I recently went to Kaybee Toys and noticed a package of 100 card sleeves selling for 4 bucks. I thought to myself, "what a great deal, my local card shop sells card sleeves for more than double that", so I quickly bought them. The sleeves were made by a company called "Legend" and they base they're operations out of Rochester NY. Now as I went home, I quickly replaced the sleeves to one of my decks. But as I opened the package, there was a very strong smell coming from the sleeves. It smelled very similiar to paint thinner and was repugnant and strong. That was the first indication that I was going to have problems with these sleeves. The sleeves were beautiful, nonetheless, and I had green ones that had psychadelic, reflective mirrors on the backside and it was quite hypnotic. I then replaced the sleeves to one of my decks and let them sit in my deck box for around 3 weeks. Then last night, my intuition kicked in and I felt something was terribly wrong, having to do with my card sleeves. I then opened my deckbox and checked the condition of the cards. The strong smell was still there after like 3 weeks which I found rather intriguing. I noticed on the back of some of the cards there were small little white spots on a majority of the cards. I've never noticed these spots on my cards before and unfortunately for me, my playset of Chrome Mox were affected. Even as I unsleeved the cards and put them in my old sleeves the smell of paint thinner still lingered. It's as if the chemical from these "Legend" sleeves seeped into my cards and not only damaged them, but also left a permanent smell to them. I figured I get my story out there and let people know the dangers of purchasing Legend sleeves. I would love to hear your comments and possible stories that anyone has had with there card sleeves. I also wouldn't mind for someone to drop a jewel of knowledge concerning card sleeves becuase I know very little about them. Well, that's my story. Discuss!
The only problem I ever remember having with my sleeves was when I bought some of those Max Protection ones. They were on ebay and the deal was like 700 sleeves for $14. I thought, "Hey, not bad, I could use some sleeves, why not." So I place my order, pay, and then wait patiently till they arrive.
Soon they arrived, and I quickly started unsleeving one deck to put them in the new sleeves (The picture in the auction made them out to be blue, but they actually turned to be blue-ish purple). I only did one deck (Thank God) just to see how they played. After about a few goldfishes and games, all the corners were bent and most of the sleeve itself was peeling off. I wasn't ripple shuffling either, just taking one stack and sliding it into the other; not violently or rough though. Pretty soon my friend wanted some of mine and after a few games it happened to him, so I've vowed never to purchase Max Pro sleeves again.
Another story is that one time my friend bought a few boxes of those Deck Protectors that Ultra-Pro used to put out, except they were severely miscut and that had been a common problem recently with the sleeves. So my friend wrote Ultra-Pro a pretty nasty letter about how crappy their sleeve quality was and that he would never buy their sleeves again and would encourage others not to do so. A few weeks later they send him a store case of Deck Protectors and a letter that basically said, "Oops, sorry we messed up, here's some more bad sleeves. Thanks!" I don't know if they were miscut like the others, but he just used those for a really long time before switching to different ones.
Right now I'm using Dragon Sleeves, and besides minorly warping your cards, they work out fantastic, and I don't see myself buying any other.
Originally Posted by Jack Burton
Thanx for posting bro. Have you known anyone that has been having problems with Legends sleeves? If so, let me know.
I've never bought "Legend"s but thanks for the heads up. Sounds really fishy to me.
For for the Max ones, I've had the same problem. They split really easy or the the backs split off them. They have some of the most awesome pictures but the quailty sucks.
As far as Ultra Pro goes, I've never had a problem with them. I still have some I bought back in the 90s. I will say though outside of the Gallery sleeves, which I usally buy, they have gotten pretty thin.
@Dragon Sheilds:I've never used them, but people I know use them and they are happy with them.
Quote Scrumdogg @ Amrod's:
"Didn't you know that Mike Glow invented this format?? We are all just renting it."
The EPIC Syndicate - Grindermen
Team Disquailified Poster Duey Cheatem & Howe.
Dragon Shield sleeves and the Ultra Pro:Gallery series (non-foils) are hands down the best your going to get for your money. In comparison, the KMC Japanese "Super" sleeves are pretty damn close, for typically a bit cheaper.
This is basically both tested by Inquest Magazine about a year or two back, as well as personal playing between myself and my group. We all play with those three sets of sleeves primarily, and out of all, Dragon Shields and UP:G have NEVER had splits. Worst case scenario they are miscut.
Super sleeves haven't ever really split much either, but they (and the Dragon) tend to get the "spots" on the front and backs, from hand oils and tabletops. You can just wipe that off with a slightly moist paper towel every few weeks, if played regularly.
Thanks for the tidbit of info right there. I just got done wiping down my Truffle Shuffle deck (As it's getting the most use lately, I'm totally digging it), and I'm amazed at how well it now shuffles and looks. Before I had just been using a land card to scratch the crud off of them, but this works alot better. Thanks alot.
Ultra Pro has some quality control issues:
Being a Legacy player on a budget, there are certain cards that see play in more than one of my decks. So, I deceided to buy all one color of sleeves to minimize having to re-sleeve. Imagine my chagrin when the same color (Tsunami Blue) sleeves from two different packages of 50 were distiguishable from each other, making my deck's sleeves "illegal" under certain lighting conditions.
On the other hand, the Ultra Pro sleeves have been fine for play-testing and lower level play.
I currently use the KMC Metallic Blue sleeves. They just feel awesome in your hand, and I've yet to run into any problems with them. I've also used Dragon Shields, but they're kind of expensive, $9 a set of 100; if you want those I'd recommend Red or Green. They shuffle and feel the best.
Dragon Sleeves have been the best for me so far. They are thicker but don't split absolutely never. Ok so many 5 out of every 100 are miscut or have burrs, but the rest is rock solid. They are expensive -- but they last you for well over 2 years.
Are you referring to the sleeves or the actual cards?
I guess I should have warned you that nothing good has ever come out of Rochester.
I've used ultra pro deck protectors for a while with no issues, but I am anal and buy new sleeves for my decks as soon as they get sticky to shuffle. I need baby-ass smooth shuffling.
I've never noticed that before. How do they warp? I haven't had any problems since I've switched to Dragon Shields.
And cleaning the sleeves with a semi-moist paper towel really helps to get the gunk spots off. It's also faster than scraping the spots off with another card.
This is also mitigated by the fact that Dragon Shield seems to put more than 100 sleeves in a 100 sleeve box, at least in my experience (2 boxes bought, both had extra sleeves).
WIth ultra-pro sleeves they are usualy really good or are bad and tend to be miscut and crack easily. I used pink dragon sleeves for awhile they wern't that bad. I just felt like I got suckered $9.25 for 100 sleeves. I currently use Player's Choice and those have never given me problems. Well there was one problem once but that was becuase it was at limited states and the front were foily. The head judge didn't like them because he thought you could see the refections and jank. That was the only minor problem. Player's Choice hands down best bang foro your buck for sleeves I get mine 60 for $4.00.
It doesn't happen all the time, and I've only noticed it on a few cards where perhaps that sleeve was tighter then the rest maybe. But when I've taken a few cards out of the sleeve, they had that slight curvature that the sleeve had when I put them on. Not a gripe, just something I've noticed and decided to toss out there; Dragon Shields are my favorite hands down.
I use the KMC Japanese sleeves also. The White version picks up dirt really bad, but the blue, green and black ones seem to last forever. I always seemed to get miscut ultra-pros. Even when they were cut right they had a tendancy to push the card to the top of the sleeve, therefore nicking the very edge sometimes on the card.
I'll stick with the KMC ones, though I have heard good things about Dragon shields.
I know what you mean about warping on the Dragon Sheilds. Both Mr. Nightmare's and Wastedlife's Gro decks had a slight bend. Not sure if it was shuffling or what.
@Ultra Pro Foil Gallery or whatever they call them: I bought 2 sets. The first I was not impressed with at all. They kind of sucked in quality, but the picture was so damn cool. The second set have been fine for now. Again the picture made me buy them.
@Deathwing:Thanks for the info. Never thought of that.
Quote Scrumdogg @ Amrod's:
"Didn't you know that Mike Glow invented this format?? We are all just renting it."
The EPIC Syndicate - Grindermen
Team Disquailified Poster Duey Cheatem & Howe.
I think that has more to do with them being foiled out than the sleeves.
Does anyone know exactly what causes white spots to appear in the back of cards? i just checked a bunch of my decks and some had them regardless of what sleeves they were in.
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