I just got a set of sleeves for my Atraxa deck, and they seem a bit odd- they are gray on the inside, instead of black or white like all the other Ultra Pros I have, and the foil stamp, while present is very subtle. Does anyone else have these sleeves and can confirm that they are supposed to be like this, or did I end up getting some counterfeit sleeves?
Thanks, that is a bit of a relief. I didn't really want to resort to buying them online, but my LGS has a terrible Distributor when it comes to card sleeves, they'd been trying to get them in since the decks came out and no luck so I finally gave in. Ending up with counterfeits woulda just put the cherry on that crappy sundae...
Given ultra pros quality a counterfeit might actually have superior durability.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Given ultra pros quality a counterfeit might actually have superior durability.
Superior durability wouldn't necessarily mean better. I'm still perplexed as to why some manufacturers, UltraPro included, still offer the occasional PVC/Vinyl loaders. One company (BCW I think) still sells a cheap 9-sleeve with the stinky vinyl.
If some sleazy company wanted to attempt to undercut someone, like UltraPro, using cheaper plasticized vinyl would be the first things I think they would do.
People complain about Ultra-Pro quality, but I really don't see that much of an issue- I have decks from 10 years ago that are still in the original sleeves. Sure, I have to replace the occasional one, but it's never been what I would consider a 'chronic' issue. In fact the only time I can recall having an issue with UP sleeves in the past is with my Abzan deck from Khans- I went through like 10 sleeves in the year it was Standard. (of course, I could just be over-sensitive about it, since its the only deck I have using the newer black-interior Magic Card Back sleeves, so that meant I was getting close to needing to buy a new pack of them specifically, and as mentioned, my LGS has a hard time with sleeves... (I still have tons of the white-interior ones))
I've never really used KMC sleeves, as I like having an image, even if it's usually just the card back design, and I havent had any of my Legion sleeves for 10+ years to compare yet, ask me in 2023...
When I first got into Magic a few years back, I picked up a lot of Ultra-Pro illustrated sleeves, from what were at the time clearly new batches as they had Kiora from Born of the Gods artwork on the back.
2, literally just 2 sleeves out of several hundred still have Kiora on the back, on every single other sleeve the layer with that artwork has entirely peeled off (admittedly most times because it had started peeling and I pulled it all the way off). I now use my various Ultra-Pro sleeves for cards I never plan on shuffling (so things in my trade binder), and I would certainly never purchase more to sleeve anything I cared about or recommend them to anyone else.
Ultra-Pro is the McDonalds of card sleeves - cheap, available everywhere, and terrible quality, which is why the idea of counterfeits is so funny: why would anyone want to pass their product off as a brand that is only just barely adequate?
It is worth noting that not everything Ultra-Pro makes is terrible, their Satin Tower deck boxes are excellent for instance, and their binders are fine, but in terms of sleeves, get Dragon shields or KMC. If you absolutely have to have illustrated sleeves, get Legion double-mattes.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
If my post has no tags, then i posted from my phone.
1. (Ravnica Allegiance): You can't keep a good esper control deck down... Or Wilderness Reclamation... or Gates...
2. (War of the Spark): Guys, I know what we need! We need a cycle of really idiotic flavor text victory cards! Jace's Triumph...
3. (War of the Spark): Lets make the format with control have even more control!
Superior durability wouldn't necessarily mean better. I'm still perplexed as to why some manufacturers, UltraPro included, still offer the occasional PVC/Vinyl loaders. One company (BCW I think) still sells a cheap 9-sleeve with the stinky vinyl.
If some sleazy company wanted to attempt to undercut someone, like UltraPro, using cheaper plasticized vinyl would be the first things I think they would do.
I've never really used KMC sleeves, as I like having an image, even if it's usually just the card back design, and I havent had any of my Legion sleeves for 10+ years to compare yet, ask me in 2023...
2, literally just 2 sleeves out of several hundred still have Kiora on the back, on every single other sleeve the layer with that artwork has entirely peeled off (admittedly most times because it had started peeling and I pulled it all the way off). I now use my various Ultra-Pro sleeves for cards I never plan on shuffling (so things in my trade binder), and I would certainly never purchase more to sleeve anything I cared about or recommend them to anyone else.
Ultra-Pro is the McDonalds of card sleeves - cheap, available everywhere, and terrible quality, which is why the idea of counterfeits is so funny: why would anyone want to pass their product off as a brand that is only just barely adequate?
It is worth noting that not everything Ultra-Pro makes is terrible, their Satin Tower deck boxes are excellent for instance, and their binders are fine, but in terms of sleeves, get Dragon shields or KMC. If you absolutely have to have illustrated sleeves, get Legion double-mattes.