Advice on a Binder for a Gift

[Arianrhod]

Background: one of my best friends (/was roommate in college) is our area's "P3K guy." I'm guessing that most of you know what I'm talking about. He likes P3K cards in general, has 4x Recruiters and 1x Retainers in mint condition that he proudly uses in Imperial Painter and Maverick respectively, wants to get Ravages and Seal for his Zur EDH, and so on. Recently he decided that he wanted to start working on a mint English set of P3K, with one copy of every card. He's still in his planning stage, and I think I can guide him away from getting anything too much just yet since I think this would make a good area to get him a nice gift (note that this is for Christmas, and yes, I know I'm starting really early. I tend to do that).

My question for you guys, then, would be what would be a really high quality binder that won't damage the cards, but it good for showing off and is of sturdy quality etc. I've used a variety of binders in the past for trades, personal collection, etc...my favorite is Monster, but I'm not sure how good a Monster binder would be for the long-term storage of a collection like this. Additionally, I worry about how some of the pages can be too close to the center, which lead to cards getting damaged (bent). If anyone has any advice for something like this, I'd love to hear it.

Thanks.

[Seraph2k]

I am using the warcraft onyxia binder since two years. From 1995 to 2010 I used different ultro pro binders which are nice, but when I got my first onyxia I realized that I have to move all my important cards to some of these binders.
google them, try them and love them ;)

[mini1337s]

Based on personal experience, Monster is by and far the best. It is a quality product, and I never worry about ruining cards when people look through.

[sdematt]

I only use a Monster binder for all of my Beta duals and other goodies. Everything else is crap, from my experience.

-Matt

[Arianrhod]

If Matt is using a Monster for his betas, that means a lot =P

Looks like a Monster it is -- thanks for your replies!

[dahcmai]

Oh and tell that guy to have fun putting together that particular set. It took me years and I finished a set of just about everything else before managing to find a minty copy of everything for P3K. It's a serious challenge especially if he's going for the English versions.

Go for Overwhelming Forces and Wolf Pack early, those 2 cards are a serious pain to track down without paying seriously premium prices.

[Warr]

I had some Monster binders and noticed the pages would stick together, especially if left in the heat. I've heard rumors that the pages will actually melt together and ruin cards. Don't know if they still have this problem but thought you might want to know.

Since then, Ultra-Pro has come out with their own side-loading binders and I now use 3 of them for my Legacy/Vintage playset. No sticking pages there. One of them is (faux) leather-bound and would be pretty nice for displaying a complete set.

--Warr

[GnuHouse]

While my collection is NOWHERE near what others have, I've got a couple of Ultra Pro side loading binders and love them. The only thing I would recommend is getting the faux leather one. The elastic band that keeps the binder closed has a tendency to fray on the hard plastic ones since it rubs up against the edge.