Whether you’re about to collect sports cards or you’re interested in reselling them, understanding what toploader size you need for your card is one of the most fundamental parts of the hobby.
Thankfully you’re at the right place. Keep reading on for the ultimate sports card toploader size guide to help beginners out in understanding the fundamentals on best protecting your sports cards.
What is a Toploader?
A toploader for cards is a rigid plastic holder that is specifically designed to store and protect sports cards from damage. Toploaders are made from high quality 12mm thick clear PVC. There’s a slit at the top of the toploader so that a sports card can slide in.
Toploaders should not contain stearates or plasticizers. To avoid surface damage to sports cards they should be placed in a penny sleeve before sliding them into a toploader.
Where to Buy Toploaders
The “gold standard” for toploaders is the Ultra Pro Toploader which you can buy from most video game and gaming merchandise retailers or straight from the Ultra Pro Toploader store.
Now that you know what a toploader is let’s work out what different size toploaders are available on the market.
Toploader Thickness
Sports card thicknesses are measured universally in ‘points’ or ‘pt’ . The measurement of 1pt is the equivalent to 0.001 inches or 0.025 millimeters. The most common toploader size thickness is 20pt but there’s a variety of different sizes which are:
- 55pt
- 75pt
- 100pt
- 120pt
- 130pt
- 180pt
- 360pt.
What Size Toploader?
You can find a printable Card Thickness Point Gauge here to work out what size toploader for sports cards you need. You can print it and have it on hand to instantly find the thickness of your cards to find out the perfect toploader size.
Below we will go through the different toploader sizes with pictures so you can work out what size toploader you need to use. To help you out with the toploader thickeness we’ve used an Australian 10 cent piece which is the same thickness as an American dollar coin – 2mm or 0.0787in.
35pt Toploader
Also known as a “regular card holder” the 35pt toploader is the second most common toploader size behind the 20pt, and is suitable for most singles cards including NBA Hoops and Prizm series.
55pt Toploader
Also known as a “thick holder” the 55pt toploader is best for thicker single cards such as the MLB Bowman Chrome Auto series.
75pt Toploader
Also known as an “extra thick holder” the 75pt toploader is good for most jersey cards and patch sports cards.
100pt Toploader
Also known as “gamed used size” and sometimes referred to as an “extra thick holder”, the 100pt toploader is suited for larger jersey cards and patch cards.
120pt Toploader
Also known as “memorabilia size” or “real thick holder”, the 120pt toploader works best with high end series sports cards such as National Treasures and Flawless series.
130pt Toploader
Almost identical to 120pt.
180pt Toploader
Also known as the “super thick holder” the 180pt toploader is suited for extra large patch cards, jersey cards, super short print National Treasures and Flawless series.
Toploader Dimensions
Toploader sizes come in two main dimensions:
- Standard Size – 3” x 4” (7.62 cm x 10.16cm) – the most common sports card size
- Tobacco Size – 1 7⁄16 ” x 2 5⁄8 ” (3.7 cm x 6.7 cm) – for mini trading cards
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