I sleeved all the cards for Dungeon Quest and I enjoy having them sleeved. It provides great protection for the cards from all the elements that can interupt a game table: Pop, cheetos, doritos, sause, and beer.

I am thinking about sleeving Talisman and wanted to know if anyone else has done it, with all the expansion added in.

What are your thoughts and is it worth it?

If you want to protect cards, it's certainly worth, but keep in my that sleeves can make stacking a big deck rather precarious with little cards. Most people get around that by using a card holder or box, or just splitting the deck in two and setting out one half at a time as needed. It's really not much trouble overall.

I agree with JC

It is worth the purchase, but it makes the decks bigger.

it also leads to storage problems, unless you got a box to store the cards in.

Hi Bill! It was good to meet up with you in Indy, but I can't figure out how I did not see you for the rest of the weekend!

The card sleeves are pretty good if you want to protect the game, and using them allows you to disguise some home-made content too. There has been plenty of discussion about them on the forums, so have a look at a couple of threads about the place regarding adventure card sleeves , character card sleeves and even JC's hand-made boxes .

hey talismaninsland, are you playing talisman in new york some days?

I wish... We were only over in Indy this year. Last year we called in at New York for five days beforehand, but money was a little tight this time (understatement). I think we spent four of those five days visiting a Jim Hanley's Universe comic shop so that Katie could play a bit of MtG!

Next year I doubt I will be able to spring for the trip, but you never know...

All mine are sleeved (well, not the character cards), but there is no risk from environmental damage you mention, there is a strict no-food, no-drink (no-tv, etc.) policy when playing around here.

I picked my sleeves up from the post office at the weekend, i'd definitely recommend them, just keeps them smart and safe from shuffling damage.

After playing several games of Dungeon Quest sleeved, the benifits do seem really nice. I will sleeve Talisman.

I will agree with my previous posters, Sleeving your game is well worth it. If you play the game often, think of how much those naked cards get handled. Not to mention the sliding around on the table/board, over time they will fade, and be noticeable when you add a new expansion.

Sleeving your cards is just like sex. Better safe then sorry.

Which sleeves do you use?

I don't want any colored ones - as the backs of the cards are different - PLUS - often it's like $3 for 50 - for DQ it would run like $21 to get enough (would need like 330 sleeves) - and Talisman has WAY MORE cards than DQ - right?

Anyone have a good link/source for inexpensive ones?

I use Arcane Tinmen sleeves (Board Game Sleeves - Size Mini, 41x63mm) myself, perfect fit, coming in bags of 100 (vs FFG's 50). Mayday offers a third alternative.

Mayday Games offers 100 for $1.75. Order them in bulk to save on S&H. It's about the best deal around. I use the Gold Mini USA Game Size Sleeves 41 X 63 MM (100 pack) , but they are tight fit which some people don't like. Most prefer the slightly larger and little looser Red Mini Chimera Game Sleeves 43 X 65 MM (100 Pack) . There is also the Dark Red Premium Mini Chimera Game Sleeves 43 X 65 MM (50 Pack) which I believe are a slightly heavier (thicker) weight of sleeve.

You might initially order up one of each to test them out and choose one type for a mass order. The other two you can keep around for sleeving odds and ends and cards that won't be part of draw deck, like Purchase, Alignment, Talisman, etc. cards.

BillStivers said:

I have my set fully sleeved. I used the Fantasy Flight sleeves and I think that they're worth it (although, to be honest, I haven't tried the other brands mentioned in this thread). You can see my sleeved cards in the pictures on my thread about my set. We draw straight from the wooden boxes which I have when we play with my set, so I don't have to worry about the stacks falling over. :)

I do recommend the sleeves. My friend has a second edition set with all of the expansions and the cards are so worn ! If something is worth spending a good deal of money on (like Talisman), then I think that it is worth spending an extra 10% in order to properly protect it.

(Yeah, I purchased the Circuit City 4 year protection on my computer and it came in very handy when, two years down the line the DVD drive went out and three years down the line when the video card died.)

Started sleeving my cards..... This could take awhile.

When I am done with this I will start my search for a card box to draw from.

I got the Mayday sleeves for Dungeon Quest (same size as Talisman) - like the sleeves - stack and fit and work great.

BUT - the Descent sized card sleeves - according to Mayday - do not fit... they are too snug... Just so you know

The snugness factor is something that others have run into on MayDay sleeves when searching their site for Talisman (and like) sized cards. But they also have ones that are just slightly bigger that aren't so referenced by game. You have search by size to find them. I do remember trying some others that were very close to the Talisman card dimension, just everso slightly bigger (and not too much), but I preferred the snug ones.

unfortunately they were so snug that for them to fit in the plastic - it kinda curved the cards... (not creasing at all)

But it is a bummer - oh well...

Talisman sized cards though - were perfect. I like that the Mayday sleeves also were flush to the top of the cards actually - there are some sleeves that extend over the top a hair... these fit perfectly.

I've just ordered a batch of mayday cards, i measured that they are 1mm larger than the talisman cards in each direction, so that sounds just about right to me. i also plan to sleeve the char and other same size cards as soon as I find an appropriate sleeve for those, it looks like mayday do not do sleeves that size. After that i expect Im going to need some kind of new container, and the original talisman boxes can be wrapped in bubble wrap and stored somewhere dark...