Author Topic: Opened Cards... what to do with them?  (Read 18030 times)

Offline Mitsukara

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Opened Cards... what to do with them?
« on: May 23, 2006, 10:45 PM »
Okay, I have a box of old POTF2 cards, mostly missing bubbles and with some wear and tear and such, that I've been keeping. Now I have a bunch of TSC and a few ROTS cards, and I haven't gotten rid of the bubbles from those either.

I am totally a loose collctor, and currently own nothing that's still carded/boxed. But the cards are kind of nice in a sense; on the other hand, I'm not sure if I really want to display a bunch of torn, opened cards, especially POTF2s. And I don't really have a place.

So, is there some way I could store these more easily/take up less space with them? As it is they overrun parts of my room and tend to be in fairly unsafe places. IF htere was som special method to packing a bunch tightly in a box, or something better, I'd love to hear any suggestions. Heck, if you know some kind of easy display method I might consider that too.

Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

Offline KillerVole

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Re: Opened Cards... what to do with them?
« Reply #1 on: August 19, 2006, 09:42 PM »
I remove the bubbles from my cards and keep the cards themselves under my bed. I discard the bubbles. Without bubbles, cards don't take up nearly as much room.

Offline DoctorPadawan

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Re: Opened Cards... what to do with them?
« Reply #2 on: August 20, 2006, 09:34 AM »
I take the bubbles off the cards as well.  The bubbles get thrown in the trash and I take each "line's" cards, stick a rubber band around them, and put them in a long box.  Right now I have every card since POTF2 stored this way in one large box.

The thing is, though, I'm beginning to question why I even keep the cards in the first place, being a loose collector and all.  With some of the series (OTC and TSC) the background is an integral part of the card, but with other series like POTJ being one uniform card design (aside from the checklists) that are not character specific, I don't know why I keep one over the other.

With the lines continuing, I have a feeling that 95% of those cards might be visiting the recycling bin sometime soon.

Offline Darth_Anton

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Re: Opened Cards... what to do with them?
« Reply #3 on: August 21, 2006, 10:16 AM »
I can't really offer any advice myself. I've been collecting since 78. My Vintage packaging my Parents made my throw away. >:( However, I have all my packaging since 95, boxes, bubbles and all. Now it's taking up too much space and I've been contemplating purging most of it.

But... I have been packing most of my card (with bubbles) in empty vehicle boxes, saves a lot of room.
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Offline Bobafett77

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Re: Opened Cards... what to do with them?
« Reply #4 on: August 21, 2006, 10:45 PM »
I used to cut the bubble from the card leaving the lip on so the doesn't loose it's look. I've since been throwing both card and bubble away and just keeping the upc inserts since the packaging can take up a lot of room. I'd rather fill that room with figures! ;D

Offline Brian

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Re: Opened Cards... what to do with them?
« Reply #5 on: August 23, 2006, 11:21 AM »
I cut off and throw away the bubbles as well, but for some reason I've kept the cardbacks.  I especially want to keep the more recent OTC/VOTC and TSC/VTSC cardbacks because they really look nice, but I have some from past lines as well.  When we moved a few years ago, I purged some of them and just kept things that were unique.  For example, I got rid of quite a few of my POTJ cards unless the cardbacks/checklists were significantly different.  I tried to get where I just had one example of each cardback, but that went out the window once the OTC line came around.  Now the bottom of one of my bins is stacked full of cardbacks - most of them from OTC, ROTS, and TSC.  I also really like the Unleashed cardbacks (with the artwork), and will always keep those.  However, I have cardbacks from Galactic Heroes and other miscellaneous crap as well, and I really don't know why :).  It might be time for another purge.

Offline Dan

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Re: Opened Cards... what to do with them?
« Reply #6 on: August 23, 2006, 03:45 PM »
  However, I have cardbacks from Galactic Heroes and other miscellaneous crap as well, and I really don't know why :).  It might be time for another purge.

I agree, purging has become a necessary part of our managing our collections. Whether it be focusing the items bought, thinning the herd, or letting go of packaging. I find myself doing it more and more.

If you are part of a local collecting group, check with others to see if they might want it. I have given quite a few boxes from ships to fellow local collectors.

Offline speedermike

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Re: Opened Cards... what to do with them?
« Reply #7 on: September 19, 2006, 09:26 PM »
I also had all of my cards going back to 95, but I threw them all out in one big heap.  At first, it made me sick to my stomach, but a few hours later I felt good about doing it.  And I still feel good about it. The thing is, I kept them so that I could some day look at them again, but with the Internet, there's really no need.  I can look at any card from any collection in a matter of seconds.

Granted, I still have my vintage cards from 1978-85.  Those I kept.
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Offline Mitsukara

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Re: Opened Cards... what to do with them?
« Reply #8 on: October 7, 2006, 01:29 PM »
Thank you! I never realized that so few people seem to keep the bubbles from opened cards.

I think I'm going to keep any VOTC cards I get (currently still just one...), but on all the old cards I'm going to remove/throw away the bubbles and stick them all in a box somewhere. If it's still unmanageable I might selectively throw some out, or maybe cut out the backgrounds on my TSC figures to use for backgrounds for displaying the figures.

Basically the newer and more common it is, the less bad I feel about mangling it. :)

Offline jkno

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Re: Opened Cards... what to do with them?
« Reply #9 on: October 14, 2006, 06:27 AM »
I keep the card of the figures too. Not the bubles because those take up too much space but the cards are in a special drawer in my room.

Offline Errex

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Re: Opened Cards... what to do with them?
« Reply #10 on: October 30, 2006, 03:31 PM »
I used to throw away the bubbles and clip the bios on the backs of my cards up until the time of RotS. Then I began saving both the blister and the card.

Last week, I realized how much of a hassle is to keep both the carded blisters around, so I'm clipping the  bubble and stashing the cards into ring binders.

I'm not actually punching holes on the cards to attach them to the binders, mind you, but slipping them inside those sheet protector thingies you get at Office Max and such.

This method allows me to have them stashed away while making easy to consult them.

Offline Rob

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Re: Opened Cards... what to do with them?
« Reply #11 on: March 5, 2007, 05:17 PM »
I started saving cardbacks in 1995.  I saved them until last year.  I had hundreds of them.


Then I threw them all in the recycling bin.

And now I don't have them anymore - and my life has not been affected by this in the least.  I can't believe I hung onto them all this time.  Nowadays when I get a new figure I throw the cards right into the recycling bin with the rest of the paper and cardboard.


Offline Brian

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Re: Opened Cards... what to do with them?
« Reply #12 on: March 6, 2007, 12:08 PM »
Its been interesting reading everyone's responses to this.  I also started keeping the cardbacks with the POTF2 line, and then a couple of years ago, I purged things and basically threw out the majority of Episode I, POTJ, and Saga cardbacks.  Then last year, I did another purge, and threw out the majority of the ROTS cardbacks as well.  I've kept a couple from each line overall I think, and still have all of my OTC, VOTC, TSC, and VTSC cardbacks.  I also have the cardbacks from other lines, and a few vehicle boxes.  But, like it was mentioned before, I originally kept them so I could conceivably "look at them later", but with the internet - that's not really necessary.  The various photo galleries around the Star Wars sites takes care of that pretty easily.  I could probably use to go through them again here soon.  I think I'll always keep the "vintage" (VOTC/VTSC/etc.) cardbacks, and I really like the OTC stuff as well, but beyond that I'll have to look.  I'll always keep the 7" Unleashed cards, because I like the art on those.  It is sad though, in combination with the clamshells from the vintage line, and some other miscellaneous stuff, I have a rubbermaid tote that is essentially filled with nothing but cardbacks and inserts.  Yikes.

Offline CHEWIE

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Re: Opened Cards... what to do with them?
« Reply #13 on: March 14, 2007, 05:32 PM »
I started saving cardbacks in 1995.  I saved them until last year.  I had hundreds of them.


Then I threw them all in the recycling bin.

And now I don't have them anymore - and my life has not been affected by this in the least.  I can't believe I hung onto them all this time.  Nowadays when I get a new figure I throw the cards right into the recycling bin with the rest of the paper and cardboard.

Same here, I saved them until around 2000.  Finally when POTJ hit, I got sick of them and decided I had no need for them.

 :P

Offline solrac

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Re: Opened Cards... what to do with them?
« Reply #14 on: March 16, 2007, 12:21 PM »
only save the ones you like. even the vintage cardbacks are sold on ebay for a few $$. there are so many more new products out since the vintage line its impossible to think you can keep everything. if you want to see a card its faster on the web...
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