A toploader is a simple way to give a trading card much more protection than a soft sleeve can provide on its own. Put the card in a sleeve first, slide it into the rigid holder and it becomes much harder to bend, crease or damage while it is being stored or handled.
For normal Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, One Piece and Lorcana cards, a standard 35pt toploader is what most collectors need. You do not need anything complicated or game-specific for ordinary cards.
Our first choice is the Ultra PRO 3 × 4 Clear Regular Toploader. The 100-pack is useful if you collect regularly, and buying toploaders in larger quantities will normally work out cheaper per holder than repeatedly buying small packs. Vault X is a good alternative if you only need 25 and like its seamless design, while MintKeeper lets you choose between 25, 50 and 100.
| Toploader | Pack options | Size | Why choose it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ultra PRO Regular | 100 | 35pt | Our overall choice |
| Vault X Seamless | 25 | 35pt | Good smaller pack |
| MintKeeper Regular | 25, 50 or 100 | 35pt | Choice of quantity |
The best toploaders for trading cards
Ultra PRO 3 × 4 Clear Regular Toploaders
The link below is an Amazon affiliate link.
Pack: 100
Card thickness: Up to 35pt
Outer size: 3 × 4 inches
Card size: Up to 2.5 × 3.5 inches
Material: Rigid PVC
Ultra PRO is probably the brand most collectors think of when they picture a standard toploader. These are the normal clear 3 × 4-inch rigid holders used for Pokémon, MTG and other standard trading cards.
The listing we have chosen contains 100 toploaders, which is one of the main reasons we like it. If you regularly open packs, buy singles, sell cards or simply like putting your better pulls into rigid holders, it does not take long to work through a small pack.
Buying a larger quantity also usually brings the cost per toploader down. That matters with something like this because there is very little benefit in paying extra for individual holders when you know you are going to use dozens of them over time.
The important thing is to put the card into a soft sleeve before it goes into the toploader. The sleeve protects the card surface, while the rigid Ultra PRO holder helps protect it from bending, creasing and knocks.
For most collectors, that is really all a toploader needs to do. Ultra PRO is a well-known option, the sizing is standard and the 100-pack means you can keep a supply ready rather than having to buy more every time you pull a card you want to protect.
Vault X 35pt Seamless Rigid Toploaders
The link below is an Amazon affiliate link.
Pack: 25
Card thickness: Up to 35pt
Internal size: 70 × 98 mm
Material: Rigid PVC
The Vault X toploaders do the same basic job as the Ultra PRO holders, but come in a smaller 25-pack and use a seamless design. If you only have a handful of cards you want to protect, buying 25 may make more sense than keeping 100 holders around.
The internal space measures 70 × 98 mm and is designed for normal trading cards up to 35pt. That gives a standard sleeved Pokémon or MTG card enough room to slide inside without needing a special holder.
Vault X also gives particularly clear information about the material used. It describes the rigid PVC as archival-safe and free from plasticisers and stearates, which is useful if you are planning to leave cards in the holders for a long time.
We like the cleaner seamless construction, but we would not pretend it completely changes how well a normal card is protected. Once the card is sleeved and inside a correctly sized rigid holder, both Vault X and Ultra PRO are doing essentially the same job.
If you only need 25 toploaders, though, Vault X is an easy choice.
MintKeeper Regular 35pt Toploaders
The link below is an Amazon affiliate link.
Pack options: 25, 50 or 100
Card thickness: Up to 35pt
Outer size: 3 × 4 inches
Fits cards up to: 70 × 98 mm
MintKeeper gives you the most choice over how many toploaders you buy. The same listing has 25, 50 and 100-pack options, so you can buy a small amount for a few favourite cards or go straight for the larger pack if you use them regularly.
As you would expect, buying the larger packs generally reduces the cost per toploader. If you know you will eventually use 100, it usually makes more sense to buy them together rather than keep replacing packs of 25.
These are again standard 35pt holders. MintKeeper lists Pokémon and MTG among the compatible card games, and the same size also works for other normal trading cards.
MintKeeper recommends putting the card into a soft sleeve before inserting it into the rigid holder, which is exactly how we would use them. You do not need to use a MintKeeper sleeve specifically. Any suitable soft sleeve that fits comfortably inside the toploader can provide that first layer of protection.
What size toploader do you need for trading cards?
For ordinary trading cards, 35pt is the standard size most collectors need. Normal Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, One Piece and Lorcana cards can all be used with a standard 35pt toploader.
You will also see thicker holders labelled 55pt, 75pt, 100pt, 130pt and above. These are for cards that are physically thicker than a normal trading card and are more common with sports cards, memorabilia cards and similar collectibles.
If you are protecting an ordinary TCG card, there is usually no reason to overthink it. Buy the normal 35pt version.
Should you sleeve cards before putting them in a toploader?
Yes. We would always put a card we care about into a soft sleeve before putting it into a toploader.
The sleeve and toploader protect the card in different ways. The soft sleeve sits directly around the card and helps protect the surface from fingerprints, rubbing and light scratches. The rigid toploader then gives the card much better protection against bending and pressure.
The normal order is:
Card → soft sleeve → toploader.
A basic penny sleeve is particularly useful because it adds very little thickness and normally slides easily into a 35pt holder. Other trading card sleeves can work too as long as the finished card is not too tight inside the toploader.
You should not have to force the card in. If the sleeved card feels too wide or needs significant pressure, use a different sleeve or holder.
Best toploaders for Pokémon cards
Pokémon cards do not need special Pokémon-branded toploaders. A standard sleeved Pokémon card fits a normal 35pt trading card toploader, including all three options above.
For a few valuable pulls or favourite cards, a smaller pack such as the 25 Vault X holders may be enough. If you regularly open Pokémon products or have a large collection, the 100-pack Ultra PRO or larger MintKeeper options make more sense because you will probably use them eventually.
You also do not need to put every Pokémon card into a rigid holder. For a normal collection, good sleeves and a trading card binder can be perfectly suitable. Toploaders are useful when you want more rigid protection for individual cards, particularly valuable pulls, cards being transported or cards you simply want to keep separately.
Do MTG, Yu-Gi-Oh!, One Piece and Lorcana need different toploaders?
Magic: The Gathering, One Piece and Disney Lorcana cards use the same broad standard trading card size as Pokémon. A normal 35pt toploader works for all of them.
Yu-Gi-Oh! cards are smaller, at around 59 × 86 mm. You can still use a standard toploader, but the card will naturally have more space around it inside the holder.
We would put the Yu-Gi-Oh! card into a correctly sized Japanese-size sleeve first and then put the sleeved card into the toploader. The smaller sleeve sizes are covered separately in our Yu-Gi-Oh! card sleeves guide.
Can you put toploaders in a binder?
Yes, but you need a binder made for toploaders. A normal card binder pocket is designed for a bare or sleeved trading card and will usually be too small for a rigid 3 × 4-inch holder.
Toploader binders use larger pockets so you can keep the card inside its rigid holder and still organise the collection like a normal album.
The downside is bulk. A binder filled with rigid plastic holders gets heavy and thick fairly quickly, so we would normally reserve this type of storage for cards where we specifically want the extra protection.
Toploader or Card Saver?
A toploader is a rigid holder and makes sense for everyday collection storage, transporting individual cards and protecting cards from bending.
A Card Saver is a larger semi-rigid holder. These are commonly used when cards are being sent for grading because grading companies can have specific requirements about how submissions are packaged.
For example, PSA currently asks customers to use a clear penny sleeve followed by a semi-rigid holder rather than sending cards in standard toploaders.
If you are simply protecting cards at home, a toploader is usually the more obvious choice. If the card is being sent for grading, follow the grading company’s current instructions.
Which trading card toploaders should you choose?
For most collectors, we would start with the Ultra PRO 3 × 4 Clear Regular Toploaders. You get 100 standard 35pt holders in the pack, which makes sense if you collect regularly and means you are unlikely to run out every time you pull or buy another card worth protecting.
The Vault X 35pt Seamless Rigid Toploaders are a good choice if you only need a smaller pack. We also like the seamless construction and the amount of information Vault X provides about its holder dimensions and materials.
The MintKeeper 35pt Toploaders give you the most flexibility because you can choose 25, 50 or 100 from the same listing. If you expect to use a lot of them, moving up to a larger pack will normally reduce how much each individual toploader costs.
Beyond that, there is not much reason to complicate the decision. For a normal trading card, use a 35pt toploader, put the card into a soft sleeve first and replace the holder if it becomes cracked or badly damaged.
