Just recently got into Arkham Horror a few months ago. Already have 2 expansions. Every character sheet and Ancient One Sheet is laminated. Every Card is sleeved. The only thing I didn't like is how the ends of the character figures became indented by the plastic stands. I just remedied this by creating a stand from a paperclip (large), two small piece of crafting felt (to cover the sharp end of the paper clips), and some hot glue to secure the felt to the paperclip ends. Stands work perfect which I will also use for the monsters now too. Everything is well protected for any foreseeable damage or wear and tear. Maybe I'm just neurotic.

Also works to hold up the Gate Tokens. New life and new enjoyment to an already new game.

There is a thread on this forum called "Sleeving of monsters and improved stands", you should check it out.
www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_foros_discusion.asp?efid=5&efcid=1&efidt=660041

I have tried the coin envelopes my self and I'm very satisfied with the result.

Not a bad idea, I always thought it was a bit of a shame the stands damaged the counters so easily. Having said that, I'm not too bothered about the rest of it- my copy of Arkham looks well played which I'm very fond of- it's a testament to the many great games we've had with it! My copy of Fury of Dracula on the other hand still looks brand new which shows we've had…much less fun with it.

I coin sleeved the monsters, which works well, except they don't fit in the monster miniatures (but I wasn't going to slip unlsleeved tokens in and out due to potential damage).

The ultimate way to protect cardboard investigators is not to use them and use the miniatures instead.

It costs a bit - but these are better value that the monster models, which take up too much board space.

Now protecting gates…I know FFG have now bought out square sleeves but not sure round sleeves are even possible?

Some kind of thin transparent plastic circular pill box would do, like a mini petri dish….

I filed down the Investigator stands so the pieces don't get damaged- too late! The damage was already done. I sleeved all the cards, but what really bugs me is the Monster tokens. I really should buy a new copy of the Base Game to replace the monsters…. Wish someone would devise little plastic "frames" that would snap onto the monster tokens- they could be color coded for monster movement.

I like the feel and look of cardboard so I don't wanna use coin sleeves.

Shub-Niggurath said:

Something like coin AirTites are round, but they also have to be thick to fit the coin inside which may be less than optimal.

Heres an example of a few: http://www.coinsupplystore.com/site/1648271/page/785916

Fake Ghost Pirate said:

Markers man. I just repaired all of my black and red monsters with markers of the respective color, they're like new. Now I'm heading out to look for markers that match the other colors (paying 3 euro for 1 purple marker that I'm only going to use once on 4 monster tokens might be a bit too much, though…maybe I'll pass on that one).

I also tried protective spray varnish (opaque) on one monster token. We'll see how that goes. With the varnish dried, it looks just like an un-varnished one. If anything, the colors of the picture are a bit more vivid now.

Kerrin2 said:

I would be interested to hear if anyone has tried this & see photos.

If I knew of a coin collectors shop near me, I would take some gate tokens in to try these out.

Looks promising.

I just sleeved all the cards and some may think this is a horrible idea but I was watching a guy on YouTube create 'pawns' like are used in the Pathfinder RPG and he used a very simple method. Now, since I use stands for characters, gates and monsters I was worried about the damage to the bottom.

He showed a trick of using a piece of clear tape to seal the bottom on the markers. You tear a short piece just wider than the marker you wish to protect, set the marker into the middle, fold up on both sides, seal and trim the ends.

I tested it with some characters and it does a great job. Barely visible, the stand can no longer damage or separate the card stock. Gates are a bit tricky you just have to make certain they are turned straight up as you seat them.

As long as you take your time and seal and trim each one properly you end with no residue, little visual appearance and a surface that allows markers to be inserted and removed easily and without damage.

Hope that helps.

suicidepuppet said:

Not sure what type of tape you are using but clear tape I have used (sellotape or other similar brands) eventually yellows, comes off and takes a bit of colour with it - as anyone who has taped a torn gamebox may know.

It does take a few years for this to happen.

suicidepuppet said:

suicidepuppet said:

Not sure what type of tape you are using but clear tape I have used (sellotape or other similar brands) eventually yellows, comes off and takes a bit of colour with it - as anyone who has taped a torn gamebox may know.

It does take a few years for this to happen.

Yeah, problems can be encountered but I've worked with glue, tape and various paste up methods and learned the hard way not to go cheap. I use all acid free, non-yellowing tape. I have items where I have done paste up (my first band I was in for example) where everything has faded or yellowed and the tape is the only thing left unchanged.

It's why when I tell someone to use Post-It notes for bookmarking it's because the adhesive is theirs and only theirs. Other brands will leave a residue on a page after a while and the P-I never do.

Just an idea. But don't go cheap. Always use archival material for any project. It's worth the extra money.

suicidepuppet said:

I totally agree on this. Every time I think about sleeves, I remember pretty clearly a sleeved Mythos card falling into a jug of water. After the instant (almost) recovery, the card was *perfect*.