i deffenitely am a fan of sleeves but sleeves can get rather expensive depending on how many games you have i think i spent over 1000 $ in sleeves for my games but dam well worth it.

I also suggest laminating any character card or whatever gets used alot to protect from wear and tear also been testing out a product i used in animation its a spray on dull varnish type substance ( fixative ) i used it to fix the led to the paper when i was working with pencil or chalk or charcoal etc and im testing it on Doom Board pieces and Descent Board Pieces so far seems to work well it does not add to the thickness of the piece so it does not fit but rather gets sucked into the cardboard and once you let it dry coat it again and done.

I also have seen descent map pieces mad out of Dental plaster looks wicked and am considering testing it

Protect your games folks

You have wise words here!

Where did you shop for sleeves for the cards? Just wondering because I want to make sure my cards are kept in great condition.

I was wondering too where to buy those sleeves for cards. It's hard to find the correct sleeves for this Runebound Cards.

They don't have the same size as TCG such Magic The Gathering or World of Warcraft TCG.

I believe FFG sells sleeves specifically made for their games. I have some and they are nice, thick high-quality sleeves. They have a PDF on this website telling you how many and of what kind you need for different games.

I would also recommend Mayday Games sleeves, they have a PDF available on the web (you can google it) that tells you how many and of what kind of their sleeves you need for different games. Their sleeves are alot cheaper than FFG, but they are thinner. I actually prefer that though, the FFG sleeves are a little too thick for my liking, they make it difficult to shuffle the cards and stacks of them are very prone to tipping over. For that reason I like the Mayday Games sleeves better, since I feel they still offer adequate protection at a much cheaper price. They do have something called "premium" sleeves over at Mayday Games that are supposed to be much thicker than their normal ones, but I have not tried them.

I have plastic bags of all kinds of sizes that cover my games when I store them on the shelf. I got a LOT of bags at work that were used for delivering dust mops. I just took these and cut them shorter to store my Avalon Hill games, and they just happened to work great for Games Workshop, West End, old 3M (pre-Avalon Hill take-over), plus other manufacturers. These bags also work well for other games. Then you can just use freezer bags from your grocery store. Stretch them out if you have to by putting both arms in the bag all the way to the bottom and then pulling each arm away from the other. I've been able to get plastic bags of other sizes, too, even perfectly fitting around my Broadsides and Boarding Parties box. Now I don't have to worry about my games getting beat up on the shelf. I have about 110 games, so it is well worth the effort to preserve the investment. Just look around and get whatever bags you can.

I've got a copy of Dungeonquest (the 1987 original) that is absolutely perfect as far as the box goes-both top and bottom parts are brand new even on the edges and corners. I play with the game very carefully (it's still in great condition), and I guess that's the other half of the equation. We have to treat our games with utmost respect while playing them.

The sleeve idea is one I've not been aware of before, Very interesting idea!

My problem is not that my game pieces (cards, counters, figures, etc) get damaged, but that they get lost, particularly when my kids play!

Any suggestions?

shadowtag said:

Card sleeves won't help here, I'm afraid

Make it a game after the game:

pretend to be in the cockpit of a plane, the pilot has to check all the instruments. Give one of your kids the list of contents (if he/she can read, otherwise you are the pilot), let the others count the cards, etc. and store them away. Otherwise the plane cannot start. (Or will be in danger to crash next time you all want to fly (i.e. play)).

If your kids are a bit older and laugh about this pilot stuff, explain to them how important it is to keep the games complete if they want to enjoy playing them in the future as much as today. Appeal to their sense of responsibility. Name each of your kids "safe keeper" of one of the games.

If this does not help either, do it yourself.

Great idea Poeppel! I'll definitely give that one a try!