this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2023
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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.
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.
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
Mayday Premium sleeves are my favorite. They’re a bit more expensive and bulk out a bit more. I’ve yet to have a Mayday Premium sleeve split or show major damage. In general I really like the team there (also Sleeve Kings, same group) so I’d highly recommend all of their stuff. Customer service is top-notch and I feel like their care about their product. The non-premium sleeves are the same price for double the amount. Most of my games are sleeved with Mayday Premium.
Make Them Last (MTL) is my go-to for random speciality sleeves. I pay a lot more for shipping because I’m in the US so I’ll usually wait until I have a couple of games to sleeve with them before making an order.
I also sometimes use Swan Panasia for things that I can’t find from Sleeve Kings. Both do odder games (like MTL, just cheaper) without much demand. I think my Space Base sleeves are all Swan Panasia and Betrayal (all versions) are all Sleeve Kings.