A few weeks ago, Go GTS published an article about some new Ultra PRO items. One Ultra Pro item in particular really intrigued me – the black border one touch.
I’m a guy that’s moved in the vintage direction in the last couple of years. I understand that PSA is the grading company of choice for most. Beckett appears to be the second most popular. However, I prefer SGC. The primary reason is the black bordered cases. They are the most visually appealing to my eyes and I’m one that encourages collectors to collect what YOU like.
I shared the tweet on Twitter from my card account (@beansbcardblog) and was surprised to receive a handful of replies. In general, I don’t receive replies when I’m sharing blog posts or industry news on Twitter. All replies were positive and I was thrilled to see others sharing my opinion.
I wanted to get my hands on one of these to review and was successful. I bring you my thoughts on them and a few pictures.
When I first saw the post my thoughts immediately went to vintage cards. I mentioned that I SGC is my grader of choice but that just applies to vintage. I have no preference on modern cards but due to being close to Beckett, if I submit anything it’s to them.
If I’m going to show show pictures of a vintage card, I might as well go big, right?
I definitely like the look better with the black bordered case. What I liked better on this particular card was the back because of the color.
The red certainly pops against the black. That leads me to where my thoughts went after vintage. I am a Chicago Blackhawks fan and some of my favorite cards are ones with black or red borders. It hit me that those red borders might look very nice.
Without a doubt, it lived up to my expectations. In part due to a four year-old iPhone camera and part due to the shadow I couldn’t get around, the pictures do the actual look no justice. If you’ve read my posts before, you know that I’m not here to blow smoke up anyone’s arse. If I think something sucks, I’ll say it.
I do have one criticism of the product, but it won’t stop me from purchasing them. Unfortunately, only the front piece of the two-part holder is black. The back piece is clear.
This is the first time that I’ve reviewed something and assigned a “score.” I’m going to use three beans as what I can assign, one for each “B” in the blog name. I’m giving this product 2.75 out of three beans.
These aren’t out on the market yet but per the Go GTS post are scheduled to release in March. So, what say you? Do you have any interest in these whatsoever? Why or why not? PLEASE leave a comment below either way. I’d love to hear your thoughts and maybe someone from Ultra Pro will read this.
Happy collecting!
I rarely use one touch holders and if I did I think I would still go for the clear. However, I could see a few times when a black one touch would help a card pop that would make me want one. So long as there was not a big price jump.
Thanks for the review – not a lot of information out there about these now. I actually really dislike the distracting gold magnet in the normal one touch holders, so these look great to me. I’m not sure if they’ll look great with every single card, but I’m excited to give them a try.
Hey there partner,
Those are most definitely good lookin’ & appears as they would boost individual sales, as you commented especially on the vintage side. My questions would be, cost per unit?.
And will there only be (1) size produced?
Good Stuff, & Much Appreciated!
Semper Fi, DeMac
SGC is much better with pre-war stuff. They grade a good deal of it and I feel like most ore-war collectors trust them and their grades over the others. PSA seems to be clueless about the odd cuts and sizes of some of the older stuff even straight out of the factory.