Is it a forgone conclusion that the FFG Standard Card Game sleeves are the best fit? They seem pricey, $3 for 50. I can (and have) purchased "penny sleeves" from my local game store - 100 for $1 - but the fit isn't great (they're too long, resulting in an annoying plastic flap on top once the card is fully inserted, is that normal?), and I'm sure the materials aren't the best. There's also Mayday Card Game sleeves, $2 for 100. They seem higher quality but I'm not sure if the fit is ideal. Is there an obvious better choice; a brand I haven't considered?

I've never bothered with sleeves, but it's something I'm definitely interested in nowadays. I take pride in purchases moreso than I once did, during my misspent youth, back when money wasn't mine.

I'm a sleeving cheapo, I use penny sleeves for most large cards (AH's Mythos, OW and Arkham Encounter for example), same for CoC and W:I cards.

I'm a big fan of Dragon Shields. I have multiple sets, different colors, etc for all my different decks.

They shuffle extremely well and are quite durable. To date, for example, I have had exactly 1 sleeve rip on me. And that was more my fault than a defect of the sleeve.

I'm all for saving some bucks, but I'll spend a little more for a sleeve that does it all ... though the Fantasy Flight sleeves are hard to justify at that price point. Shuffling the penny sleeves is a real nightmare. The plastic flap from the excess length makes traditional shuffling quite difficult (for me, at least). Plus, the cards move a lot inside the sleeve. Maybe my budget sleeves are even worse quality than usual.

Dragon Shields? I'll look into it, though I may have to resort to eBay. Thanks!

How do you guys store your sleeved cards? The hard cover card holders (50, 100, 150 etc.) are unable to accommodate a sleeved deck; too narrow. Are you basically relegated to custom made tuck boxes? EDIT: Oh hey, the Dragon Shield gaming box can handle cards w/ sleeves.

EDIT2: Nice. The Dragon Shields are the sleeves I've been seeing in the YouTube vids, with the colored backs. I was wondering what brand those were.

The normal FFG sleeves shuflle extremely well and a just a tiny bit thinner than dragon shields. The problem with them is finding card cases that will fit them...

That said, I use dragon shields not only because they fit in just about any standard card case (rook cases, ultrapro cases, etc) and they are very durable. Very expensive though at $10 for 100. Also they dont shuffle as well as the FFG sleeves, due to the funky edging which is not nearly as clean as the FFG sleeves.

Mayday games sells sleeves that will fit as well and they are a good price. They have premium and non premium sleeves the difference of which is that the non premium are of the "penny sleeve" quality while the premium sleeves are the typical stuff everyone and their brother offes from that size of card.

I think it just comes down to what you want out of the sleeves and how much you are willing to pay.

I'm currently looking at these Mayday sleeves , only because they're readily available here in Canada and I can get them on the cheap from the same outlet I mail order the majority of my board and card games from. They're smaller than the penny sleeves I'm using at the moment, 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 compared to 2 5/8 x 3 5/8. I'm hoping to eliminate the excess plastic that's messing with my shuffle ... not sure if an eighth of an inch will do it. What size are the Dragon Shields ...? I can't seem to find an exact dimension. Google is failing me.

Deek said:

I haven't had any trouble with shuffling penny sleeves, but I shuffle them from the side, not from the top down. LCG cards with penny sleeves (I have Ultra Pro ones) don't have that much flap (around 5mm upon measuring) and hand over hand shuffle along the long edges doesn't even care about length-flap (unless we're talking 1+ cm).

I suppose I could alter my shuffle technique to accommodate the penny sleeves. That said, the ones I'm using won't fit into card boxes. That really sticks in my craw.