Toploader sizes for Pokémon cards: 35pt and what the points mean

A regular 3 by 4 inch toploader rated 35pt is the size made for a Pokémon card. Ultra PRO's own toploader chooser lists "Standard trading card in a penny sleeve (MTG, Pokémon, sports)" against its 35pt Regular Toploader, and its Pikachu-branded toploaders for the Pokémon TCG are 35pt too. BCW's standard toploader is also 35pt.

The point number is the thickness of card a holder takes, in thousandths of an inch, so the thicker sizes (55pt up to 360pt) are for thick cards: the makers name patch and relic cards and other multi-layer inserts, and both put a Pokémon card at 35pt. The rest of this guide sets out what a point is, the sizes two manufacturers sell, why the sleeve goes on first, magnetic holders, what one grading company asks for, and the jumbo cards that need a holder of their own.

What "35pt" means

BCW defines it: "One point is equivalent to .001 inches or .0254 millimeters." So a 35pt toploader takes a card up to 0.035 inches, about 0.89 mm, thick. Ultra PRO's numbers fit the same reading: its 130pt toploader has an inside depth of 0.138 inches.

The two big makers put a standard card's thickness slightly differently. Ultra PRO says "Standard trading cards are 35 pt." BCW puts standard cards at 20pt to 35pt and says most trading card game cards fall in that range. Neither gives a measured thickness for a Pokémon card, so this guide does not either; both name 35pt as the size for one.

The sizes on sale

Every figure below is the manufacturer's own, read on October 15, 2026. All of these are for standard 2.5 by 3.5 inch cards and measure about 3 by 4 inches outside:

BCW's standard toploader measures 3 by 4-1/16 inches outside and 2-3/4 by 3-7/8 inches inside, with 12 mil panels; its thick holders keep the same face size and get deeper. Vault X gives the inside of its 35pt toploader as 70 by 98 mm. Ultra PRO states the inside size of only its 130pt holder (2.75 by 3.88 by 0.138 inches), and that page lists the holder as 130pt in one line and 120pt in another.

Ultra PRO's chooser puts 55pt to 130pt toploaders against "patch cards, jersey relics, multi-layer inserts, thick hits", and BCW describes its 138pt holder as for "thicker trading cards, relics, and memorabilia".

Penny sleeve first

Ultra PRO's guide says "Always sleeve your card first," and Ultra PRO describes its penny sleeves as recommended for use with its toploaders. BCW says a penny sleeve inside a toploader "provides excellent protection" and sells the two together. BCW's penny sleeve measures 2-5/8 by 3-5/8 inches outside, against the 2-3/4 by 3-7/8 inch inside of its standard toploader. Neither maker states that a card in a perfect fit or a deck sleeve fits a regular toploader; the sleeves guide has the sizes of each kind of sleeve.

Magnetic holders

A magnetic holder (Ultra PRO calls its line ONE-TOUCH) closes around the card instead of the card sliding in. Ultra PRO states the same point sizes for them: 35pt, 55pt, 75pt, 100pt, 130pt and 180pt for standard cards, and it says its UV ONE-TOUCH holders use "UV-blocking additives" without giving a percentage. The regular 35pt ONE-TOUCH says nothing about sleeves. For a sleeved card Ultra PRO sells the ONE-TOUCH X, which it says fits a 35pt standard card inside a sleeve up to its Platinum sleeve size.

Sending cards for grading

CGC's shipping page asks for each card in a protective sleeve and then in a semi-rigid sleeve, one "sturdy enough to allow us to remove the card safely"; the page does not mention toploaders. A semi-rigid holder is a stiff but flexible sleeve that is larger than a toploader: BCW's Semi-Rigid #1 measures 3-5/16 by 4-15/16 inches outside and takes cards up to 35pt. Cardboard Gold, which makes the Card Saver I, says the Card Saver I "is recommended by PSA to send cards in for grading" and that its Card Saver 2 "is not for grading company submissions". That is the maker's statement: PSA's and Beckett's own submission pages could not be read for this guide, so check theirs before sending.

Jumbo cards

Pokémon jumbo cards are not standard size. BCW gives them as 6 by 8 inches before 2020 and 5.75 by 8 inches after, says it makes no box for them, and suggests a 6 by 9 inch toploader even though it is a little too tall. Ultra PRO lists specialty oversized toploaders for "Pokémon XL" cards without stating their size.

Storing toploaders

Toploaders take more room than sleeved cards. BCW's 14-inch toploader box holds about 210 standard toploaders. Ultra PRO's 4-pocket pages hold four cards in toploaders up to 130pt and fit a standard 3-ring binder, and its 4-pocket toploader binder holds 80 cards in standard toploaders. The binder size guide lists the toploader binders with their capacities.

Where to look on eBay

The buttons below open eBay searches for each kind of holder, in eBay's own order, with no price filter: the site keeps no prices for toploaders.

What changes and what stays

Dated figures: every size, dimension and capacity in this guide is a manufacturer's statement as read on October 15, 2026, and so is the grading guidance quoted from CGC and Cardboard Gold. A manufacturer can change a product or a page under the same name, and the site keeps a record of each value with its source and the day it was read, so the guide can be checked against them later. A grading company can change what it asks for at any time.

Lasting facts: a point is a thousandth of an inch, a Pokémon card is a standard 2.5 by 3.5 inch card that both makers put in a 35pt toploader, and thicker toploaders are for thicker cards. Those change only if card stock or card sizes change.

Bottom line

A Pokémon card in a penny sleeve goes in a regular 3 by 4 inch, 35pt toploader, the size Ultra PRO and BCW both name for standard trading cards. A point is a thousandth of an inch, so the 55pt to 360pt holders are for thick relic and patch cards. Magnetic holders come in the same point sizes, with a separate model for sleeved cards, and CGC asks for a sleeved card in a semi-rigid holder, not a toploader. Jumbo cards need an oversized holder: BCW suggests 6 by 9 inches.