately all the boosters were sealed in ziplock glad bags with all the silica bags which came with the shoe boxes.

I also got to the point that despite having a spreadsheet I had to keep going through the boxes, e.g. to find out if the boosters were traditional or simplified Chinese and it was a bit of a mess.

I decided to look at other options for storage and found a few solutions.

For the extras and the foreign boosters I have put them into Cigarette Card Albums

http://www.cigarettecards.co.uk/storage.htm

The 3 vertical pockets (No.3) are 175mm high by 74mm wide and fit quite snuggly, occasionally a little too tight on some of the boosters. I noticed the Fourth Edition wrappers are a lot looser than other editions and tend to wrinkle. I guess the pages will eventually stretch but I might just get some cardboard forms to do the stretching.

Image

Unfortunately you can’t get a full set on one page but the dust jacket is a bonus and there is a clip to hold the pages down so the rings won’t dig into the boosters if the album isn’t handled properly.

Each album can hold 30 15-card boosters.

Image

For the English language collection I have them housed in Lighthouse Grande (A4 sized) albums with dust jackets.

Image

I had a look at a few different pages to house them. The Ultra-pro 6 card pages are too tight to fit the boosters. The Cosmic 6 pockets are also too tight at 70mm wide.

I found some pages designed for holding medals which are the right size, made by safe albums http://www.safealbums.co.uk/Zen/index.p ... ts_id=2103

Not cheap at £0.90 but when you buy bulk, which you need to, the price drops to about £0.82 each

Between the pages I used the Lighthouse black interleaves, not necessary but they make the albums look a bit better.
http://www.lighthouse.us/epages/lightho ... /GRANDEZWL

Image

Each album will hold 36 15-card boosters. You can get an extra large version but I had already bought the smaller size and they don’t come in black.

Image

I also put the boosters in polypropylene bags sealed with tape, this gives them a bit more protection from the damp and from scuffs. Probably not necessary but it makes them easier to handle without damaging.

I also ordered some self adhesive flags, the idea being that I am going to have all the boosters with the same wrapper on the same page with the flags to help distinguish them.

Image


The only reason I am allowed MTG in the living room...

Image

So I am keen to know how others store, protect and display their boosters, I saw the impressive laser cut carry case, what else is available?
Last edited by goAMinD on Thu Apr 24, 2014 2:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Sealed Magic the Gathering collector currently looking for these boosters:
Unlimted Edition (Need 3)
Arabian Nights (Need 1)

GlobalBoosterHunter
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Post by GlobalBoosterHunter » Thu Apr 24, 2014 8:56 am

Sleeves would be CHaPuZaS' area of expertise, they won't fit in the 6 pocket pages, the 6 pocket pages are pretty tight. I have some blank cardboard "stretchers" I use to stretch some of them so I am not forcing the boosters into the pockets but once in, they are pretty tight.

The 4 pocket pages will fit the sleeves though.

I don't have the exact figures to hand but I think I need about 55 albums to fit the collection in and a new one for each expansion that comes out.

Does look good though!

Don't forget to take a picture of the collection :)

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goAMinD
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Post by goAMinD » Thu Apr 24, 2014 9:33 am

Ok, I just read it as you sleeved your boosters first and then slide them into the special SAFE 5472 6-pocket pages afterwards?
Last edited by goAMinD on Thu Apr 24, 2014 2:47 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Sealed Magic the Gathering collector currently looking for these boosters:
Unlimted Edition (Need 3)
Arabian Nights (Need 1)

GlobalBoosterHunter
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Post by GlobalBoosterHunter » Thu Apr 24, 2014 11:59 am

I have a couple of storage systems, the original three pocket pages designed for cigarette card albums have a bit more space so I used a thin polypropylene sleeve used for banknotes. This is mostly to prevent scuffing on the booster.

The 6 pages safe album are the final resting place and there is no possibility of the boosters sliding around in them.

Edit to add:

I used something like this product http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-Postcard-SL ... 0761753957 you would have to check the sizes though.

Down side was that each sleeve had to be folded over and taped twice, which leaves the backs looking a bit scrappy. Plus the budget sleeves had a bit of selvedge along the bottom where they were heat sealed together.

For the thinner boosters you could still use the sleeves. I took all mine out so I could scan both sides and check what variety each booster was. After that I could not be bothered to find a supplier and re sheath them.

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goAMinD
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Post by goAMinD » Thu Apr 24, 2014 12:53 pm

Cool,

I guess it is enough for me to store the boosters directly into the SAFE 5472 6-pocket pages and fill up some Lighthouse albums (the extra large model).

I will post some pictures of my present storage solution later. as soon as I have purchased and organized my future storage solution I will post more pictures.

Thanks for your answers.
Sealed Magic the Gathering collector currently looking for these boosters:
Unlimted Edition (Need 3)
Arabian Nights (Need 1)

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goAMinD
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Initial test purchases

Post by goAMinD » Fri Apr 25, 2014 10:39 am

So, I have now decided to test the following for storing sealed Boosters:

6-pocket page (pocket size 72x148mm):
Image

Special sleeve with hangerlabel and sealtape (70x135mm):
http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NTQwWDkwMA==/ ... R/$_57.JPG

My intentions are that I sleeve the boosters and will have the orientation with booster top at the white hanger end, and the seal tape at booster bottom end. the sleeved booster then slides into the pocket page with the seal first and the white hanger at top.
Finally if this all works, I'll order the rest (sleeves, pocketpages and Lighthouse albums)
If this fails, I'll slide the boosters directly into the pocketpages.
Sealed Magic the Gathering collector currently looking for these boosters:
Unlimted Edition (Need 3)
Arabian Nights (Need 1)

GlobalBoosterHunter
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Post by GlobalBoosterHunter » Fri Apr 25, 2014 3:22 pm

I will be interested to see how they go, wouldn't mind putting mine back in sleeves again.

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