Post by Whiterook on Jun 18, 2022 17:17:58 GMT -5
As I’ve collected games that utilize card driven mechanics, Memoir ‘44 being among the first, I’ve come to realize that getting replacement cards is not always easy to do, and sometimes impossible. Considering the amount of handling, and even careful shuffling, they do wear over time. I noted that wear first, with that aforementioned Memoir ‘44 game! …the edges start to fizz and fray, and the card coating starts to fade.
For some people that play in clubs or host games, there’s always the accidental spills of food and drink, and meat-handed players that think their playing poker in an Old West saloon!
So, I’ve started sleeping many of my game cards, and it’s a habit spreading beyond new games, and into my old games! Card Sleeves… there are tons of them, and so far, I’ve gone through around five or six brands I’d say (maybe more).
My card sleeves of choice these days are Dragon Shields. These come with an opaque back that has a rough-ish surface (think frosted glass), which can come in a multitude of colors, and a crystal clear front. I choose to use clear opaque backs, ‘cause I like to see the card back artwork on my cards!
So the next evolution beyond that is, do you Sleeve, or Double Sleeve? The latter is where you have a sleeve that fits tightly around the card, and that “inner” sleeve fits into a Standard Sleeve (outer sleeve). Basically, the top loading inner sleeve is inserted upside down into the outer sleeve, thereby making the card as protected as possible from liquid spills and dirt. The reason is mainly to protect valuable cards (like in some Magic game cards) and artwork. See here for a better explanation.
So at bat on the desk, I have a deck of cards from my new Conflict of Heroes 3rd Edition game… the cards are super gorgeous, but a smidge thin in thickness so, they could definitely benefit from sleeving to also gain them a bit more protection from creasing in anyone’s heavy handed meatfists! I thought I’d try one with a single standard Dragon sleeve (pictured on the left, in the picture below), and one Double (with an inner sleeve).
I found that the text and artwork were a little difficult to read on the Double Sleeve card, compared to the single standard sleeve. That was mainly because of the air pocket between the two sleeves….you can see that better in this next picture (the Double Sleeved card on the right)…
My conclusion comes out to, Double Sleeve expensive cards only (in my wargaming world, this equates to cards that will be very difficult (or impossible) to replace). For the game in question, I decided to just use one Standard Dragon Sleeve.
For some people that play in clubs or host games, there’s always the accidental spills of food and drink, and meat-handed players that think their playing poker in an Old West saloon!
So, I’ve started sleeping many of my game cards, and it’s a habit spreading beyond new games, and into my old games! Card Sleeves… there are tons of them, and so far, I’ve gone through around five or six brands I’d say (maybe more).
My card sleeves of choice these days are Dragon Shields. These come with an opaque back that has a rough-ish surface (think frosted glass), which can come in a multitude of colors, and a crystal clear front. I choose to use clear opaque backs, ‘cause I like to see the card back artwork on my cards!
So the next evolution beyond that is, do you Sleeve, or Double Sleeve? The latter is where you have a sleeve that fits tightly around the card, and that “inner” sleeve fits into a Standard Sleeve (outer sleeve). Basically, the top loading inner sleeve is inserted upside down into the outer sleeve, thereby making the card as protected as possible from liquid spills and dirt. The reason is mainly to protect valuable cards (like in some Magic game cards) and artwork. See here for a better explanation.
So at bat on the desk, I have a deck of cards from my new Conflict of Heroes 3rd Edition game… the cards are super gorgeous, but a smidge thin in thickness so, they could definitely benefit from sleeving to also gain them a bit more protection from creasing in anyone’s heavy handed meatfists! I thought I’d try one with a single standard Dragon sleeve (pictured on the left, in the picture below), and one Double (with an inner sleeve).
I found that the text and artwork were a little difficult to read on the Double Sleeve card, compared to the single standard sleeve. That was mainly because of the air pocket between the two sleeves….you can see that better in this next picture (the Double Sleeved card on the right)…
My conclusion comes out to, Double Sleeve expensive cards only (in my wargaming world, this equates to cards that will be very difficult (or impossible) to replace). For the game in question, I decided to just use one Standard Dragon Sleeve.