I just wanted to ask my fellow LotR card game players a question concerning which sleeves they use for their cards. From the get go, I decided to use Ultra Pro Soft Sleeves from Walmart (http://www.walmart.com/ip/Ultra-Pro-Soft-Sleeves-for-Cards/26832232) because they were cheap and I could sleeve a lot of cards for relatively little money.

However, after playing quite a few times with my cards, the surfaces of these sleeves have become very scuffed up (some worse than others) and I was just wondering if anyone else had this problem? Also, the cards do not fit very snugly into each sleeve, so most of them have bent or crinkled edges. It's by no means game-breaking, but I definitely miss the pristine shine of newly sleeved cards.

So, I guess my main question is: what are some of the alternative card sleeves to look into that don't scuff (and perhaps fit the LotR cards a bit better) than the Ultra Pro ones?

I have used the Ultra Pro Deck Protectors (clear) for many games and they hold up well. They're much more expensive than penny sleeves, though, so it may be preferable to only sleeve your decks or cards you use often. I've recently moved my LOTR player cards into a binder with 9-pocket pages, since I tend to deckbuild for this game rarely (I try to use the same two decks for an entire set).

Recently I have heard rave reviews of KMC Hyper Mat sleeves as being some of the best people have used. I currently have a few packs on order to test them out. http://www.potomacdist.com sells them in bulk lots of 10 or 30 packs. The black ones are in stock, and they said the clear ones will be back in stock later this month.

i have the 4 limited edition lotr art ffg sleeves. i have had them for around a year and i really like them. they are holding up well (and i play a lot).

i have noticed howver one or two of the sleeves are starting to come apart....i.e. they two pieces of sleeve's glue is coming apart.

out of the 200 of the much used sleeves (and more to the point heavily shuffled) there are perhaps 2 of these like this.

rich

I'll echo Rich's sentiments. My FFG sleeves hold up quite well... (and no, I don't get any kick-back for plugging their supplies).... Now that they've released the unlimited ring/eye cards... I've been able to get all my cards sleeved comfortably! And if you find a decent site online, you can pick them up for under retail. I pay about the same price for them that I do the regular Ultra Pro sleeves in-store...

I think the ones I use are Ultra Pro but not sure. I buy the ones were the backs are a solid colour - red for player cards, black for heroes, blue for encounter decks. I keep them sleeved all the time and so far no wear or tear. Maybe you got a bad batch?

I bought a bunch of ultra pro colored ones and they just fell apart after about a month. It was getting to the point where every game I would have to replace one or two. Switched too fantasy flight sleeves and they've rarely given me any problems. A lot harder to get ahold of for me though. My local game stores don't carry LotR size and barnes and noble has said the warehouse was out for something like 2 months. Got resupplied at gen con

This is my first card game so I just went with the FFG sleeves. I use the unlimited One Ring art sleeves for my player cards and regular clear FFG sleeves for the encounter cards. I like the art sleeves a lot, I think the ink probably gives them some more texture, as they are less slippery. The clear sleeves are slippery as all getout and challenging to shuffle. Both have held up very well, no damage after months of frequent use.

Thanks for all the input. At this stage, I doubt I'll switch my card sleeves up simply because I now have around 2000 sleeved cards total, but I just wanted to see what everyone else uses.

I may just periodically put my heavily used player cards into new, fresh sleeves or perhaps one day find a new alternative for all my player cards. I suppose the most important thing is that my cards stay nice and protected regardless of the sub-par quality of penny sleeves.

That's why I'd argue that it's better to invest more money up-front, for quality sleeves that will last longer, rather than cheap ones that you'll have to replace in a third of the time.

Wow, I sound like my dad...

I sleeve my player cards in FFG clear standard sleeves and they are holding up really well. I sleeve encounter cards in penny sleeves as they get a lot less wear and tear than the player cards. Some of my encounter sets have been used less than 10 times whereas my player cards are in heavy rotation. IMO The clear FFG sleeves are the perfect balance between thickness, durability and playability. I used to use a lot of ultra-pro in my other games but when I started sleeving LotR:LCG I decided to try the FFG sleeves and I havn't looked back. I will use the clear FFG sleeves for all my games from now on.

I actually don't sleeve my encounter cards AT ALL. Hahahaha

My friend does so I printed out the player made Sauron doomed 50 card and stuck it over one his cards and ran away laughing maniacally

He was so confused when it came up in a game a week later. Ahhhh good times

I actually don't sleeve my encounter cards AT ALL. Hahahaha

My friend does so I printed out the player made Sauron doomed 50 card and stuck it over one his cards and ran away laughing maniacally

He was so confused when it came up in a game a week later. Ahhhh good times

i dont sleeve encounter cards either. just the ffg 4 limited ones serve as deck sleeves that i use to take out and put in new cards

i have played probably as many games as the amount of posts i have on this forum (perhaps a slight exaggeration) and they are holding up well. as others have said, encounter cards are less in use

I actually don't sleeve my encounter cards AT ALL. Hahahaha

My friend does so I printed out the player made Sauron doomed 50 card and stuck it over one his cards and ran away laughing maniacally

He was so confused when it came up in a game a week later. Ahhhh good times

i dont sleeve encounter cards either. just the ffg 4 limited ones serve as deck sleeves that i use to take out and put in new cards

i have played probably as many games as the amount of posts i have on this forum (perhaps a slight exaggeration) and they are holding up well. as others have said, encounter cards are less in use

I tend to do the exact opposite, i sleeve pretty much all my encounter cards and keep all my player cards un-sleeved in deck boxes when they are not being used in any of my current decks. Basically the only player cards that are sleeved are the ones i'm using in my current deck.

I use Ultro Pro 66x91mm Deck Protector Sleeves, never had any problem with them whatsoever

Ha ha ha here is advantage of Asia. since i live in Bangkok i buy sleeves in china town any kind for 15$ for 2000 pieces. I buy in 2 years ago and still have a lot..... Cheers

Some interesting ideas for sure!

Do the LotR cards fit snugly into the FFG clear sleeves or is there still a bit of a free edge as there is in the penny sleeves?

There is a little clear space on each of the 4 sides of the card, but no lateral wiggle room. It's snug. There is a little bit of open space at the opening of the sleeve, but I've never had a card slide out of the sleeve or anything like that.

i agree with grandspleen- a little room but not enough to fall out. i also find the new cards slide in easy but the more you use them the more they fit tightly

Any comments on Dragon Shield (Clear) sleeves? How do they wear over time? I too am interested in maintaining that clear, clean initial state.

I personally use the penny sleeves. I own everything in the game except for the current adventure packs to Hiers of Numenor block. If you use quality ultra pro or alike sleeves, it will cost a fortune to card every card in game. When the penny sleeves become worn from play, I just replace the sleeve with no remorse. I always have a extra pack of penny sleeves in my LOTR box for this purpose. What I've spent in total for penny sleeves is equivllant to 2 boxes of ultra pro/premium would cost. Plus, every card is penny sleeved in my collection. To ultrapro/premium sleeve my entire collection would exceed what I've paid for my entire LOTR LCG collection. It is not worth it to me.

Any comments on Dragon Shield (Clear) sleeves? How do they wear over time? I too am interested in maintaining that clear, clean initial state.

I started with Dragon Shield but soon changed over to the FFG sleeves

- Dragon Shields warped my cards: Many sleeves do this, but the DS sleeves are so stiff that there was substantially more warping than what I would consider 'normal'

- Dragon shields are not reversible: If any cards are backwards, you will have a really hard time shuffling them. There is a prominent edge on one side of the sleeve that can catch each other if one sleeve is reversed. Once again, many sleeves have this problem, but the DS sleeves seem worse to me

- They don't resist scuffing any more than other card sleeves I've used

- This may have been corrected, but the sleeve height varied between sleeves (even within the same pack)

- If you can't find them on sale you're paying $0.10 USD per sleeve. Each card in an AP costs you $0.25 USD (once again no discount). I had a hard time justifying a sleeve that was almost half the cost of the card it was protecting

I think the problem is that we often think of sleeves as a permanent investment. In reality, sleeves are always throw away items. They are taking the abuse that our cards would otherwise be receiving. If you love this game, you're going to play it a lot and sleeves will wear. Think of it like luggage. If you travel a lot, that suitcase of yours is going to get beat up, but at least your clothes are still nice.

I have also noticed my sleeves becoming highly scuffed and I use Mayday Almost-a-Penny sleeves. I first loved them for their low price and that they are thin so my decks don't become unwieldy but I'm not so sure any more. I have only had my cards sleeved in these for about 8 months and only play a few hours a week but the oldest and most used cards are heavily scratched across the middle from thumbing through them and also smudgy and not as clear and they tend to stick together worse.

So my main questions are: Do your sleeves actually not show much scuffing and wear? Do you thumb through your cards a lot when deck building without the sleeves getting very scratched or sticking worse over time? I'm considering trying the regular Mayday Card Game sleeves which may be a little better quality but still not too expensive or thick.