You see a lot of people open up Pokemon cards wearing gloves. But, is this really necessary? That’s what we want to take a look at.
You do not have to wear gloves when opening Pokemon cards. It is suggested that you do not because this can damage the cards when you are handling them. Clean hands are going to be a lot better for handling the cards.
Let’s expand on this a little bit for you. This way, you know that you are going to be doing everything possible to keep your cards in perfect condition.
Do Gloves Ruin Pokemon Cards?
While gloves will not ruin Pokemon cards to the point where the card becomes unplayable, if you are planning on actually getting your card graded, then you shouldn’t be wearing gloves at all. This actually applies to the entirety of the collectibles scene. It is very rare that you will find anybody in collectibles handing anything with gloves, unless the item is exceedingly old but, even that is going to be rare.
The problem with gloves is that the materials that they are made from will be quite coarse. This means that as they come into contact with the Pokemon card, it is likely to scratch them up a little bit. This can knock a PSA grade down a couple of notches which, of course, the vast majority of people want to avoid.
It would actually be better for your cards if you touched them as little as possible. You can wash your hands beforehand and make sure that they are completely dry before you touch the cards. This will help to remove most of the grease from your hands. However, you should never, ever be rocking a pair of gloves if you want to touch the Pokemon cards.
If you are trying to pull valuable rainbow rare Pokemon cards, we suggest purchasing a recent expansion set. At the time of writing this article, the Vivid Voltage expansion set has recently been released and has many sought after cards by collectors. Click here to check the current price of the Vivid Voltage booster box.
Do PSA Graders Wear Gloves?
No.
It may seem odd, but PSA graders do not wear gloves. This is because of the damage that it can cause to the card. They will touch the card with their hands, no matter how old the card is. We have actually seen videos of people handling sports cards valued into the hundreds of thousands of dollars at PSA without actually putting gloves on.
However, do bear in mind that each of the PSA graders will have been trained to handle cards with care. They are not just going to grab them without any care in the world. They are not exactly known for damaging the cards that they have in their possession, after all. With some cards, they will use soft instruments to come into contact with them, but these will be specially prepared instruments and not something that you will really be able to use yourself. Just be sure to properly clean your Pokemon cards before sending them in to get the highest score possible.
There is some evidence that the competing grading card company, Beckett, will use gloves to handle your cards. However, the evidence is incredibly limited here. If you do have cards graded by Beckett, then the graded card would be worth less than if you had used PSA, so most people will skip PSA anyway.
How Do You Open a Pokemon Card Pack?
With great care!
Honestly, there isn’t really a bad way to open up a packet of Pokemon cards. This is assuming that you are not just tearing into the booster pack like there is no tomorrow. What we can tell you, however, is the way that we open our Pokemon cards.
For starters, we always like to ensure that we have some penny sleeves and toploaders handy. This way we are able to sleeve up the rarest cards as soon as we pull them from the booster pack. It helps to minimize damage.
Now, if you watch a few YouTube videos of card openings, you will often notice that the YouTubers will shuffle the cards up a little bit. The idea of this is to put the rare card at the back of the booster pack. Do not do this. While it is going to be fantastic for drama when you are filming something for the camera, it isn’t going to be that brilliant if you want your cards in the best possible condition.
This is because as you move the cards around, the face of them can potentially become scratched. As we said before, even the smallest of scratches can drastically reduce the value of your trading cards.
Here’s a video of maxmoefoePokemon opening a Pokemon Vivid Voltage Booster Box:
Before you open the cards, make sure that you give your hands a good clean with soap and warm water. Dry them off with a clean towel. This should remove most of the grease from your hands. Although, of course, hands naturally produce grease so you won’t be able to get rid of all of it.
Once this is done, lay the booster pack face down on the table. Open up the seal at the back of the pack gently. The idea is to try and keep the booster pack packaging in the best possible condition. If you are tearing into it, then you will likely ruin the cards inside.
Once the back of the packaging is open, gently pick up the cards by gripping the sides lightly. You can now go through them. Try to make sure that you are not rubbing the cards against one another when you do.
If you go through them, take any rare cards and put them right into the penny sleeves.
Sure, this method is going to take an incredibly long time to open up your booster packs. However, we can assure you that this is probably going to be the only way that you will be able to keep those cards in perfect condition as you shuffle through them. Obviously, kids are probably not going to be able to do this, so let’s hope they are not ópening exceedingly rare cards, eh?
Final Thoughts
You do not have to wear gloves when you are opening Pokemon cards. In fact, it is suggested that you do not.
If you want to keep the cards in good condition when you opening them up, then make sure that you handle them as little as possible.
Remember; if you are planning on shipping your cards off to PSA to get graded, you should sleeve up the cards as soon as possible to keep them from becoming damaged.