PANINI COLLECTION STORAGE (THE ULTIMATE GUIDE)

[fatzep]

Hi guys,

I have checked all previous threads, let me explain you how I store my collection. It's my first topic so please be gentle with me if it's too long

It has taken me a lot of research and tests to come up to this result, please let me know your thoughts about it. I'll explain in the end how to purchase and give some more tips.


1 - ALBUM STORAGE:

BCW and ULTRA PRO are by far the best in terms of quality and durability. I'm using the BCW "LIFE MAGAZINE" sleeve with a backing board (cut to fi the album), these sleeves allows the album to be slide sideways (PIC 1&2). I then store them into some clear documents plastic display (PIC 3). The backing board really protects the album from bending and it keeps everything rigid. This is by far the best option I've found. (Cost: approx 1,50EUR for sleeve and backing board)






2 - FULL SET DISPLAY:

I'm slowly starting to store my full sets into customized binders, using 16 pockets plastic sheets (acid free etc) and 1 special sheet for the empty album. It is very important to combine the following brands as everything fits perfectly. Binder + Binder Sleeve are made by EICHNER and are customable, plastic sheets are made by an italian brand called "Masterphil" their products are great. All together, it looks really nice in the cabinet. (PIC 4 > 8) (Cost: Binder 12EUR, Sheets 12EUR/20, Printing 6EUR)








3 - CRYSTAL CLEAR BOXES DISPLAY:

Other alternative to the binder, the crystal box. I only work with ULTRA-PRO as they are slightly bigger and better quality than BCW. Stackable, they are also acid free and UV protective for the stickers. The 150 cards count will be perfect for all WC/EK sets from 78 > 2019. The 250 cards count will fit Mexico 70, Munchen 74 and all the Swiss editions (Platinum etc) (PIC 9 & 10) (Cost: 2-3EUR)




4 - INDIVIDUAL CARD PROTECTION:

A: Toploaders; they are great to protect valuable cards and it a very good shipping option. It looks fantastic but can become very bulky if you want to store a complete set like this. I'm mainly using them for the rare and expensive cards. I'm using BCW toploaders + white backing board (cut to fit sleeve) + BCW plastic sleeve + Toploader re-sealable sleeve. (PIC 11 & 12) (Cost: 0,30EUR)

B: Plastic sleeve; I'm using a brand called "MAYDAY GAMES", they are making the perfect sleeves with thick plastic. They have perfect dimensions for Panini stickers. The "Yucatan Narrow" card sleeve (54mmX85mm) will fit Mexico 70 cards while the "Sails of Glory" card sleeve (50mmX75mm) will be perfect for every WC/EC 74 > 2019. (PIC 13 & 14) (Cost: 2,5EUR/50)






5 - STORAGE BOXES:

To store my doubles and recovered stickers, I'm using BCW cardboard boxes. The 660 cards count is very handy when taking out doubles at a swap meeting. Shoe boxes (that fits toploaders) are also a great find with much more capacity. (PIC 15 & 16) (Cost: 660count 1,5EUR Shoe box 8EUR)

I also like to store my doubles into the crystal clear boxes too...




6 - SEALED PACKET PROTECTION:

ULTRA-PRO is doing some "TEAM BAGS" wich are re-sealable and fit perfectly all stickers packets. It looks neat stored into a crystal clear 250 count box. Masterphil is also doing 6pockets/sheet... I store them into the sheet + binder. (PIC 17) (Cost: 3EUR/100)




I guess you all know my secrets now, I have the privilege to go to USA very often and it's easy to deliver things at the hotel. Shipping from US to Europe is very expensive and customs can charge extra fees... If people would like to purchase these items, I would be whilling to help out, I have a fair stock at home (Belgium).

Let me know what you think about this post, any feedback would be great...

Cheers,
Seb

 

[MrKoko]

What a great lession to how to store stickers material.
Fantastic job!!

 

[LeicesterRob]

Wonderful first post @fatzep

I’m so very impressed and I love the spare sticker boxes. Are they easy to find online?

I’ve been using shoe boxes for spares which works well but your solution is perfect!

 

[chriswiggy]

Wonderful first post @fatzep

I’m so very impressed and I love the spare sticker boxes. Are they easy to find online?

I’ve been using shoe boxes for spares which works well but your solution is perfect!

I echo the sentiments of the first two posters. That's a very helpful post @fatzep and I'm grateful for the time you have taken to describe your storage solutions. I have a big, big collection of albums, stickers, cards etc and I've known for some time that I need to improve my storage. The only product I have which you haven't mentioned is an acid-free manuscript folder. The supplier www.familytreefolk.co.uk - but there will be other suppliers of similar products - describe it as suitable for long-term storage of important papers such as birth certificates. At the moment I only use it to store my rare poster from the Panini Mexico 1970 album. It's not really suitable for albums because the folder is open on three sides, unless you put the album inside the folder and then inside one of the plastic sleeves you describe. The plastic sleeve would have to be quite large as the manuscript folder is 25cm wide. A solution for the most rare albums perhaps.

 

[fatzep]

Hi guys, thanks a lot for your positive feedbacks,

Hi Rob, everything is very easy to find online... Shipping costs will be the issue... Although I'm pretty sure there might be a supplier in the UK...

Dear Chris, I don't think the manuscript folder is necessary as every product in my post is acid free, UV protective etc... The white backing board really does help to get the album rigid...

 

[dantzig]

Oh, an IKEA furniture like mine

It's an impressive scenario, just shows how much you love your collections. Enjoyed all your choices and explanations, always well thought.

Should you ever want this to be featured in the blog, where we write all our reviews and guides, feel free to contact me and I'll setup a wordpress account for you. This surely deserves a neat guide to be shared.

Thank you for sharing with us.

 

[fatzep]

Hi Carlos,

Thanks a lot for your message... I have some plans doing a youtube channel only dedicated to Paninis... I'll give you heads up regarding wordpress account...

Seb

 

[dantzig]

exceptional... great to see how other people store their sets...

i use grip seal bags for every bit of merchandise per collection and then store them in A4+ foolscap deep tuff boxes to ensure i can store all the albums flat. Really interesting using the backing board to keep the albums rigid while storing them standing up though, looks to work perfectly!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12-x-A4-Foolscap-Deep-Tuff-Boxes-with-Handle-Storage-Document-Art-Holder/331827192090?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

That's interesting Andy... I was actually thinking of storing some albums+flat sets, think those bigger albums like 365 still fit? Judging from dimensions, they seem perfect for it.

 

[LFC1892]

Great post @fatzep

I will add to the post with information and a few pictures on how to store cards since he has covered the sticker/albums brilliantly.

1-Card Sleeves - Ultra Pro :

One of the most popular affordable brands is the Ultra Pro. They come in different colours and mostly in a standard card size. The quality varies as well. As you can see in the pictures there is Three types of clear sleeves.
The One on the left in the cheapest(rrp 90c US) and the one on the right is slightly more expensive(rrp1.99$ US) but the material is thicker and more durable. The one in the middle is thicker than the previous two and comes in shiny or Matte finish(RRP around 3.99-4.99$ for a 100 pack or 2.99$ for a 50). The first Two come in 100 sleeves per pack.
The coloured or clear sleeves come in regular or Matte finish which is more expensive. The Yellow pictured is Matte while the Blue is regular shiny.
Personally, I like using different colours of sleeves depending on each team and their kit colour. This way it helps me identify the teams when am searching for the cards. Ultra Pro sleeves can be found in 50 packs or 100 packs.
Ebay or Amazon is full of them or if you have a card/hobby shop that stock them.




2-KMC Sleeves:

We're looking at better quality than Ultra Pro and cost more.
They are made in Japan and very popular among gamers(Magic & Pokemon) and card collectors of all kind.
Configurations is in packs of 80 or 100(Exclusive to the US market only).
They come in Two different types which are Super finish the shiny or the Hyper Matte.
Price point is around 8.99$ and up depending on where you find them.
I use these mostly for higher end collection of mine & sub-sets mostly for lower end Panini or Topps.
Here are some pictures of the different colours and types.
We see the clear Matte on the far left then Matte Red & Super Silver. In addition, different super colours.
The last one is the difference between Matte Red and Super Red. These can be found as well on Ebay or Amazon.



2-Top Loaders:

These are meant to give extra protection to the cards already inserted into a sleeve. They come in different PT sizes depending on the thickness of the cards. Most common ones are the regular 3x4. There are thicker ones for thicker cards like 100pt, 120pt, 130pt or even 180pt for thick fat bastards.
There's different border colours as well in Clear, Red, Blue, Black, White or Green. Price point is around 2.99-4.99$ for a pack of 25. Here are some pictures of the different top loaders.
First picture is the different coloured border TL apart from Green which I don't like. Next pics are with cards displayed in top loaders. Again I like to colour coordinate teams with top loaders.
Last picture shows the thicker top loaders and what cards I fit them in. Left to right 100pt to 130pt, top to bottom.











3-Team Bags

Team bags are designed to protect the top loaders from scratching. They are made by Ultra Pro of course and come in a pack of 100 as seen in the first pic & they are made with a resealable strip. Cost is anywhere between 4.99-5.99$.
Team bags fit with most top loaders sizes, ie 100pt or higher.



4-One Touch :

Made by Ultra Pro those Magnetic ultra clear frames for cards are made for those big hits pulled from higher end products or a favourite card in your collection. They come in different PT sizes ranging from 35pt for thin cards all the way to 180pt thick ones. A new black frame one touch just been released in North America as seen in the picture below.
First picture illustrates the different sizes. The next one is examples of how they are displayed with a card then we have the One Touch resealable bags to protect the one touch from scratches. Price ranges from 2.99-5.99$ depending on thickness. The bags are 3.99-4.99$ depending on where you find them. Ebay or Amazon are the best places to get them.

 

[fatzep]

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Here we are... More videos to come... Please excuse my terrible French accent

 

[memorabiliaportuguesa]

Hello @fatzep

The way that you use to keep your collections, in my opinion, is absolutelly brilliant.
The best that I saw, and go to the same way, that I want to me since some months ago.

Unfortunattely, here in Portugal, we can’t find nothing useful from ULTRA PRO, and buy on the internet have very expensive costs and we risk see things stuck in customs.

I hope in the future obtain the same that you. Congratulations!

To finish, I would like make you a suggestion: you can put, here, the links of all the products that you use? Only to we have certain about the specific product .
Thank you very much and congratulations!

Best regards.
José Ferreira

 

[fatzep]

Thanks a lot for your message José, it's very encouraging... I'll be posting videos on my youtube chanel, I'll put below it every link to find it on internet

 

[fatzep]

 

[redwhite]

@fatzep WOW, what a great post, thanks for sharing!

All is storaged very properly, congratulations! But I have a few remarks focused on how you store the albums. At least I was very surprised to see that a München 74 album is added in a sleeve and stored in a ring binder.

1 - ALBUM STORAGE:
Very good idea to use cardboard so you can store it vertically. The pitty is that you lose with that cardboard the view of the backside. Maybe an idea to add the cardboard in the middle of the album?
Also I guess if it's sealed once, it's not that easy anymore to take out the album. Or you have to be very carefully with the glue of the strip.

2 - FULL SET DISPLAY:
This kind of album storage shown on the picture below is in my eyes more users friendly. Putting the album in a sleeve so you can easilly take out the album and you can also see the backside.

I reposted this picture because I was very surprised to see that a München album fits into your sleeve!
The format of that album is W 235 mm x H 270 mm. (or is the one you have another edition which is smaller?)

The sleeves I'm using are the Vera Trinder Multi Master pages from the UK. I can everyone advice it, very good quality. For the European collectors it's also better to order them before the Brexit to avoid taxes by customs. Anyway the 1 pocket sleeves allows to add albums with a max height of 295 mm and a width of 216 mm only, so this means only the smaller albums I can store that way. (see pictures below)
















Believe me, in my opinion still the best option. You can store all in binders vertically, so you have at least a better overview.




Most of the CL-albums for example are stored together with the stickers in the binders.

But the problem is that most of all other series has bigger albums. Unfortunately most binders of the other series includes only stickers.








I struggle already for years to store those albums. For the classic World Cup formats you can find book covers, but a nightmare when you have so many different albums of the same serie. Some are stored in boxes, or loose with those covers, but still in stacks. Not that users friendly to take out an album stored in the middle of it. (see picture below)



If I could store those albums in sleeves placed in binders I wouldn't doubt.

@fatzep Would you please share us the direct URL of the sleeves you used for the Munchen74 album (which is the same width for a WC14 album for example)?
I suppose 'EICHNER' was the firm of the ringbinder and 'Masterphil' the one of the sleeves?
I found online the Masterphil sleeves, but the format is smaller than the München74 album, so I'm a little bit confused.
see picture of the Masterphil sleeves (max width is 220 mm, which is too small for a 235 mm album shown on your pictures)



If I could store all my 235 mm albums in a ringbinder I would be a big step further. For the bigger FIFA365 albums the first option is probably still the best.

 

[Bidus]

@redwhite it is possible to use a one pocket sleeve to store an album of 1974 because @fatzep is using masterphil sleeves, they are a little bit larger (312mmx240mm) than the veratinder. The format of the Masterphil fit into the A4 Max binder format
Here the direct link to MasterPhil :

Master Phil. FIGURINE

Prodotti per Collezionisiti

www.masterphil.it

 

[redwhite]

@redwhite it is possible to use a one pocket sleeve to store an album of 1974 because @fatzep is using masterphil sleeves, they are a little bit larger than the veratinder. The format of the Masterphil fit into the A4 Max binder format

Yes, indeed. Those Masterphil 1 pocket sleeves are 240(!) x 312 mm, which is absolutely the perfect size! This means almost all my empty albums can fit in such a sleeve, except the bigger FIFA365 albums.
This storage solution for my empty albums made my day!

 

[Bidus]

From my side I like the customizable A4 max binder + slipcase of Eichner presented by @fatzep unfortunately it exist only in White and No way to found another brand who is doing.

So if someone have an idea where to find a customizable Binder AND Slipcase in A4 max format AND black color let me know.

Bidus

 

[redwhite]

It seems not that easy to order the sleeves.

Codice Fiscale is required



UPDATE: I've contacted them by e-mail and got a very fast reply. Finally my order is already made by mail.

 

[redwhite]

My order of the Masterphil 1 pocket sleeves arrived today and I could already sort out a first part. I have to say, I'm really excited with it, this was the missing link to store my empty albums.

Currently I only sorted out the Belgian League collection and all albums could fit perfectly into the sleeve. Only the older 240 mm albums were less easy to put inside a sleeve. Because there was no space left for that format they bend slightly. Those are now stored under the stack in the hope all weight will keep them straight. Also when the binders will arrive I have to think about it if I'll store them horizontally or vertically. I think vertically storage for the 240mm albums is a little risk for bending.

Pending the delivery of my ringbinders, here are some pictures of the result for now.

 

[redwhite]

... and then the binders arrived.

I bought me the German EICHNER 4 ring-binders with slipcase, but those I have seems smaller than @fatzep's binders. I expected me the same format as this type. Unfortunately those I have are good for A4 size, but not for the bigger Master Phil sleeves.

 

[AzzaB]

@fatzep WOW, what a great post, thanks for sharing!

All is storaged very properly, congratulations! But I have a few remarks focused on how you store the albums. At least I was very surprised to see that a München 74 album is added in a sleeve and stored in a ring binder.

1 - ALBUM STORAGE:
Very good idea to use cardboard so you can store it vertically. The pitty is that you lose with that cardboard the view of the backside. Maybe an idea to add the cardboard in the middle of the album?
Also I guess if it's sealed once, it's not that easy anymore to take out the album. Or you have to be very carefully with the glue of the strip.

2 - FULL SET DISPLAY:
This kind of album storage shown on the picture below is in my eyes more users friendly. Putting the album in a sleeve so you can easilly take out the album and you can also see the backside.

I reposted this picture because I was very surprised to see that a München album fits into your sleeve!
The format of that album is W 235 mm x H 270 mm. (or is the one you have another edition which is smaller?)

The sleeves I'm using are the Vera Trinder Multi Master pages from the UK. I can everyone advice it, very good quality. For the European collectors it's also better to order them before the Brexit to avoid taxes by customs. Anyway the 1 pocket sleeves allows to add albums with a max height of 295 mm and a width of 216 mm only, so this means only the smaller albums I can store that way. (see pictures below)

View attachment 12924

View attachment 12925

View attachment 12926

View attachment 12928

View attachment 12936


View attachment 12927

View attachment 12929

Believe me, in my opinion still the best option. You can store all in binders vertically, so you have at least a better overview.

View attachment 12931


Most of the CL-albums for example are stored together with the stickers in the binders.

But the problem is that most of all other series has bigger albums. Unfortunately most binders of the other series includes only stickers.

View attachment 12933

View attachment 12934

View attachment 12932


I struggle already for years to store those albums. For the classic World Cup formats you can find book covers, but a nightmare when you have so many different albums of the same serie. Some are stored in boxes, or loose with those covers, but still in stacks. Not that users friendly to take out an album stored in the middle of it. (see picture below)

View attachment 12930

If I could store those albums in sleeves placed in binders I wouldn't doubt.

@fatzep Would you please share us the direct URL of the sleeves you used for the Munchen74 album (which is the same width for a WC14 album for example)?
I suppose 'EICHNER' was the firm of the ringbinder and 'Masterphil' the one of the sleeves?
I found online the Masterphil sleeves, but the format is smaller than the München74 album, so I'm a little bit confused.
see picture of the Masterphil sleeves (max width is 220 mm, which is too small for a 235 mm album shown on your pictures)

View attachment 12935

If I could store all my 235 mm albums in a ringbinder I would be a big step further. For the bigger FIFA365 albums the first option is probably still the best.

WOW. Great set. Quick question - I am also looking to store a few albums, and have used your website (https://prinzuk.co.uk/banknote-albums-and-accessories/106-5922-multi-master-cosmic-clear-album-pages-choice-of-formats.html# ) . With the 'Multi Master Formats', what does it mean by 1 pocket, 4 pocket (horizontal/vertical), 6 pocket vertical or 20 pocket? (Would like to store my Russia 2018 Panini & Germany 2006 Panini album, along with a few football programmes)