While pulling big cards is thrilling, keeping them protected is crucial. In Cardlines’ quest to keep up up-to-date on the latest products in the sports card industry, this post will review a product that will do precisely that. Read on for our groundbreaking Pro-Mold Magnetic Trading Card Holder review.

The Pro-Mold 35pt Magnetic One-Touch with Penny Sleeve is a one-touch—or “mag,” as many people call them because of their magnet fasten—that is sized to hold a card with a penny sleeve.

For this review, I purchased them at this eBay listing, buying 5 for $13.99. Or, $2.80/mag.

Let’s take a look at the product.

Pro-Mold one-touches are a solid alternative (get Pro-Mold on Amazon).

What Is A One-Touch

A one-touch is a catchy name for a sports cardholder with a magnetic seal at the top. You can use your finger to easily snap it open or closed when you want to introduce or remove the card from the one-touch protector.

It has several advantages over regular toploaders. It has so-called diamond corners, which avoid making contact with and damaging your cards. Newer one-touches also include UV protection so that your card will not fade in the sunlight.

Purpose and Uniqueness: A One-Touch with a Sleeve

The Pro-Mold 35pt Magnetic One-Touch with Penny Sleeve is a great-looking product intended to keep your cards safe and secure.

It’s different from most mags because it is sized to hold a penny sleeve, as its lengthy name implies. Most mags are sized to hold the card instead, which can damage both the corners (some mags have diamond cut-out corners, however) and the card’s face if it moves around at all.

I’ve known collectors that lay a penny sleeve on the face of a card in a mag to prevent scratching, and this is the mag that fixes the issue. So if you’re a collector that loves the look of a mag, this is an excellent product for you.

The other selling point beyond security is UV protection. According to the UV Spec Sheet, the Ametek testing revealed a U.V. Transmittance percentage of only 0.6, meaning your card will be protected from direct exposure to the sun for a long time. According to Pro-Mold, that protection lasts up to five years (pro-tip, don’t leave your cards worth magging out in the sun for five years either way).

The product from the front and the side (picture taken from Pro-Mold).

Quality: Built to Last Comp with Ultra-Pro

The Pro-Mold is a high-quality product that feels like it’s built to last, and I’ve come across some mags that are definitely not like that.

As you probably know, Ultra-Pro has a good market share of the one-touch industry, and I’d previously fallen for the line of thinking that it a mag wasn’t worth buying if it wasn’t Ultra-Pro. So I was admittedly a bit skeptical when I picked these up on eBay.

I was also wrong.

This case feels sturdier than any mag I’ve ever used, and adding the penny sleeve sizing is quite a great addition. In fact, I put a (veteran base) card in this one-touch and shook it pretty aggressively—the card would not budge. Very impressive.

My one negative observation was that it was difficult to open the magnet at the top, but that also means it’s incredibly secure, and you’re card’s essentially locked in place once you get it sleeved and in place.

My only other complaint/surprise was that I needed a penny sleeve. I hadn’t grabbed one because I thought the “35 Point with Penny Sleeve” meant a penny sleeve was included in the case, but this wasn’t the case. Easy fix, though.

How does Pro-Mold compare with Ultra-Pro? (get Ultra-Pro one-touches on Amazon).

Pricing And Where to Order

As mentioned, I picked my Pro-Mold 35pt Magnetic One-Touch with Penny Sleeve’s up on eBay, paying $13.99 for 5.

Fortunately, there are other places to order these cases without paying nearly $3 apiece.

As with almost all supplies, you’ll get a better unit price the more you buy. Collectible Supplies, for example, has a box of 25 for $35, or $1.40 each. That’s the best price on the market.

Pro-Mold doesn’t sell the product on their website. Instead, they run it through third-party distributors, but even Amazon runs over $2 per mag.

The 25 for $35 price seems like a steal compared to some alternatives. However, if you don’t want to buy that many, pick up a smaller lot of these on eBay to test them for yourself.

Comparing To The Competition

And now to the most exciting part of the Pro-Mold Magnetic Trading Card Holder review. How does the Pro-Mold compare to the Ultra-Pro?

Pretty great, actually.

In terms of price, a box of 25 Ultra-Pro mags will run you about $70, and you can buy the same amount of Pro-Molds for between $35-50.

On top of that, Ultra-Pro has yet to create a mag that has room for a penny-sleeve, meaning the Pro-Molds are better with protecting cards.

Most Ultra-Pros have frosted borders, meaning the edge of the mag is not translucent. This feature is intended to make the card stand out more, but I don’t notice a tremendous difference visually.

Both Ultra-Pros and Pro-Molds come in a variety of points or sizes. I just picked up the 35-point since it’s standard.

Finally, the Pro-Mold feels as solidly built as the Ultra-Pro, if not a bit sturdier. Usually, the bottom clasps of my Ultra-Pro mags rattle a bit, and I haven’t noticed that with the Pro-Molds after about a week of using them.

Our intrepid reviewer putting the on-touch into action.

Bottomline Of The Pro-Mold Magnetic Trading Card Holder Review

While Ultra-Pro is the established big-dog of magnetic one-touches, Pro-Mold’s product is just as sturdy and more innovative, coming at a better price point. I’d encourage any collector to pick up a few and see what you think.

I’m not a mag guy. I don’t see them as hugely superior to toploaders, and they cost around 6-10x as much, so I’ve never been one to use them too much. Instead, I ship in top-loaders or card savers (between cardboard squares) and have never received any complaints about damage in shipping throughout 1,000+ transactions.

In other words, you don’t need mags to keep your cards safe or secure. Of course, five years of UV protection is great, but hopefully, you don’t lay your cards on the sidewalk every morning to bake.  To me, mags are more about the look and a way to display your higher-end cards.

Buy; if that’s what you’re into, go for it. I have a few mags myself, and it’s the nicer cards of my collection that I keep in them. Visually, they’re eye-catching compared to top-loaders.

One of the best parts of collecting is figuring out what type of display makes your collection pop and embracing it. If you’re into mags, the Pro-Mold Magnetic One-Touch with a Penny Sleeve is as good as they come.