If you play any collectible card games, chances are you have your favorite cards or some valuable ones that you would like to keep as close to as mint condition as possible. This can be very challenging especially if it’s a great card because you definitely want to use it. Many people enjoy playing trading card games but also want to protect their valuable cards. It’s no fun to have cards worth a lot of money and be afraid to actually use them. With just a few precautions and care you can keep those cards in mint condition while using them.

Card handling can transfer oil and dirt to cards. Repeated shuffling also takes its toll on cards as well. Much enjoyed cards will bear signs of wear and will lose market value. There are some simple, easy solutions that will allow that cool cards to be use in games without compromising the integrity of the card.

The cheap and easy solution to protecting your valuable cards is to play with proxies. Take a common card that you have a bunch of copies of, write on it to reflect that it is now a proxy card for your valuable card. Keep the original card handy just in case your opponent doesn’t believe you actually have the card or to show players what the card actually does when played. Have the valuable card set aside and bring into play on top of the proxy card. This way the card doesn’t have to be shuffled with the cards but is part of the deck because of its proxy.

There are card sleeve holders that you can use for all of the cards in your deck. These do a good job of protecting cards from wear and tear. The downside of sleeve holders is that they make shuffling a bit more challenging and that nice, sleek deck will look a lot bigger. Card sleeve holders can be bought an array of colors and styles.

When you are not playing with your collectible cards, keep them in a card box. There are several types of card boxes on the market. There are the standard long, white card boxes that will hold up to 800 cards. You may want to try a smaller box that has some design on it to match the collectible cards you have. There are also small card boxes that hold 60-100 cards-meant to hold a single deck.

Taking care of collectible cards is a labor of love for those who enjoy their trading cards. Using card sleeves and proxies will give you the chance to play with your beloved possessions while protecting the integrity of the cards. Storing cards in boxes will keep them protected when they are not being used, and it will help to keep your cards organized.