Just curious, being new to the game. Do you sleeve up all your cards or just the ones you are using in games. I have easily over 3000 cards now and I have been putting them all in Dragon Shield sleeves to protect them, even if they are in storage boxes. What does everyone else do?
Typical practice is:
Sleeve what you use
High trades go into binders
the rest into storage boxes
That being said, if you like keeping your cards in super condition, go for it.
Most people don't sleeve the extras due to the extreme costs of time, money, and storage space.
Living in southeast Texas the humidity is ridiculous here, so anything I'm using or that is remotely of value, I have to double sleeve to avoid severe bowing - especially foils.
I don't sleeve most commons/uncommons, will put throwaway foils in perfect fits to combat the bowing from the humidity. Stuff I put in my binders I don't have to sleeve, but I'll at least perfect fit sleeve something if it's worth over $5.
Cards in decks I love - perfect fits + dragon shields
Cards in decks - single sleeved, in separate deckboxes
Special/Expensive cards, Foils (expeditions, masterpieces, etc.) - perfect fits + sleeves (specials in binders, foils in storage boxes)
Rares, Format Staples - single sleeve, in binders
All other cards - in storage boxes unsleeved
The area I'm in is very humid so foils tend to warp a bit faster without any protection. Hence, the need for multiple layers of cover. Generally, for cards with cost upwards of a dollar, I sleeve them just in case. Having sweaty hands requires the need for sleeves on cards in common use.
Here's the question you should ask yourself: Is it worth the time (of putting the cards in sleeves) and money (of purchasing the sleeves) to replace the card when/if it gets damaged?
For a card in a deck you're playing, it's getting shuffled frequently, and shuffling will damage an unsleeved card very quickly (even shuffling a sleeved card can damage it eventually). Double sleeving is probably even worthwhile.
For some $0.02 common in a storage box, that won't be touched for months or years at a time? Not worth sleeving at all.
Basically what Lithl says. However I will add this...
I sleeve the majority of my cards in penny sleeves. Unlike some in my play group, I sleeve all my decks, always.
Low value decks get "penny sleeves". I buy a specific brand other than Ultra Pro because UP tends to be very inconsistent in their cuts. I keep extra bags of pennies in my er... bag for exactly this reason.
Higher priced decks get double sleeved and deck sleeved, regardless of the individual value of the cards. So if I pop in any Force of Wills, the entire deck is double sleeved, even the jank 0.02 card.
What I don't do is unsleeve the inner sleeve. when I reconfigure a deck, the card and inner sleeve gets transferred to a penny sleeve and it gets dropped into a box. I reuse the outter deck sleeve to keep everything consistent for my decks.
I figure not quite half of my MtG collection is sleeved in penny sleeves, with and without inners.
I maintain around 600 cards in deck sleeves. I never thought about that so I'm not entirely sure if that's right.
I buy roughly 150-200 bags of penny and inner sleeves to cover MtG, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh and My Little Pony. About two or three years ago, I started buying my inner and penny sleeves in bulk every 9-12 months. It's tough to find penny sleeves cheaper but you can realize pretty good savings for the inners.
Everything in a perfect and a binder. I do not own a lot of crards because I only have one deck with an assortment of sideboards cards.
My deck with sideboard is in a perfect fit and in a KMC.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Legacy - Reanimator
Modern - Burn
EDH - Neheb the Eternal
I find holiday boxes are great for bulk and storage. SLeeving is only necessary if you want to keep the card in the best condition you can. Decks should be sleeved, was protection but also because it makes it easier to shuffle. Value cards 5+ dollars should also be sleeved if you want to get more value out of them in the future.
Can someone briefly explain all the sleeve/protector-related terminology being used in this thread, for the uninitiated?
As in:
What are the different types/brands of low-level/"penny" sleeves? What are the mid level ones and high level ones? Which ones fit into which other ones in regards to "double-sleeving". What types of binder sheets do people use (do people just put cards directly into the binder-slots, or is there a special kind that is big enough or exactly the right size/shape/format to hold sleeved cards in the slots, or etc?)
Which specific brands or types are used the most by collectors right now, or considered the "best"? (or, since I guess that depends on opinions/personal preference, maybe a brief explanation of some of the ones that people seem to like the most, and why/what their physical characteristics are)
I'm reorganizing some stuff, and I think I want to pay a little more attention to my storage method/sleeving this time around.
Penny sleeves don't generally fit into other sleeves; they're loose-fitting and larger than most other sleeve types. You're likely to have a store put a singles purchase inside one or more penny sleeves, to help avoid scratches and the like, but they're not generally ideal for long-term storage IMO.
You might confuse penny sleeves with perfect fit sleeves (KMC and UltraPro both produce them, and I believe they both are called perfect fit on the packaging), which are clear just like penny sleeves, but are designed to perfectly fit a MtG-sized card, and then fit inside "standard" card sleeves, to allow for traditional double sleeving. (When putting a card in multiple sleeves, standard practice is to reverse the orientation of the card relative to the sleeve for each additional sleeve used. The KMC perfect fits even have instructions to that effect on the packaging.)
Standard sleeves are the regular card sleeves you see all the time. They can be a solid color or have a picture (or, less commonly, they can be clear), they can be smooth or textured.
KMC also has a line called "character guard" sleeves (and I believe UltraPro has something similar under a different name), which are clear and are designed to fit a standard sleeve inside them. Character guard sleeves fit a standard sleeve in the same way a standard sleeve fits a perfect fit sleeve, so you can use them to get triple sleeving going, if you're so inclined. KMC's character guard sleeves also have a design around the edge, which ends up framing your card.
Every card binder sheet I've seen can fit a card in a standard sleeve, although putting the card in without a sleeve is usually okay. The card is going to be protected by the binder sheet, after all. You might consider sleeving a card in a binder if the card is valuable, it's your trade binder, and people are pulling out the card and putting it back in frequently; in that case, a bare card in the binder could get scratched by the repeated removing/inserting.
There's also "top loaders", clear thick plastic sleeves intended solely for storage. They're usually overkill, but I find them useful for putting my Commander deck commanders in, and they're also good for shipping singles. Some top loaders have colored borders.
As for what sleeves I use, I personally prefer KMC perfect fit plus Dragon Shield standard for my decks. Both are good quality, and both come in packs of 100, which is relevant since I play Commander. KMC's standard sleeves are generally in packs of 80, for example, which is annoying for sleeving 100-card decks (but that's certainly sufficient for 60 card deck plus 15 card sideboard).
Sleeve what you use
High trades go into binders
the rest into storage boxes
That being said, if you like keeping your cards in super condition, go for it.
Most people don't sleeve the extras due to the extreme costs of time, money, and storage space.
I don't sleeve most commons/uncommons, will put throwaway foils in perfect fits to combat the bowing from the humidity. Stuff I put in my binders I don't have to sleeve, but I'll at least perfect fit sleeve something if it's worth over $5.
(Also known as Xenphire)
Cards in decks I love - perfect fits + dragon shields
Cards in decks - single sleeved, in separate deckboxes
Special/Expensive cards, Foils (expeditions, masterpieces, etc.) - perfect fits + sleeves (specials in binders, foils in storage boxes)
Rares, Format Staples - single sleeve, in binders
All other cards - in storage boxes unsleeved
The area I'm in is very humid so foils tend to warp a bit faster without any protection. Hence, the need for multiple layers of cover. Generally, for cards with cost upwards of a dollar, I sleeve them just in case. Having sweaty hands requires the need for sleeves on cards in common use.
RBW Mardu Reveler
Commander:
UW Noyan Dar, Roil Shaper - One-Punch Griffin || UR Jhoira, Weatherlight Captain - Historic Tribal Superfriends
GR Omnath, Locus of Rage - Turbo Lands Spellslinger || WURBG Scion of the Ur-Dragon - Living Death Reanimator
BGonti, Lord of Luxury - Gonti's Midnight Party
Under Construction:
WGU Rubinia Soulsinger - Enchantress || RBGU Yidris, Maelstrom Wielder - Cascading Artifacts
RU Jhoira of the Ghitu - Dragonstorm Eldrazi || RU Mizzix of the Izmagnus - Spellslinger
WURBG The Ur-Dragon - Cloning for the Win || WGU Roon of the Hidden Realm - Creature Toolbox
RBGU Vial Smasher the Fierce Kydele, Chosen of Kruphix - Lots'a Combos || BW Ayli, Eternal Pilgrim - Reanimator Combo
WBGU Atraxa, Praetors' Voice - Modified Precon
BUR Nekusar, the Mindrazer || U Arcanis the Omnipotent - Artifact "Storm"
For a card in a deck you're playing, it's getting shuffled frequently, and shuffling will damage an unsleeved card very quickly (even shuffling a sleeved card can damage it eventually). Double sleeving is probably even worthwhile.
For some $0.02 common in a storage box, that won't be touched for months or years at a time? Not worth sleeving at all.
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)
I sleeve the majority of my cards in penny sleeves. Unlike some in my play group, I sleeve all my decks, always.
Low value decks get "penny sleeves". I buy a specific brand other than Ultra Pro because UP tends to be very inconsistent in their cuts. I keep extra bags of pennies in my er... bag for exactly this reason.
Higher priced decks get double sleeved and deck sleeved, regardless of the individual value of the cards. So if I pop in any Force of Wills, the entire deck is double sleeved, even the jank 0.02 card.
What I don't do is unsleeve the inner sleeve. when I reconfigure a deck, the card and inner sleeve gets transferred to a penny sleeve and it gets dropped into a box. I reuse the outter deck sleeve to keep everything consistent for my decks.
I figure not quite half of my MtG collection is sleeved in penny sleeves, with and without inners.
I maintain around 600 cards in deck sleeves. I never thought about that so I'm not entirely sure if that's right.
I buy roughly 150-200 bags of penny and inner sleeves to cover MtG, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh and My Little Pony. About two or three years ago, I started buying my inner and penny sleeves in bulk every 9-12 months. It's tough to find penny sleeves cheaper but you can realize pretty good savings for the inners.
all of my collection is kept in boxes.
My deck with sideboard is in a perfect fit and in a KMC.
Modern - Burn
EDH - Neheb the Eternal
(W/U)(B/R)GForm of Progenitus, Shape of a Scrubland
BRGJund Tokens with Prossh, the Magic Dragon Foil
URGAnimar, the RUG CleanerFoil
RRRFeldon of the Third Path 2.0 Foil
BG(B/G)Not Another Meren DeckFoil
UR(U/R)Mizzix, Y Control and X Burn Spells
(W/U)(B/R)GHarold Ramos - The 35 Foot Long Twinkie (In +1/+1 counters)
UB(U/B)Dragonlord Silumgar
As in:
What are the different types/brands of low-level/"penny" sleeves? What are the mid level ones and high level ones? Which ones fit into which other ones in regards to "double-sleeving". What types of binder sheets do people use (do people just put cards directly into the binder-slots, or is there a special kind that is big enough or exactly the right size/shape/format to hold sleeved cards in the slots, or etc?)
Which specific brands or types are used the most by collectors right now, or considered the "best"? (or, since I guess that depends on opinions/personal preference, maybe a brief explanation of some of the ones that people seem to like the most, and why/what their physical characteristics are)
I'm reorganizing some stuff, and I think I want to pay a little more attention to my storage method/sleeving this time around.
You might confuse penny sleeves with perfect fit sleeves (KMC and UltraPro both produce them, and I believe they both are called perfect fit on the packaging), which are clear just like penny sleeves, but are designed to perfectly fit a MtG-sized card, and then fit inside "standard" card sleeves, to allow for traditional double sleeving. (When putting a card in multiple sleeves, standard practice is to reverse the orientation of the card relative to the sleeve for each additional sleeve used. The KMC perfect fits even have instructions to that effect on the packaging.)
Standard sleeves are the regular card sleeves you see all the time. They can be a solid color or have a picture (or, less commonly, they can be clear), they can be smooth or textured.
KMC also has a line called "character guard" sleeves (and I believe UltraPro has something similar under a different name), which are clear and are designed to fit a standard sleeve inside them. Character guard sleeves fit a standard sleeve in the same way a standard sleeve fits a perfect fit sleeve, so you can use them to get triple sleeving going, if you're so inclined. KMC's character guard sleeves also have a design around the edge, which ends up framing your card.
Every card binder sheet I've seen can fit a card in a standard sleeve, although putting the card in without a sleeve is usually okay. The card is going to be protected by the binder sheet, after all. You might consider sleeving a card in a binder if the card is valuable, it's your trade binder, and people are pulling out the card and putting it back in frequently; in that case, a bare card in the binder could get scratched by the repeated removing/inserting.
There's also "top loaders", clear thick plastic sleeves intended solely for storage. They're usually overkill, but I find them useful for putting my Commander deck commanders in, and they're also good for shipping singles. Some top loaders have colored borders.
As for what sleeves I use, I personally prefer KMC perfect fit plus Dragon Shield standard for my decks. Both are good quality, and both come in packs of 100, which is relevant since I play Commander. KMC's standard sleeves are generally in packs of 80, for example, which is annoying for sleeving 100-card decks (but that's certainly sufficient for 60 card deck plus 15 card sideboard).
Two Score, Minus Two or: A Stargate Tail
(Image by totallynotabrony)