“I’m collecting Pokemon, what size top loaders should I get?”, “Will my patch card fit in a 35pt Mag-Lock Card Case?”, “I don’t understand, why are your measurements in "pt" – what even is that?” These are all questions we have received from people new to the world of trading card collecting who have been left frustrated or confused by the unusual way card thicknesses are measured. But not to worry, by the time you finish this blog post, you will know the thickness of your cards, what "pt" means, and what products are designed to fit your cards!

Firstly, let's cover the question that we perhaps receive most commonly about card thicknesses: “I’m collecting INSERT TCG, what top loaders and Mag-Locks should I get?”. This is a very straightforward answer: most TCGs use, roughly, 12pt cards. So if you’re collecting Pokemon, Magic: The Gathering, Yu Gi Oh!, Wiess Schwarz, either of the Dragon Ball Super card games, etc, you will be wanting to purchase products that are designed to house cards up to 35pts in thickness. You can find them here.

Now, if you’re still reading, you are most likely a sports card collector. Sports cards, unlike typical TCG cards, come in a variety of different thicknesses. Even the average sports card is a little thicker, often fitting better in 55pt accessories.

But it doesn’t stop there! Some sports cards come with pieces of a player’s uniform inside of the card! This makes the thicknesses of these cards blowout way larger than the standard TCG card thickness. If that’s the kind of card you’re looking to protect, you can start looking at accessories specifying 75pts and higher. Some may even need to look at accessories that cater up to 180pts - that’s a whopping 4.5mm of thickness!

For the extra curious out there, 1pt is equal to 0.001" or 0.0254mm - confusing, we know.

For first time users of the "pt" or point measuring system, we know it can be a little tricky to understand and therefore purchase the right sized accessories, which is why we’ve made a handy little graphic which you can print out and use to measure your cards’ thickness with – print out a copy below!

Okay, so now that you’re an expert on card thicknesses, you’re ready to start protecting your cards properly with Palms Off Gaming Mag-Lock Card Cases and Top Loaders! You can find them at your Local Game Store or head over to our website to grab some today.