Trading card accessories: what is there and what do you need?

Accessories fall into four groups based on what they do. Sleeves sit closest to the card. Rigid holders protect single cards from bending. Storage holds many cards. Playing gear is used at the table. This page shows which group you need and where to read more, and each group has its own guide that goes into depth.

What you need, in the order you need it

1. Penny sleeves. Enough for almost everything. Everyone's first purchase.
2. Toploaders for what you want to keep, sell or ship.
3. Deck protectors if you play.
4. A binder or a card box when the collection outgrows a pile.
5. Magnetic holders and stands when something should be on display.
6. Acrylic cases when it is whole unopened boxes that are to be displayed.

Sleeves

Penny sleeve	Thin, for storage. Does not stand up to shuffling.
Deck protector	Stiffer, coloured back, built for play.
Perfect fit	Sits inside the deck protector for double protection.
Outer sleeve	Goes over the deck protector in triple-sleeved decks.
Team bag	Resealable bag around a toploader.

Size determines the fit: standard 63 × 88 mm (sports cards 63.5 × 88.9 mm), Japanese size 59 × 86 mm. Read the sleeve guide.

Rigid holders

Toploader	Rigid sleeve for storage and shipping. The most common of all.
Card saver	Semi-rigid. The format grading companies require.
Magnetic holder, one-touch	Hard plastic with magnets and protection against ultraviolet light. For display.
Screwdown case	Solid acrylic block that screws together. Heavier display solution.
Slab page	Binder page for graded cards in slabs.

Thickness is given in pt and should match the card. Read the holder guide.

Storage

Deck box	Box for a finished deck. The number gives the count of double-sleeved cards.
Binder	For collected sets. Side-loading pockets are what matters.
Binder pages	Sold separately for ring binders, in several qualities.
Two-piece storage box	Clear plastic box by capacity: 25 to 250 cards.
Cardboard card box	For 800 to 5,000 cards.
Dividers	Sort inside the box.
Portable box	Arkhive and similar, for 400 to 800 cards.

Read the deck box guide and the binder guide.

Playing gear

Playmat	Cloth mat about 35 × 61 cm. Protects the cards from the table surface.
Mat tube	For carrying the mat.
Dice and counters	Spindown for life points, life counter with dual counters.
Stand	Support that props up a holder for display.

Read the playmat guide.

Acrylic for sealed products

Cases of cast acrylic that a whole unopened product is placed in, so it can be displayed without getting grubby or fading. The formats follow the product: booster box, Elite Trainer Box, bundle or single pack. Thickness is given in millimetres, with six being the heavier version.

If the product is to be stored rather than displayed, lighter protection is enough. A box can sit in a box protector made of clear plastic, which keeps out dust and scratches but does not withstand knocks as hard as acrylic does. A loose booster pack goes into a soft sleeve made of PET plastic or slides into a pack loader – a rigid holder in the pack's format. If the pack is to be on display, there are magnetic holders made for an unopened pack.

The brands

Ultra Pro	Widest range and the official licensed designs.
Dragon Shield	Deck protectors popular with competitive players, and a wide range of perfect fit sleeves.
Ultimate Guard	Strongest on storage, with boxes in faux leather.
Gamegenic	Table boxes from the board game world.
KMC	Japanese, small range and a big reputation for sleeves.
The Acrylic Box	Acrylic cases for sealed products.

Read the brand guide.

What customers ask most often

• Which sleeve fits my cards? Standard for Pokémon and Magic, Japanese size for Yu-Gi-Oh!
• Do I need both perfect fit and deck protector? Only if you play with expensive cards.
• Which toploader should I get? 35pt for regular cards.
• What is the difference between a toploader and a magnetic holder? The magnetic holder has protection against ultraviolet light, the toploader does not.
• How many cards fit in my deck box? The number in the name, counted with double sleeves on the cards.

And what you do with it all

• How to protect your cards properly, that is, the order the protection goes in.
• How to open packs without damaging the cards.
• How to store your collection, that is, light, moisture and pressure.
• How to pack and ship cards.

Roughly what everything costs

Penny sleeves	Lowest price per card of everything. Bought in packs of a hundred or a thousand.
Toploaders	Cheap per piece. Bought in 25-packs.
Deck protectors	Cost several times more than penny sleeves per piece.
Magnetic holders	A good step more expensive. For individual valuables.
Binders	From a cheap portfolio to a padded zip binder.
Acrylic cases	Most expensive per unit, but protect a whole unopened box.

See current prices in the shop. The list shows the order of magnitude: protect bulk cheaply and put the money where it does some good.

Common mistakes on a first accessories purchase

1. Buying sleeves in the wrong size. Yu-Gi-Oh! requires Japanese size.
2. Buying toploaders without penny sleeves. The plastic scratches the card.
3. Buying deck protectors for cards that are only going to be stored.
4. Buying a deck box that is too small once the cards are sleeved.
5. Buying top-loading binder pages for a binder you often flip through.

From our range

• 

  Accessories

  Ultra Pro Playmat – Pokémon Pikachu

• 

  Accessories

  Ultra Pro Two-Piece Small Stand – 5-pack

• 

  Accessories

  Ultra Pro 9-Pocket Portfolio – Pokémon Pikachu

• 

  Accessories

  Ultra Pro Full View Deck Box – Pokémon Pikachu

Shop: all accessories at Bangerpack.

Written by us who run Bangerpack. Range and prices change continuously. What applies when you read this is shown in the category.