Posted in: Card Games, Games, Tabletop | Tagged: AITME, buffy the vampire slayer, Pokemon TCG, TCG, trading cards

Trading Card Binder Review: AITIME 4-Pocket Zippered Binder

One of the biggest decisions a trading card game collector can make is deciding how to display their cards. In order to help out fellow collectors, this brand new series Trading Card Binder Review will take us through binders being sold as premium display items to see which products live up to the hype and which aren't worthy to store your big hitters. Whether you collect Pokémon TCG, Dragon Ball Super Card Game, Digimon, or any other CCG/TCG, I hope this helps you on your journey. Today, let's take a look at something a little more compact than the 9-pocket big boys we've been reviewing with the AITIME 4-Pocket Zippered Binder.

AITIME 4-Pocket Zippered Binder: The Details

• On Amazon, it's listed as: 160 Pockets Trading Cards Binder Album, 4-Pocket Side Loading PP Card Sleeves, Zippered Yugioh Pokemon MTG Card Protection Book for Collector
• Color options: Blue or black
• Side-loading sleeves for the cards
• Zips shut
• No rings

The Good

• Plushy feel: The mixture of a leather texture with a cushion below it makes this feel like the seat of a luxury car. From the binder in my collection, and I have many, this is unique. This may not be a bonus for anyone either, but you'll notice I put stickers on my binders to denote what card game and what set I have included within (in this case, the first Buffy the Vampire Slayer set!), and I do want to note that these hold the stickers better than most binders.
• Works with its limitations: 4-pocket binders tend to be more limited than 9-pocket and 12-pocket binders, leading to some display issues such as page ramping. However, of the 4-pocket zippers of this size that I've used, issues like that are minimal here. See above how the binder is able to lay flat without any page arching. That is very uncommon for binders of this size.
• Price: At $1700, it can't be beaten.

The Bad

• Spine size: This is such a small quibble, but the thinner spine with the larger page count makes the book bulge when zipped up. However, I don't even know if I'd change it, because I am certain that whatever went into designing the spine is likely responsible for the way the binder lays flat so perfectly.
• Smudges: All you'll notice above, the material on the black binder is very smudgeable. No matter how clean your hands can be, and I'm a not ashamed to say I wash mine obsessively, this is prone to smudge. Oddly, that is not the case for the blue binder. I don't know if there's some kind of waxiness to the material of the black binder but while this isn't a huge problem, it's something I noticed right away.

AITIME 4-Pocket Zippered Binder: Final Rating

9/10: While I can't rate this against what I'd consider the superior format of 9-pocket binder, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a better or even equal 4-pocket binder that zips, especially at this value.

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