blue tape and pull-tab awareness week 2021

This is an annual thing I do every year after shark week (just because that's how I remember to do it, lol). Blue tape and pull tab awareness week. These days it's really just one post, but I do my best to keep the spirit of the week in my heart all week, if not all year.

It's one of the biggest plights for the sportscard collecting enthusiast of today:

Scotch tape.

Specifically, irresponsible usage of scotch tape to protect cards.

Don't get me wrong, tape is a must-have item for anyone who ever ships cards. A piece of tape over the opening of a top loader prevents the card from slipping out and potentially being damaged in shipment. At some point we've all been the victim of a negligent newb card seller who just throws a top-loader into a bubble mailer willy-nilly (or worse yet, a PWE) and you open to the horrific sight of the card poking out, with a dinged corner or two. A few cards secured between a couple pieces of protective cardboard by some tape is also a good way to keep them safe from the rigors of interstate travel.

But too often, the person mailing the cards doesn't take a moment to think about the recipient. I'm sure you've been in the frustrating situation many times: spending what seems like several minutes chipping away at a piece of tape with your fingernail, trying to free your newly obtained card(s). Such a pain! You could also use a knife, boxcutter, or scissor blade to cut the tape, but you run the risk of slipping and cutting in too far, potentially damaging the card. And either way, if it's a top loader, now you've got a trashy-looking top loader with a cut-up piece of tape on it.. time to get your fingernails involved again. Depending on the tape, it could take just a moment, or it could be on there so badly (chipping off in tiny brittle bits, or not coming off at all) that the card holder is essentially ruined. Even in the best-case scenario, some Goo Gone is usually needed to remove the sticky tape residue.

This disheartening scene could easily be avoided!

All the sender needs to do is spend two seconds to fold over a tiny piece of tape, creating a handy pull-tab. This pull-tab makes it super easy for the recipient to grab hold of the tape and peel it off in one efficient motion with little to no sticky residue left behind. No dangerous blades or fingernail frustration needed!

And Blue/painter's tape is the best tape to use! It costs a little more than regular clear scotch tape, but it comes off so easily and residue-free that your recipient will love you for it! For you thrifty types out there, know that blue tape can be reused several times! If somebody sends you a card with some blue tape, put it aside to use again later with someone else.

Here's a current look at my supply of blue tape on hand.

Now let's do a quick "how to" on pull-tabs.

CREATING A PULL-TAB

Step 1: Apply tape to one side.

Step 2: At the end of the remaining tape, fold over a piece about a centimeter long, with the sticky part being stuck against itself, creating a non-sticky pull-tab roughly the shape of a square.

Step 3: Apply the remaining tape to the other side.

I need to update these photos. I don't even have this Kong anymore; traded it away a while back.

Tips:

• You can also double up on the pull-tabs to make opening cards later even easier. Just follow the above process for each side of the tape you apply.

• It's also nice to write "pull" on either the tab itself or on the protective cardboard with an arrow pointing to the tab. This is helpful for individuals who might not immediately recognize the tab you've thoughtfully created for them.

Advanced Pro Tips:

• To go that extra mile, consider putting a little piece of paper over the top-loader opening, and tape it on (with pull-tabs, of course!) This will help prevent the rare but tragic occurrence of the card sticking to the tape. This is especially a good idea with old vintage cardboard (more prone to sticking and being damaged than today's cards) or when using extra thick top-loaders, such as with relics or other fat cards.
• Tape can be avoided all together with the use of a team bag secured over a top-loader. Some people, like fellow blogger RAZ (check out his method here), go all out and use blue tape, a paper buffer, and a team bag. Bless these heroes!

A+++++ transaction!!! Would deal with again!

Warnings:

• Don't make the tab so big that there's not enough sticky part of the tape left to get a secure seal. You want at least a half-inch of sticky part remaining to ensure that the tape holds during transit. If you've got limited tape length to work with, it's better to have a "too small" pull-tab, than "too big". Even if it's too small, at least the recipient can have a good start for his or her fingernails.

• If you write "pull" to identify the tab, be sure to write gently. Writing too hard could damage the card.

USING A PULL-TAB

Step 1: Pull tab.

Step 2: There is no step 2; you're done, bro! Throw away the tape that easily came off (or if it's blue tape, consider sticking it somewhere to reuse later), and enjoy your new card(s) and pristine top-loader!

It's just that easy! So easy to do and so handy for the person getting the cards! 

I've heard the argument "When you buy a card, you're not buying a toploader or other supplies, only the card." By that logic, you have dinner at a restaurant and expect them to dish out the food directly into your hands. No, of course it's expected that they'll provide a clean plate and any necessary utensils for your food. Buying a card online similarly should imply that the seller will provide adequate service when packaging and shipping the card.

I'm happy to say it seems like blue tape and pull tabs have become more widespread in the hobby since I started up this "awareness week" on the blog back in 2013, though there's still a lot of room for improvement. (And not that I'm trying to take all the credit. But if I can reach at least one new person each year I run this post, it's a victory!)

Thanks for reading and thank you for your commitment to excellence in packaging sports cards!

For more tips, be sure to check out The Definitive Guide to Shipping Sports Cards Safely and Cheaply.

Pull-Tab Awareness Week 2020 Has Been Cancelled

Sorry guys, but in yet another blow due to the pandemic, Pull-Tab Awareness Week 2020 has been cancelled. There's just too much going on in 2020 as it is. I don't know if America could process the magnitude of a Pull-Tab Awareness Week with everything else that's already going on. But feel free to revisit Blue tape and pull tab awareness week 2019. Hopefully we'll be back in full force next year.

In other news, my buddy who moved up from San Diego to Portland recently is doing great up here. He works in construction, a bustling field in Oregon, and has already been all over the state on jobs. It's been long hours, but I suppose if you're recently separated, working a lot is good to keep you occupied, not to mention making that $$.

Anyway, he's coming over this afternoon to hang out. My wife and I just got a Nintendo Switch, so we'll play some video games and maybe watch a movie. I plan to give him this Tatis to try luring him into card collecting again. We collected when we were kids, and I think he still has a handful of cards but isn't really an active collector. But hey, our team the Padres are on a winning streak and Tatis might be the hottest name in the game at the moment, so perhaps the stars are aligned for my pal to re-enter the hobby with a little nudge. I've got several copies of this 2017 Bowman, so I don't mind letting one go as a gift to an old friend.

Speaking of cards featuring a five-tool player motoring on the basepaths, here's another card to show off. It's yet another of those 2019 Topps Transcendent VIP Party "Through The Years" Mike Trout cards. I already have a 1990 Record Breaker and a 2011 pseudo rookie variation, but wanted one more to get to the magic number of 3. I've always liked the 1982 Topps In Action design (use it often for card gifs I make) and so this was a good option to throw a bid on.

As with the rest of these, they did a nice job recreating the back design, but then phoned it in when it came to the text. But yeah, a sweet addition to the Trout PC.

Thanks for stopping by and remember to use blue tape and make pull tabs!

Judging packaging of incoming cards

One thing I like to do during Blue Tape and Pull Tab Awareness Week is to post about the packaging of cards I receive around that time and dole out some cheers and jeers. So let's check out some recent mailings I've gotten.

First up are a few cards from P-Town Tom. This one actually came in last week and I didn't save the outter packaging, so I can't say for sure if this was a PWE or a bubble mailer. Regardless, I gotta give Tom a solid A for his work here. Blue tape? Check! Pull tabs? Check! Two cruddy top loaders used to safely sandwich a team bag of cards is a good way to do it. Throw in the friendly note and you've got a winner of a mailing.

I got a big trade package from Tom in July that included a few overproduction era sets. Like a good little card collector, I eventually went through the sets verifying they were 100% complete. Turns out there was a card or two or few missing from some of the sets. I gave Tom a heads up, and the stand-up dude he is, took it upon himself to track down the missing cards, either from his own inventory or by adding them to a Sportlots order.

Actually, the '88 Topps cards are for the factory set I got from Rod not too long ago. After I sorted the beast (2 hours in one shot), it turned out to be missing 10 cards. Tom was able to help me knock off a few.

And a '93 Topps Black Gold McGriff.. which I love. That's likely my all-time favorite insert set, with one of my all-time favorite players.

Thanks again, Tom!! Hope my return that's on the way is what you were hoping for.

-   -  - --o

Next up is an eBay win.

Jeff the seller put 5 cards (each in a penny sleeve) into a thick top loader, and put that all into a team bag, in a bubble mailer. I'm gonna have to give him a C- on packaging. The top loader was taped with a piece of scotch tape and there wasn't a pull tab. That really torpedoed his grade. The tape was unnecessary since the cards were in a team bag which seemed to be new, and sealed closed just fine. If he had to use scotch tape here, I would have rather he taped the team bag shut instead of the top loader.. though ideally he wouldn't use tape. Or if he had to use tape, used blue tape.

As for these cards, well, I've been working on a big post about all the glow-in-the-dark cards I've been able to find out about. In researching such cards, I've found some new ones and ended up picking up some examples. These 5 are inserts from a Goosebumps card set Topps put out in 1996. It's a 6-card insert set, and I'm needing #G3 to complete it.

Here they are in the dark. Not too bad as far as the glowing. I never read any Goosebumps books as a kid (or watched the show or whatever)-- think they were just a little after my time. (I did read some of the GI Joe kids books RL Stine wrote earlier, and remember liking them). But as a connoisseur of glow-in-the-dark trading cards, I'm happy to add these to my collection.

-  - - ---o

Next up is another eBay win.

It's a single card (in a penny sleeve) in a top loader in some bubblewrap in a bubble mailer. No tape involved. I'll give Melissa the seller a B. Had the card slid out of the top loader, it could have been disastrous.. bubblewrap or no. Thankfully it's a chrome card, so it's pretty snug in there. Other than that, the package was pretty light, and it probably wouldn't be too hard to bend or puncture if it was so unlucky to find itself in such a situation. Perhaps a piece of cardboard or something in there would have added a little more protection.

The card is the Bernie Williams 1990 Topps reprint I need for my Archives Reserve Master Set. I'm now down to only needing to get my ARMS around the similar '90 Sammy Sosa to complete the run of 2001 Topps Archives Reserve Future Rookie Reprints, and with it all the non-hit Archives Reserve cards that ever came out.

-  -  - ---o

Now here's another trade. Bru from Remember the Astrodome confirmed my mailing address last week with me so I was somewhat expecting this surprise, so to say.

I'll give Bru a solid A- here. There's a nice note and some blue tape, though his only minor ding is no pull tabs. He jammed a lot into the envelope and was sure to include a little extra postage rather than try to get away with a Forever stamp (I remember once or twice in the past that I received postage-due mailings from Bru and he felt bad about it. Looks like he's playing it safe now.)

What we've got here is 3 pages cut from a binder page, which was wrapped in a piece of paper and with a piece of cardboard on one side, with liberal use of blue tape keeping everything tight. Works well and is much cheaper than sending a bubble mailer. Again, pull tabs might've aided in me getting the cards out a little quicker, but wasn't too bad. Much of the blue tape took off paper when coming off, so not much reusable. But yeah, the cards were in there safe and sound.

A shiny Hunter Renfroe highlights this selection of Padres... and Matt Chapman? Cool, I collect him too! Actually it's my first of 2019 Topps Stamps, and each of these has a different player on the other back. The front is actually...

Manny Machado. Gotta say it's refreshing to see new Topps cards with a border. And that Leather & Lumber card is neat too.

My favorites of the package were this orange Brian Giles parallel and the '68 Topps Nate Colbert custom Bru made. I had a digital copy, but was hoping for a physical copy and I'm thrilled to have this now. Looks great. And I'm extremely jealous of Bru's customs, as this guy feels like a real card bare in hand. Solid cardstock. My customs are printed on photo paper, so they're sticky and smudge easily if you dare take them out of their sleeve. But not this one. I would love to upgrade to what Bru has going here. I think he goes to a real print shop rather than do it himself at home.

Thanks, Bru! I will round up some Astros to hit you back with soon.

-  - - --o

Last one for today. This was another eBay win.

Seller Chris sent one card in a penny sleeve in a top loader taped up to another empty top loader with some cardboard (repurposed file folder?) around it all in a PWE with "Do Not Bend" written on it. The card was $3 buy-it-now with free shipping, so I was expecting a PWE and I have no problem with it. And to his credit, he put on the full 85¢ postage, even though he probably could have gotten away with just a Forever stamp (50¢). The use of 2 top-loaders to fill up the envelope (so it wouldn't be lumpy, but rather a uniform thickness) is a good move. My complaint here is that the top loaders were covered with a lot of shipping tape and with no pull tabs. It was a pain getting the card out. I'll give the guy a D+ thanks to the bungled use of shipping tape hurting an otherwise fine PWE.

The card is another glow-in-the-dark card. This is from 1995 Wildstorm Gen13, which I'll tell y'all more about in that big forthcoming post of mine on the subject of glowing cards. No picture of it glowing here as the glowing effect wasn't very good. And yes, I'll be giving out "glow grades" in said post, and the glowing on this one isn't likely to grade very well.

LOL, I guess I just like grading stuff. Maybe I should have been a teacher!

Thanks for reading. And remember to use blue tape and make pull tabs.

Blue tape and pull tab awareness week 2019

This is an annual thing I do every year after shark week (just because that's how I remember to do it, lol). Blue tape and pull tab awareness week. These days it's really just one post, but I do my best to keep the spirit of the week in my heart all week, if not all year.

It's one of the biggest plights for the sportscard collecting enthusiast of today:

Scotch tape.

Specifically, irresponsible usage of scotch tape to protect cards.

Don't get me wrong, tape is a must-have item for anyone who ever ships cards. A piece of tape over the opening of a top loader prevents the card from slipping out and potentially being damaged in shipment. At some point we've all been the victim of a negligent newb card seller who just throws a top-loader into a bubble mailer willy-nilly (or worse yet, a PWE) and you open to the horrific sight of the card poking out, with a dinged corner or two. A few cards secured between a couple pieces of protective cardboard by some tape is also a good way to keep them safe from the rigors of interstate travel.

But too often, the person mailing the cards doesn't take a moment to think about the recipient. I'm sure you've been in the frustrating situation many times: spending what seems like several minutes chipping away at a piece of tape with your fingernail, trying to free your newly obtained card(s). Such a pain! You could also use a knife, boxcutter, or scissor blade to cut the tape, but you run the risk of slipping and cutting in too far, potentially damaging the card. And either way, if it's a top loader, now you've got a trashy-looking top loader with a cut-up piece of tape on it.. time to get your fingernails involved again. Depending on the tape, it could take just a moment, or it could be on there so badly (chipping off in tiny brittle bits, or not coming off at all) that the card holder is essentially ruined. Even in the best-case scenario, some Goo Gone is usually needed to remove the sticky tape residue.

This disheartening scene could easily be avoided!

All the sender needs to do is spend two seconds to fold over a tiny piece of tape, creating a handy pull-tab. This pull-tab makes it super easy for the recipient to grab hold of the tape and peel it off in one efficient motion with little to no sticky residue left behind. No dangerous blades or fingernail frustration needed!

And Blue painter's tape is the best tape to use! It costs a little more than regular clear scotch tape, but it comes off so easily and residue-free that your recipient will love you for it! For you thrifty types out there, know that blue tape can be reused several times! If somebody sends you a card with some blue tape, put it aside to use again later with someone else. In fact, here's a look at the desk in my card room in the height of blue tape bloom:

I'm well-stocked on second-hand blue tape! This photo is a couple years old, and the blue tape harvest is less robust currently. Still trying to implement a less tacky-looking solution. But yeah, I use plenty of blue tape and have never had to actually buy a roll of it.

Now let's do a quick "how to" on pull-tabs.

CREATING A PULL-TAB

Step 1: Apply tape to one side.

Step 2: At the end of the remaining tape, fold over a piece about a centimeter long, with the sticky part being stuck against itself, creating a non-sticky pull-tab roughly the shape of a square.

Step 3: Apply the remaining tape to the other side.

I need to update these photos. I don't even have this Kong anymore; traded it away a while back.

Tips:

• You can also double up on the pull-tabs to make opening cards later even easier. Just follow the above process for each side of the tape you apply.

• It's also nice to write "pull" on either the tab itself or on the protective cardboard with an arrow pointing to the tab. This is helpful for individuals who might not immediately recognize the tab you've thoughtfully created for them.

Advanced Pro Tips:

• To go that extra mile, consider putting a little piece of paper over the top-loader opening, and tape it on (with pull-tabs, of course!) This will help prevent the rare but tragic occurrence of the card sticking to the tape. This is especially a good idea with old vintage cardboard (more prone to sticking and being damaged than today's cards) or when using extra thick top-loaders, such as with relics or other fat cards.
• Tape can be avoided all together with the use of a team bag secured over a top-loader. Some people, like fellow blogger RAZ (check out his method here), go all out and use blue tape, a paper buffer, and a team bag. Bless these heroes!

A+++++ transaction!!! Would deal with again!

Warnings:

• Don't make the tab so big that there's not enough sticky part of the tape left to get a secure seal. You want at least a half-inch of sticky part remaining to ensure that the tape holds during transit. If you've got limited tape length to work with, it's better to have a "too small" pull-tab, than "too big". Even if it's too small, at least the recipient can have a good start for his or her fingernails.

• If you write "pull" to identify the tab, be sure to write gently. Writing too hard could damage the card.

USING A PULL-TAB

Step 1: Pull tab.

Step 2: There is no step 2; you're done, bro! Throw away the tape that easily came off (or if it's blue tape, consider sticking it somewhere to reuse later), and enjoy your new card(s) and pristine top-loader!

It's just that easy! So easy to do and so handy for the person getting the cards! 

I've heard the argument "When you buy a card, you're not buying a toploader or other supplies, only the card." By that logic, you have dinner at a restaurant and expect them to dish out the food directly into your hands. No, of course it's expected that they'll provide a clean plate and any necessary utensils for your food. Buying a card online similarly should imply that the seller will provide adequate service when packaging and shipping the card.

I'm happy to say it seems like blue tape and pull tabs have become more widespread in the hobby since I started up this "awareness week" on the blog back in 2013, though there's still a lot of room for improvement. (And not that I'm trying to take all the credit. But if I can reach at least one new person each year I run this post, it's a victory!)

Thanks for reading and thank you for your commitment to excellence in packaging sports cards!

For more tips, be sure to check out The Definitive Guide to Shipping Sports Cards Safely and Cheaply.

Strawberry, way to go!

This Charm Pops album is one of my favorite obscure indie/alternative/pop albums from the 90s. And there happens to be a song on there called "Strawberry" and it even has some baseball references in the lyrics, so I had to upload it to YouTube as a soundtrack to this post.

Back in 2016, I was lucky enough to win a complete base set with SPs of 2016 Allen & Ginter from Bubba's Bangin' Batch of Baseball Bits, one of the cardsphere's premiere A&G collectors, who holds an annual batch of contests around the time the set comes out. I must have some SF Giants style even-year mojo, as I was one of the lucky few here in 2018 too. I wasn't expecting to land my first choice out of the sweet options Matt made available, but it was a wonderful surprise when the package showed up today.

Darryl Strawberry framed mini auto! Love it. I've already got a couple nice Strawberry autos (2004 Retired refractor [as partially seen under the B in "Breakdown" in my header] and a Simpsons custom), but I'm happy to add another one. I enjoy collecting The Springfield Nine, plus Ginter mini autos are always pretty cool. This makes the 2nd such 2018 card I've gotten, with the Tommy Wiseau auto I showed off last post.

Matt was gracious enough to surprise me with a bonus too...

Awesome Mike Trout boxloader!

Since we're still in Blue Tape and Pull Tab Awareness Week, let's look at his packaging.

Very nice. Bubble polymailer (bonus points for it being purple) with the cards snuggly packaged between repurposed pieces of cardboard, with blue tape keeping it together, plus additional bubble wrap around it. No pull tabs, so he'll have to settle for a grade of A-, but not much to complain about here.

Huge thanks for the prize, Matt! Your generosity is very appreciated and always makes Gintertime bright and full of cheer!

Oh hai, trades

Sorry it's been a somewhat quiet Blue Tape And Pull Tab Awareness Week this year. Besides the cool "Babe Ruth TTM return" of my last post, I've hit a little patch of blogging malaise.

But let's check out some recently received cards from the cardsphere.

2018 A&G Tommy Wiseau auto! While I'm not one of those people who can quote The Room's screwy dialog much beyond the classic "Oh hai, Mark" and "You're tearing me apart!", I still got a kick out of the film and the film inspired by it, The Disaster Artist. So when I saw he was included in Ginter's auto checklist this year, I made a mental note to keep an eye out.

Then sure enough, Chris at Nachos Grande was lucky enough to pull the card from one of his boxes. We were able to work out a sale/trade where I sent him some money and a couple Barry Larkin cards I had set aside for him.

So yeah, neat pop culture addition to my non-sports collection.

Since it's Blue Tape And Pull Tab Awareness Week, let's look at how the card was shipped (and hope I don't piss anyone off by being critical).

You can see he went with a used bubble mailer. (A recent Twitter question going around recently is "are you ok with being sent cards in used bubble mailers?" My answer is, yes, absolutely. I've personally never bought new bubble mailers in my life.) The Wiseau card was in a top loader, and in a team bag sandwiched with a few Padres commons as buffer cards. (Funny enough, I also used unwanted Padres cards for buffer cards for the Barry Larkin cards I sent him in a PWE.) Everything is looking good so far, but then he runs into trouble.

It appears the team bag was previously used as it's not very sticky anymore, so Chris put on a piece of tape to keep the cards from falling out. The first misstep was using tan masking tape instead of blue painters tape. Add to that the fact no pull tabs were made, and I'm afraid I have to give a good-natured finger-wagging to Chris here. Even though I have fingernails now (this time last year I was a chronic nailbiter), it still took me a moment or two longer than it should have to peel up the tape. And when I did, the tape stuck to the team bag and stretched it out, ruining the team bag. I already have more used team bags than I'll ever need, so it's not a big deal, but still hate to throw one away.

Overall, the card arrived safe and wasn't too much of a pain to get to. So yeah, if I were to grade this packaging job, I'd give Chris a B+. If he would have used blue tape with pull tabs, it'd be an easy A. (Even one or the other would have likely gotten him to A-.)

Thanks for working out the deal with me, Chris! I hope dissecting your mailing methods for educational purposes doesn't bother you. (Hey, he's a teacher, he can handle it.)

-  -  - ---o

Next is a PWE from Jeremy at Topps Cards That Never Were.

He fit 3 cards into 2 top-loaders, taped together. Ok class, what has Jeremy done wrong here?
That's right, off the bat you can tell he didn't use blue tape or make pull tabs. Those top-loaders are going straight into the trash, as there's no way I'm gonna try to chip off all that scotch tape. But give him credit for putting paper over the top loader openings so the cards won't get stuck on the tape. (And don't fool yourself thinking that isn't a real possibility: JBF once sent me a vintage card that got damaged that way.)

I'm gonna have to give Jeremy a B here. The cards arrived safe, but the packaging could have been better.

(I'm sorry if I'm sounding like an asshole in this post! I'm just trying to keep it real in respect to Blue Tape And Pull Tab Awareness Week. I'm totally cool with these packaging jobs and would not hesitate to trade with Chris and Jeremy again. Just trying to point out that there's room for improvement out there with how people mail cards.)

Anyways, let's get to the cards he sent:

Nice! Three set needs for my 1982 Topps build, including a pair of HOFers.

I'm in the middle of collating my set, now that I'm down to just a few cards remaining. While it's down to just 6, unfortunately I think I might have to add to my wantlist because I'm finding a few cards in there that are beat-up enough to where I'd want to upgrade them.

Not these 3 from Jeremy, though, these are great. Thanks, man! I'll round up a return for you shortly!

------

Last for today is a PWE from Matt at Sport Card Collectors shooting me a little bonus to make up for the mixup in our last trade.

Matt didn't use tape on the cards, rather went the method of using a cut 3-pocket from a 9-pocket page. That seems to work fine, though I'd get nervous doing that for valuable cards, as it's not exactly the most secure way to ship. I at least like to wrap the pocket in a piece of paper or thin cardboard. (Writing "DO NOT BEND" on the envelope probably doesn't do much.) But I'll give it a B+.

A couple Treas and a green Renfroe.

And a couple Tim Duncan rookie cards I needed for the PC. Awesome.. thanks, Matt!

Have a great weekend, everybody.

Blue Tape and Pull-Tab Awareness Week 2018

Shark Week was last week, so you know what that means... It's time once again for Blue Tape and Pull-Tab Awareness Week! It's the week when we collectors rally together to bring awareness to best practices for proper sportscard shipping.

I'm working on some fresh related content for this week, but for now, here's a copy & paste of last year's post.

It's one of the biggest plights for the sportscard collecting enthusiast of today:

Scotch tape.

Specifically, irresponsible usage of scotch tape to protect cards.

Don't get me wrong, tape is a must-have item for anyone who ever ships cards. A piece of tape over the opening of a top loader prevents the card from slipping out and potentially being damaged in shipment. At some point we've all been the victim of a negligent newb card seller who just throws a top-loader into a bubble mailer willy-nilly (or worse yet, a PWE) and you open to the horrific sight of the card poking out, with a dinged corner or two. A few cards secured between a couple pieces of protective cardboard by some tape is also a good way to keep them safe from the rigors of interstate travel.

But too often, the person mailing the cards doesn't take a moment to think about the recipient. I'm sure you've been in the frustrating situation many times: spending what seems like several minutes chipping away at a piece of tape with your fingernail, trying to free your newly obtained card(s). Such a pain! You could also use a knife or scissor blade to cut the tape, but you run the risk of slipping and cutting in too far, potentially damaging the card. And either way, if it's a top loader, now you've got a trashy-looking top loader with a cut-up piece of tape on it.. time to get your fingernails involved again. Depending on the tape, it could take just a moment, or it could be on there so badly (chipping off in tiny brittle bits, or not coming off at all) that the card holder is essentially ruined. Even in the best-case scenario, some Goo Gone is usually needed to remove the sticky tape residue.

This disheartening scene could easily be avoided!

All the sender needs to do is spend two seconds to fold over a tiny piece of tape, creating a handy pull-tab. This pull-tab makes it super easy for the recipient to grab hold of the tape and peel it off in one efficient motion. No dangerous blades or fingernail frustration needed!

And Blue painter's tape is the best tape to use! It costs a little more than regular clear scotch tape, but it comes off so easily and residue-free that your recipient will love you for it! For you thrifty types out there, know that blue tape can be reused several times! If somebody sends you a card with some blue tape, put it aside to use again later with someone else. In fact, here's a look at the desk in my card room in the height of blue tape bloom:

I'm well-stocked on second-hand blue tape! I should probably develop a less tacky-looking solution one of these days. But yeah, I use plenty of blue tape and have never had to actually buy a roll of it.

Now let's do a quick "how to" on pull-tabs.

CREATING A PULL-TAB

Step 1: Apply tape to one side.

Step 2: At the end of the remaining tape, fold over a piece about a centimeter long, with the sticky part being stuck against itself, creating a non-sticky pull-tab roughly the shape of a square.

Step 3: Apply the remaining tape to the other side.

Tips:

• You can also double up on the pull-tabs to make opening cards later even easier. Just follow the above process for each side of the tape you apply.

• It's also nice to write "pull" on either the tab itself or on the protective cardboard with an arrow pointing to the tab. This is helpful for individuals who might not immediately recognize the tab you've thoughtfully created for them.

Advanced Pro Tips:

• To go that extra mile, consider putting a little piece of paper over the top-loader opening, and tape it on (with pull-tabs, of course!) This will help prevent the rare but tragic occurrence of the card sticking to the tape. This is especially a good idea with old vintage cardboard (more prone to sticking and being damaged than today's cards) or when using extra thick top-loaders, such as with relics or other fat cards.
• Tape can be avoided all together with the use of a team bag secured over a top-loader. Some people, like fellow blogger RAZ (check out his method here), go all out and use blue tape, a paper buffer, and a team bag. Bless these heroes!

A+++++ transaction!!! Would deal with again!

Warnings:

• Don't make the tab so big that there's not enough sticky part of the tape left to get a secure seal. You want at least a half-inch of sticky part remaining to ensure that the tape holds during transit. If you've got limited tape length to work with, it's better to have a "too small" pull-tab, than "too big". Even if it's too small, at least the recipient can have a good start for his or her fingernails.

• If you write "pull" to identify the tab, be sure to write gently. Writing too hard could damage the card.

USING A PULL-TAB

Step 1: Pull tab.

Step 2: There is no step 2; you're done, bro! Throw away the tape that easily came off (or if it's blue tape, consider sticking it somewhere to reuse later), and enjoy your new card(s) and pristine top-loader!

It's just that easy! How has this not caught on? It's so easy to do and so handy for the person getting the cards!

I've heard the argument "When you buy a card, you're not buying a toploader or other supplies, only the card." By that logic, you have dinner at a restaurant and expect them to dish out the food directly into your hands. No, of course it's expected that they'll provide a clean plate and any necessary utensils for your food. Buying a card online similarly should imply that the seller will provide adequate service when packaging and shipping the card.

Thanks for reading and thank you for your commitment to excellence in packaging sports cards!