If you have been collecting cards for some time, then you know the all dreaded card bending or card warping. These are most apparent with foil cards. This leads to a question asked by many. Why do Yu-Gi-Oh cards bend or warp? The answer to this question is that foil cards tend to bend or warp due to the moisture and humidity in the air. Cards will tend to naturally curl as they accumulate moisture from the surrounding air.
Card warping can even happen sometimes before it even leaves the manufacturer. This poses as a problem because it can be detrimental to a cards value, especially if it’s a very expensive card. It can even make a card lose its value completely.
If you want your Yu-Gi-Oh cards to retain their value, then it will be important to tackle this issue before it arises. In the unfortunate event that you already have cards that are bent or warped, it may be possible to fix them if they aren’t too heavily warped.
How Do I Stop My Yu-Gi-Oh Cards From Bending?
The best way to stop your Yu-Gi-Oh cards from bending is by keeping them out of heat and moisture. Don’t be fooled, cards can still warp in very cold weather as well. One of the cheapest and easiest ways to help prevent your cards from bending is to always keep them in card sleeves. Although it is still possible for them to warp in sleeves, they are more likely to retain their shape in a fresh sleeve.
Another great way to help prevent card warping is to make use of card binders. Card binders double up as a great way to store and keep your Yu-Gi-Oh cards in mint condition. It’s highly recommended to sleeve your cards before putting them into card binders due to dust/debris that may build up in the pockets during long- term storage.
Another important aspect to take into consideration is making sure the fitment of your cards in the pockets are tight. You may need to experiment with different types of card sleeves and card binders to get your cards to fit just right. When storing your card binders, it would also be good practice to place something with weight on top of the binder. This will help compress your cards in the binder and will also force them to hold their shape.
How Do You Fix a Bent or Curved Yu-Gi-Oh Card?
Yu-Gi-Oh cards can become bent or warped much easier than you think. Leaving your cards in a car trunk overnight during the hot summer is enough to cause them to warp to a point of great concern. Don’t be quick to throw away bent or warped cards because the process can actually be reversed quite easily. There are a few different ways you can achieve this.
Stack Books on Top of Your Cards
The first method you can use is book stacking. Find some old textbooks you may have lying around from school and place a few gently on top of your warped cards on a flat surface. Do this before going to sleep and check your cards in the morning to see how they have progressed. Repeat this as necessary depending on the severity of the warping.
Use a Hair Dryer or Heat Gun
This method is a lot more effective and yields much quicker results than book stacking. This will require either a blow dryer or a heat gun.
I recommend using a heat gun like this one from Amazon. It is very easy to use, lightweight, and will get the job done quick.
Using a blow dryer or a heat gun, hold your card in place while heating up the card. Heat the card using circular or horizontal motions making sure to not keep the blow dryer or heat gun in one spot for too long. Heating up your card without constantly moving the heat gun around may cause you damage or ruin your card completely.
Here’s a great video tutorial showing you how to fix a bent or warped Yu-Gi-Oh Card:
Final Thoughts
Your Yu-Gi-Oh cards will warp depending on the weather. Excessive heat or cold will both affect the curvature of your cards over time. Keeping your cards out of harsh weather conditions is the best way to prevent them from bending.
Use a blow dryer or a heat gun to get all the moisture out of your warped foil-cards. The heat will gradually help mold your card back to its normal shape. A good alternative to using heat is to stack heavy books on top of your cards. Stacking books on top of your cards will help force them back to shape. The only downside to using this method is that it can take many hours to get your cards back to shape.
Don’t forget to keep all your foil-cards in card sleeves as well as card binders. This is the best way to prevent them from bending or warping as well as help keep them in mint condition.