Do you sleeve all your games?

A brief rant: why is it that all the games which would seem to need card sleeves the most seem to come with non-standard sized cards?

panzerattack wrote:

In my long and proud career of not sleeving cards I've never had to replace a game because the cards got so wrecked that they were unusable.

Exactly right. I have never had to replace a card. I have one card in Cutthorat Caverns that is a little creased, that's it. No one has ever noticed during game play. The thing is, sure, I could sleeve one game for (quotes in this thread range from 5-20$) maybe
10$, but I have over 100 games, that's a lot of money and completly not worth it. Why would I sleeve things when I've never needed it before? Imagine sleeving Arkahm, with four expansions... holy fuck that would be quite the job.

I'm not critisizing those that do, but when Sag says he could buy a new game (or three!) instead of sleeving, I know what he means. Sure to sleeve ONE game is cheap... who here only has one game, we probably all have over 100... that's some serious fucking sleeving.

Now if I was rich and had infinite time (or no job) then I could see it.

I don't have too many games (at the moment) that need sleeving.
Memoir'44 got done straight away when I got it a couple of years back, and I've recently done all the skill cards in BSG because our sweaty paws and the amount of table time it was seeing meant they were getting grubby and would have stood out like dogs balls with the new cards with Pegasus - but, as someone pointed out, they don't stack very well now but do shuffle a lot easier (I used the Mayday ones and they fit smooth and tight).

I think the only cards I've sleeved are the roles in Citadels, and that's just to keep them all from wearing differently since they get passed around and man-handled and are central to the game.

Otherwise, I hate sleeves. They're pokey and slippery and make shuffling stupid. They ruin the tactile comfort of cardstock like tripling up on condoms. Or swimming with your shoes on. I should be so lucky as to have a game get played so much they become necessary. Hasn't happened yet and I don't expect it will. If it does, I'll just find another copy as has been mentioned before.

Hate hate hate them.

Never sleeved, don't know if I ever will. So far it doesn't look likely.

I can see how some games could warrant it, such as the skill cards in BSG or the M44 cards that you're constantly holding in your hands (Descent Overlord cards as well), but other games...

JonJacob wrote:

Imagine sleeving Arkahm, with four expansions... holy fuck that would be quite the job.

I'd never sleeve something like Arkham Horror. You never hold the cards for much longer than it takes to read it and place it in front of you or in the discard pile. They don't get dirty with sweaty hands.

The only game I have sleeved is Twilight Struggle, since it's (a) kind of expensive and (b) the cardstock is not very good.

For everything else I don't worry about it. Stuff wears out, that's life.

HiveGod wrote:

I think the only cards I've sleeved are the roles in Citadels, and that's just to keep them all from wearing differently since they get passed around and man-handled and are central to the game.

Otherwise, I hate sleeves. They're pokey and slippery and make shuffling stupid. They ruin the tactile comfort of cardstock like tripling up on condoms. Or swimming with your shoes on. I should be so lucky as to have a game get played so much they become necessary. Hasn't happened yet and I don't expect it will. If it does, I'll just find another copy as has been mentioned before.

Hate hate hate them.

++ HERE. Amen, HiveGod. That may constitute blasphemy, but it's worth it. Sleeves suck and should be avoided if at all possible. Shuffling is impossible. I have a Magic deck that's gotta clock in over $700 at this point on the secondary market. Unsleeved. I just shuffle that big bitch. (It's 250 cards). Some cards are more beat than others. If I was to enter it in some kind of sanctioned play, I'd have to sleeve because it would be considered marked, I'm sure. But the folks that play with decks like this are not the folks that would give a shit.

There is nothing more idiotic than replacing worn out sleeves.

jeb wrote:

There is nothing more idiotic than replacing worn out sleeves.

Why not just sleeve them for more protection?

It'll give them that Russian Doll feel.

It's just not the real thing with that (albeit thin) layer of plastic.

When my game tends to become very popular, however, I seek the extra protection. It could become straight unusable when piece gets marred.

I hope my post was ambiguous enough.

Notahandle wrote:

ratpfink wrote:
" I now sleeve all CDGs, as well as clearcoating the counter sheets if possible."
Anyone tried laminating countersheets?

I guess that's not a good idea.

Notahandle wrote:

Let me ask you all out of curiosity: why do sleeve-haters feel so strongly? I wonder if it's to do with shuffling, but they seem to make it easier, which is why I sleeve, as well as for protection. And I guess a third reason is that it can't do any harm.

I wouldn't describe myself as a sleeve hater. In fact, I looked into the costs of sleeving because I thought that they sounded like a good idea. The thought of my games getting damaged or deteriorating terrifies me. But the cost really was prohibitive. But in my case, it's probably because of my location. I just get killed on shipping charges when ordering anything from the States. If there was a brick and mortar store somewhere here in NZ selling FFG sleeves, I would probably be able to afford them.

Death and Taxis wrote:

Notahandle wrote:

Let me ask you all out of curiosity: why do sleeve-haters feel so strongly? I wonder if it's to do with shuffling, but they seem to make it easier, which is why I sleeve, as well as for protection. And I guess a third reason is that it can't do any harm.

I wouldn't describe myself as a sleeve hater. In fact, I looked into the costs of sleeving because I thought that they sounded like a good idea. The thought of my games getting damaged or deteriorating terrifies me. But the cost really was prohibitive. But in my case, it's probably because of my location. I just get killed on shipping charges when ordering anything from the States. If there was a brick and mortar store somewhere here in NZ selling FFG sleeves, I would probably be able to afford them.

You can buy high quality card sleeves from Japan, probably with lower shipping costs to New Zealand.

When I first started getting more seriously into this hobby five years ago I had a terrific urge to sleeve quite a few games to spare my nerves during heavier game nights, especially if there was alchohol involved. Chips etc don't give a fuck about. The thing is, the sleeves in the end made things even worse: I hate the slippery feel of the cards, how they don't stack well and tip over,and just the overall nerdiness of the whole thing. That becomes all too clear when you invite a non-gamer over on games night. 350 cards sleeved, huh... oooo-kaaay.

It really is the couch in plastic thing.

Yuck.

The only games I have sleeved now are

Citadels - for the roles, since they get handled a lot
Twilight Struggle
Hannibal
Shadow Hunters
... and the location cards in Fury of Drac

Here's a rant: black-bordered cards that begin to show wear and tear after the first game!

Still, hate sleeves. I'm with the panzerattacker - having battered cards is much more cool than being the nerd having everything crystal clear like a collectors' comic. For it to be worn shows character like an old pilot's leather jacket - and locks in great memories, too. That doesn't mean I'll treat the game like shit either, of course. But generally, I don't mind if things get a feel of being used. Hell, I look in the mirror, I don't look 25 anymore either. What am I saving it for? To play when I'm 50? 60? 70?

Sleeving the small cards in BSG I really don't understand - can someone explain it to me?

scissors wrote:

Sleeving the small cards in BSG I really don't understand - can someone explain it to me?

It's important to sleeve the small cards in BSG, because players are absolutely not supposed to know who has played which specific cards towards a given Crisis unless an Investigative Hearing is played first. The game is about paranoia, about teamwork undermined by traitors. If there is no secrecy in BSG, you completely lose the theme and the gameplay. Might as well play something else.

Thanks Shellhead - but isn't it true that 1- the cards are re-shuffled, along with the two from the destiny deck so no one should have a good idea of who put in in what order anyway and 2- even if you don't sleeve, aren't those small little guys pretty durable and 3- even if they get a little worn, is there really all that much chance anyone will notice,given the number of votes in the game and all the stuff going on one has to consider? Not being a dick, here, honest, it's just that this was one game it never occured to me sleeves might be a good idea. I never had a problem with small cards being marked or people going out of their way to see if they were. But regarding this game, I may reconsider.

One final thing, I am assuming the small card sleeves are all the clear kind - anyone ever find that those get little wrinkles and marks in 'em too that bug the bejesus out of them?!! If I could laminate everything, I would, just like something out of a Kurt Vonnegut novel. There, it's out!