We get this question quite often, so I figured I would post it in a review.  First off, All Card Savers are semi-rigid holders.  What this means is that they are fairly flexible.  If you are looking for a non-flexible holder, you would want to shop for a Top Loader and not a Card Saver.  Another note to keep in mind is that there are many companies out there that try to pass their product off as a Card Saver.  These are cheap imitations.  There is only ONE Card Saver and this is manufactured by Cardboard Gold.  Any other company cannot use the name Card Saver.  Now for the difference between the five types of Card Savers.

Card Saver 1 - This is primarily used for graded card submissions.  If you are going to send a card to PSA, Beckett, etc., then this is the holder that you want to use.  Card Saver 1's can also be used for storage of thicker cards or slighty larger cards like early 50's baseball (if you don't want to use a top loader).  If you want to store regular sized cards the Card Saver 1 is NOT your best option.  The best option would be...

Card Saver 2 - This is ideal for storing your regular cards.  These are similar in size to top loaders, so they fit in most cardboard storage boxes.  One question you may ask is why would you want to store your cards in a Card Saver 2 instead of a top loader.  The Card Savers are semi-rigid (flexible) right?  It's really personal preference.  Our store sells both top loaders and Card Saver 2's for about the same price (currently around $4.00 for 100 of them as of 12/27/06 - note we are much cheaper than the competition, but that's another review for another day).  Card Savers to take up a little less room that top loaders.  Another thing would be that you can use Card Savers without putting the card in a soft sleeve first (although I still use sleeves regardless to be safe).  If you use a top loader, you ALWAYS want to use a soft sleeve for the card before you place it in a top loader.

Card Saver 3 - These work for the 3x5 trading cards like Gameday, and 70's football and basketball cards.  They are the same as the Card Saver 2 except for their size.

Card Saver 4 - These are ideal for over sized trading cards up to 4x6 in size.  Another popular use for the CS4 is storage of postcards and pictures.

Card Saver 5 - CS5's are 3x7 in size and used primarily for storage of paper currency and tickets.

There you have it.  If there is any confusion or have any further questions, feel free to drop us an e-mail at sales @ columbiasportscard.com.  Hope this helps you in your card storage decision making.