This is a great place to find all of the supplies you might want to help protect your Pokémon card collection. I’ll start by sharing what supplies I personally like to use, then give you a list of suppliers and online shops where you can get the gear you’re looking for.
THERE ARE NO AFFILIATE LINKS in this article; there is no tracking or cookies, I’m not paid or reimbursed in any way to promote these products. This is just a list of suppliers and products I personally use, support, and recommend.
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Anytime I pull a high quality cards from a pack, my first instinct is to protect it by slipping it inside a Perfect Size Hard Sleeve from KMCSleeves.
These are a great way to keep cards safe and still look good. I recommend taking care, and taking your time when inserting raw cards into perfect fit sleeves to avoid any bend damages to your card that can arise from shoving things in too fast..
If you’re like me, you’ll want another simple layer of protection in the form of a slightly more loose-fitting Ultra Pro Penny Sleeve:
After protecting raw cards in a sleeve(s), I’m either going to protect the card inside a binder or within an individual Top Loader / Hard Case. If you choose a binder, make sure you choose one with quality pages (some pages are looser than others and allow cards to slip/slide around), or get some loose Ultra Pro Card Sleeves / Pocket Pages to add to any D-ring binder of your choice.
For all-in-one binders/folios (good fit, great protection, built in pocket pages, zipper/strap secured) I have to recommend VaultX above all.
If you skip the binder route, you’ll like want to protect your card with one more layer; use Ultra Pro Top Loaders or Screw Downs for protection and display quality.
Last but not least, if you live in an area with excess humidity, you’ll want to consider acquiring some desiccant packs to store along with your cards.
Shipping Supplies:
Whether you’re selling a card, or sending one in to get it graded (click here to learn more about grading services), you’ll want to follow these best-practices to make sure your cards are delivered safe and in the same condition as when you sent them.
Once your raw card is in a Penny Sleeve and Top Loader, you’re ready to surround the card with a cardboard buffer. Any cardboard you can find will work as long as it’s clean and thick enough to provide padding. I recommend cutting the cardboard to fit as snugly as possible to prevent the card from sliding around inside. It’s also a good idea to use a small amount of tape to seal the edges of the cardboard, preventing the card from sliding out during transit. Avoid using tape anywhere that might contact the card.
After carefully sealing your cardboard buffer around your card(s), slip the package inside of a quality bubble mailer or sturdy box for shipping. I also highly recommend adding colorful stickers to your package to encourage proper handling during shipping.
Gameplay Supplies:
Deck Boxes are a fun way to carry cards around, especially for competitive TCG players. There are A LOT of options out there, and you can find a wide variety of deck boxes and other accessories like coins, card sleeves, drawstring bags, die, damage counters, gameplay pads, and more at sites like PokeVault, Troll & Toad, Total Cards, Pokemon Center, and Pokenerds.
