General Forum

I have cards that have bricked over time. Is there a safe and practical way of separating them.

Nothing works.  Microwave, Freezer, Hair Dryer, Intense Sun, etc, etc.  none of them work.  All you can do is try to see if you can separate them into smaller stacks and then with both hands twist the smaller pile and see if you can get any crack sounds.  If you can get crack sounds, then you should be able to peel the cards away from each other, but will have paper loss for sure.   Upper Deck 1993 Baseball, Upper DecK 1993-94 Basketball are particularly BAD. 

Use them as weapons 🤷🏻‍♂️😉

Great for kindling. But unfortunetly there is no sure way of getting them free, without some damage. Jeff

Some send them in trade without warning the other member.

Instead of twisting the cards take a section and flex the ends and then sides a few times like you were going to shuffle them in a game of cards.

I got into my car on a hot summer day and wondered what would happen if you left a bricked stack in there all day and just let them bake. Then try to separate them immediately after removing them...probably nothing good.

Keep them in a humidity and temperature controlled room, and give them lots of time. Worked for me. See my results in this video. 

https://youtu.be/0SM7PiIs8_w?feature=shared

that’s exactly what i was going to recommend!  loosen them with moisture, separate them, then dry them back out.

I had gotten 4 sealed wax of 1996 Score football because the lcs owner said they were bricked and they were trash. I gave one box to a co-worker and opened one myself. All of the regular cards were not able to be separated without significant damage. The only ones that were not damaged at all were the parallels which I think is because they are not on glossy card stock. I never tried the freezer trick and of course I've heard it doesnt' actually work. I put the other 2 wax in my freezer but I never took them out. I think i'll keep them in there awhile longer lol.