"Ultra Pro Nine Pocket Pages" are a product released by Ultra Pro for trading and gaming card storage. The product allows collectors to place their standard size trading cards in a clear device which makes display, storage and transportation safer and more convenient. The product is currently under mass production and is widely available online and at specialist collector stores.

As someone who is into postage stamp collecting and other ephemera, my knowledge in these areas was easily transferable to my trading cards. When I was younger I enjoyed collecting ice hockey cards but my passion for these soon faded and remained in a folder using a similar pocket page. It wasn't until recently that I came across my childhood collection and decided to look further into it. I soon found that the pocket pages were made of plastics and other solvents which can be more cheaply made but may harm paper based material over a longer period of time. I also discovered that my collection was of little value, but I decided to reward my fond childhood memories by giving my cards the treatment they deserve.

The name "Ultra Pro" frequently came up in my search for archival safe, PVC free and acid free products. Their name appears synonymous with trading card storage and appears to be the hobby standard at this time. Further reading into the topic confirmed this and several collectors appeared adamant that Ultra Pro was the way to go. I placed a private order with someone I had been discussing the topic with and received my pockets pages shortly thereafter.

Each box of Ultra Pro Nine Pocket Pages contains 100 pages which would hold 900 trading cards. A more savvy individual could store two trading cards per pocket and double the page capacity but there is some storage qualms about doing this; if a product were to "rot away" per say then this process may affect the second item stored alongside it. I have found the pages suitable for modern sports cards but also also supported by trading card games, namely "Blood Wars" and "Magic The Gathering", quite well. The product comes packed in an attractive black, blue and white box which can easily be opened using the cutting guides and propped up into a sort of shop display. I didn't find this necessary for too long as my order covered my entire collection and I discarded the boxes after use.

I immediately noticed a difference between the plastic pages I had been using previously and Ultra Pro's Nine Pocket Page and that is their flimsiness. Polypropylene, the lightweight material used to construct this product, does not contain the rigidness of a typical plastic and can become very unstable with harsh treatment. It's unlikely that a typical collector would intentionally abuse his or her collection but should it fall into the wrong hands then the situation could be dire. A few of my pages came across as having air bubbles and this could be down to rough packing procedures at the factory. While this bubbled appearance is unlikely to affect storage quality, it isn't the most pleasant thing to look at. Luckily I have a few of my lowest value items in these damaged pages so I'm not overly affected by the issue. The pages themselves are tough in their construction and are described as having "super strong welds". What could be binding the material together is something I don't know, and I do wonder if the welding material may harm my cards over time thus defeating the purpose of an archival safe product.

The fit of these pages could be described as "snug". There is very little room for movement of my cards which should fix their position for a lifetime. This is important to me as I transport my cards frequently from one area to another and the items could be damaged through rough handling in the form of corner dings or other minuscule cosmetic blemishes. The tightness offered from the product should prevent this and I don't worry about movers or packers carelessly throwing my folders around. The pages also fit nicely into a standard A4 ring binder with no obvious corners or edges poking up from inside of it.

Only time will reveal if the Ultra Pro Nine Pocket Pages safely preserve my cards. I can confidently say that I feel the product will live up to its expectations, and would happily recommend this product to those seeking an archival safe storage device for trading cards. The product is currently available from Amazon UK at the price of £18 before shipping and handling charges.