Baseball Card Storage Tips – Part 2 of 4, Toploaders

Another key piece of gear for protecting your baseball cards are toploaders. Ultra Pro premium toploaders seem to have one of the best reputations and are relatively inexpensive. Toploaders prevent creasing, bending and corner ware. I try to pull key cards as soon as I find them and get them into toploaders to prevent warping that can occur in storage. The use of protective sleeves and toploaders allows you to view and display your baseball cards at any time without having to worry damaging them. The Ultra Pro toploaders are 3”x4” and fit all standard size cards, they do however leave a lot of room for movement with T206 cards and some of the newer cards (such as Allen and Ginter released by Topps) that are of similar size. Also, with many baseball cards containing game used memorabilia you may need to get thicker toploaders that allow for the added thickness of these specialty baseball cards.

Get toploaders for your baseball cards on eBay!

Baseball Card Storage Tips – Part 1 of 4, Sleeves
Baseball Card Storage Tips – Part 3 of 4, Boxes
Baseball Card Storage Tips – Part 4 of 4, Crates

More Baseball Card Display and Storage Tips

Baseball Card Storage Tips – Part 1 of 4, Sleeves

The first step in protecting your baseball cards is putting them into protective sleeves. Soft PVC-free polypropylene are economical and go along way to preventing surface wear on your baseball cards. This is especially important for cards with autographs or game used memorabilia. I found these MAX Protection soft sleeves on eBay and went with them because they have a special UV inhibitor which protects the color.

Get protective sleeves for your baseball cards on eBay!

Baseball Card Storage Tips – Part 2 of 4, Toploaders
Baseball Card Storage Tips – Part 3 of 4, Boxes
Baseball Card Storage Tips – Part 4 of 4, Crates

More Baseball Card Display and Storage Tips

Fantasy Baseball Keeper List

Now that the Boston Red Sox have won the World Series it’s time to get serious about next year’s fantasy baseball team. I won one of my fantasy baseball leagues this year (got high of the week in NFBC but fell short otherwise) so I’m pretty well stacked.

Here are the 5 that I’m leaning toward:

Ryan Braun 3B $1
Hunter Pence OF $1
Jose Valverde RP $1
Tim Lincecum (“The Franchise”) SP $1
Yovani Gallardo SP $1

I also have Kelvin Escobar $1, BJ Upton $9, Oliver Perez $1, Joakim Soria $1, and Manny Corpas $1. The Fantasy 411 advised me to keep BJ Upton in lieu of Lincecum or Gallardo but I can’t bring myself to give one of them up and I like the extra $8 on draft day.

Ty Cobb Portrait Red Background Vintage T206 Card

I bought this sweet T206 Ty Cobb card with the winnings from one of my fantasy baseball leagues. It’s a PSA 2 so it’s not in the best shape but it’s clearly adequate and should display well. I prefer T206 cards with at least somewhat rare backs – Sovereign isn’t the rarest of T206 backs but it’s solid for a Ty Cobb.

Shop for Ty Cobb T206 baseball cards on eBay!

Vintage Baseball Gear from Ebbets Field Flannels

Found this site on shopping on MiLB.com - Ebbets Field Flannels. They specialize in vintage baseball caps and jerseys. I like their approach to design because they go out of their way to really create authentic baseball memorabilia. Pretty cool stuff – I have a Havana Sugar Kings hat on my x-mas list! (size 7 3/8)

Looking for T206 HOFer for Fantasy Baseball Winnings

I won the first best out of 3 playoff series and tied up the championship series 1 to 1 in one of my fantasy baseball leagues. In anticipation of a nice payday I’m looking to get a nicer than usual T206 card. I like buying baseball cards better than blowing winnings on something like a TV because the card is an asset that will appreciate over time. I checked eBay and have some cards in mind: John McGraw, Cy Young, Walter Johnson (portrait, I already have his other card), Tris Speaker, Christy Mathewson, and Nap Lajoie.

Buy T206 baseball cards with Hall of Famers on eBay!

Ryan Braun Autographed Baseball

I say Ryan hit 2 home runs against the Nationals this year but missed my pre-game chance to get his autograph. I decided to take a total shot in the dark and mail a baseball with self addressed return mailer to him at the Brewers ballpark. I was totally psyched when I got the ball back 2 weeks later.

Ryan Braun’s 3 run home run late Sunday afternoon got one of my fantasy baseball teams into the finals – pretty sure he’s my favorite ball player at this point.

Find baseball memorabilia with Ryan Braun’s autograph on eBay!