We usually sleeve games once its obvious we are going to play it a lot. Terraforming Mars, Clank, Dominion, Ark Nova all come to mind. But sometimes the sleeves are rather sticky. It feels like good sleeves are super expensive.
Dragon Shield Matte are amazing! IMO I haven’t felt an experience of holding cards like Dragon Shield (and I’ve used a lot of other sleeves for games that don’t fit the standard card size). Just my two cents.
It’s true, and you will have to weigh up the cost versus the benefits like I had to. For me, I tend to cycle through my games (if they don’t get played, then I sell/pass them on) so I tend to reuse sleeves, which brings the cost down (it also keeps cards safe for resell value). In saying that, it’s not the only good option. You could buy cheap Ultra Pro sleeves and just replace them more regularly if any wear out. Mayday Sleeves are also very good and durable (use them for non-standard card sizes). IMO Dragon Shield is just the best option 🙂
Which mats and sleeves can you recommend?
We usually sleeve games once its obvious we are going to play it a lot. Terraforming Mars, Clank, Dominion, Ark Nova all come to mind. But sometimes the sleeves are rather sticky. It feels like good sleeves are super expensive.
Dragon Shield Matte are amazing! IMO I haven’t felt an experience of holding cards like Dragon Shield (and I’ve used a lot of other sleeves for games that don’t fit the standard card size). Just my two cents.
They are so crazy expensive. A game with 200-400 cards can easily double in prize. But maybe its the only good option
It’s true, and you will have to weigh up the cost versus the benefits like I had to. For me, I tend to cycle through my games (if they don’t get played, then I sell/pass them on) so I tend to reuse sleeves, which brings the cost down (it also keeps cards safe for resell value). In saying that, it’s not the only good option. You could buy cheap Ultra Pro sleeves and just replace them more regularly if any wear out. Mayday Sleeves are also very good and durable (use them for non-standard card sizes). IMO Dragon Shield is just the best option 🙂
Yeah, you got a point. We use Ultra Pro but sometimes they get quite sticky. Maybe they are building up electrostatic charge.
Our collection also is not huge and we tend to play the same game over and over again before we commit to something new
Not OP but Arcane Tinmen make pretty nice sleeves. I recommend the non-glare ones. For playmats I can recommend the 3’x3’ off-brand X-Wing mats.