Does any one else have the problem with foils bending on their own?? I have been noticing this a lot lately and it is driving me crazy. For the most part, if it is a Uncommon or more, I do not play with it and they either wind up in an album or in toploaders, but my commons get played. Even with cards in sleeve protectors, I have noticed that the cards seem to curve in the middle.

I actually just got some foils in from an ebay order and it is the same thing all cards were packed in 4 and looked to have been stored properly but they all have a warp to them.

Happens to me often in combination with Dragonshield sleeves.

Yep, they have a tendency to bend on their own. Supposedly fixable if you cram them tightly into a box, so they bend against each other.

Is it deemed acceptable in a trade? I have some concerns with shipping out some higher end foils if it is considered not be NM/M.

I've come to expect that from foils. I don't believe it has a significant impact on value.

HikingStick wrote:I've come to expect that from foils. I don't believe it has a significant impact on value.

Same here, and I do a lot of trading specifically for foils.

Weather effects foils a lot. In colder weather, as things shrink due to physics, foils tend to "wrap" inward on themselves.

Easy ways to fix this are keep your foils inside a warmer area for a time period really heavy books. Conversely, you can just pack them tight inside of a card box with other cards as well. Still keep them in a warmer climate to allow them to expand a bit to bend back into shape better. I always make sure to pack boxes FULL so there is no room for Foils to bend. In my 15 years of collecting, my 15-year-old foils are still flat because of this.

I also would suggest maintaining all foils in sleeves unless you keep a full box. Especially if you prefer double sleeving with KMCs perfect fit clear sleeves and a regular sleeve. The combination of that makes it harder for the foils to warp, although they still can.

Short of making sure that foils are not snug against a flat surface constantly, all foils will bend due due to weather or naturally over time sitting sidewards in boxes.

Also, don't forget that if you *play* with lots of foils, the standard riffle shuffle worsens the problem. It's also why I take curvature of foils into account for over-all wear and value. When I shuffle my own cards, I personally prefer side-shuffling, but I will riffle shuffle both ways (face-down and face-up). That way my cards experience the same bend in both directions to keep them from getting the standard "play bend". Doesn't prevent it or 100% stop curving foils or bent cards, but definitely slows it down or makes it little noticeable.

As far as trading goes, a high curvature of a Foil I would mark as HP (heavy play), or Good Condition. The more flat the card is compared to a high-curved Foil moves back toward Very Good, etc (rest-of-card-condition pending of course too).