KMC Hyper mats suck

[Wilkin]

So i tried out a bunch of KMC hyper mat sleeves. I like the fact it shuffles well and it's textured on the back so marks are less noticable..... However, the bottoms split easily. Like, super easily. I've only had the hyper mats for a month or so and have split 20 of them, all at the bottom.

Never had this problem with a sleeve before. Not dragon shield, KMC regular mat (yet, haven't tried out for too long) or even the cheap ultra pros.

[Arsenal]

So i tried out a bunch of KMC hyper mat sleeves. I like the fact it shuffles well and it's textured on the back so marks are less noticable..... However, the bottoms split easily. Like, super easily. I've only had the hyper mats for a month or so and have split 20 of them, all at the bottom.

Never had this problem with a sleeve before. Not dragon shield, KMC regular mat (yet, haven't tried out for too long) or even the cheap ultra pros.

This is not what I've heard from others. Perhaps you had a bad batch? All of my buddies have been using them regularly and they haven't reported higher-than-average split sleeves.

[Undomian]

I've been using these for a few months now and haven't had a single one split. Sounds like you just got a bad batch.

[danyul]

You might also be shuffling with all the finesse of a caveman.

Hyper Mats 4 Lyf.

[metelhead]

the biggest issue I have with Hyper's is not be able to find enough of them....I have about 10 decks sleeved up with these and love them...not one split.....

[BeardTron]

I've been using these exclusively for a couple months now (have 3 different decks sleeved w/ them) and have had 2 sleeves split (on the top) on me. Love em, and have no problem w/ the occasional split. Sometimes I am a little careless when I shuffle so it's on me really.

Sounds like you got a rare, bad batch.

[copywriter]

I've read some review saying that they are 1mm shorter than the normal KMC sleeves. True?
The "problem" the review mentioned was that if you use them for double sleeving, the top part of the inner sleeve will stick out on top. True?


Thanks.

[Richard Cheese]

Are the hyper mat clears actually clear? Someone said they were actually white.

[danyul]

Are the hyper mat clears actually clear? Someone said they were actually white.

They sell them in Black and Clear. Nobody buys the Clear ones.

And the Clear is more like a slightly see-through off-white kinda thing.

http://www.collectorscache.com/StoreModules/ProductImages/271/HyperMatClear.jpg

[akuma1623]

Hyper mats are amazing. They are the best sleeve I have ever used. I have slowly been getting our players to switch over to them. The only problem is they are short supply. We are waiting on distributors to get them back in.

I use Black for all my older format decks and I use the clear for my standard decks. Since all the standard cards are mint it is not an issue. Also yes they are clear and not white

[Wilkin]

I've read some review saying that they are 1mm shorter than the normal KMC sleeves. True?
The "problem" the review mentioned was that if you use them for double sleeving, the top part of the inner sleeve will stick out on top. True?


Thanks.

They are a bit shorter than regular kmc. Haven't had an issue with the card popping out of the sleeve.

Bad batch? Maybe. I shuffle exactly the same with every other make of sleeve, no issues with any other brand.

[danyul]

They are a bit shorter than regular kmc. Haven't had an issue with the card popping out of the sleeve.

Bad batch? Maybe. I shuffle exactly the same with every other make of sleeve, no issues with any other brand.

They do pop out a little bit through regular use or if you are not super-pro at double sleeving and pushing the card as far down as you can. But if you just take the deck, stand it upright, and tap it on the table a few times, they all jump back into place.

It is slightly annoying sometimes, but isn't annoying enough to cancel out all the other awesome qualities of Hyper Mats.

I have had a couple of the bust on me, but that's why you get 5 extra. And it doesn't happen often enough for me to hold it against the brand. I do feel that Dragon Shields are stronger, but they don't offer the same hand/shuffle feel as Hyper Mats.

[Koby]

ITT:

"You got defunct product"
"You're a caveman"

[Tormod]

I've been very unlucky with KMC products, lots of splitting issues. I keep reading praises about KMC products, but I just haven't had the same experience. Maybe Canada gets all the defective KMC products. :eyebrow:

[danyul]

I mention the caveman thing because I've heard plenty of people complaining about sleeves no matter which ones they buy. Then I watch them play and they bash their cards with such vitriol that of course they are gonna bust a sleeve eventually. I think the KMC Mattes are actually sturdier than the Hyper Mats. The Hypers aren't super strong, but if you shuffle without hate in your heart they should be just fine for tournament play.

Also, regardless of the types of sleeves the OP is using, he could still be a caveman. You are actually all strangers.

The burden of proof of your noncaveman status is really on you, not me. (jk)

[Tormod]

I mention the caveman thing because I've heard plenty of people complaining about sleeves no matter which ones they buy. Then I watch them play and they bash their cards with such vitriol that of course they are gonna bust a sleeve eventually. I think the KMC Mattes are actually sturdier than the Hyper Mats. The Hypers aren't super strong, but if you shuffle without hate in your heart they should be just fine for tournament play.

Also, regardless of the types of sleeves the OP is using, he could still be a caveman. You are actually all strangers.

The burden of proof of your noncaveman status is really on you, not me.

I know Wilkin personally, he might be a caveman when I'm not around, but from my experience I haven't seen him do much knuckle dragging. :cool:

[socialite]

I'm a longtime fan and avid supporter of KMC sleeves. Double sleeved my entire collection in Perfect Fits/KMC Hyper Matt Blacks.

A few weeks ago I went back to the KMC Matt Browns as the Hyper Matts feel significantly thinner and split often. They are shit.

Also anyone who talks about Dragon Sleeves, just go home.

[dreinal13]

What I love most especially about the Hyper Mattes is the fact that the corners don't bend/give out that easily. In addition, the sleeve itself feels pretty solid and secure. The only issue I really had with them is the overly opening on the top, I think that there's too much space there that you can easily make the card fall out of the sleeve when you turn it to it's head and give it some shake.

Overall, love the KMC Hyper Mattes, you probably got a bad batch as others have mentioned in the thread.

[Julian23]

KMC HYPER MATS SUCK!

Honestly, you probably don't see me these kind of statements a lot but this time I feel really cheated. Having been a big lover of the KMC Mat Blacks, I bought a pack of KMC Hyper Mats to try out for my Elves deck.

What happened? Out of 80 sleeves, FOUR of them split immediately upon inserting the card. And I'm no moron, I know how to handle sleeves and never ran into this issue while blowing through about 15 packs of KMC Black Mats over the last years. Yes, I play a lot and over the that time I maybe had alltogether 4 sleeves split.

Another issues is that the Hyper Mats are slightly shorter than the Mat Blacks, which gives less protection to the card inside and makes it stick out more easily. I hate that.

Honestly, there's no "maybe you got a bad pack" for me. If people open bad packs this often, chances are the product itself if flawed. I'm going back to Mat Blacks and will never look back.

[Pippin]

KMC HYPER MATS SUCK!

Honestly, you probably don't see me these kind of statements a lot but this time I feel really cheated. Having been a big lover of the KMC Mat Blacks, I bought a pack of KMC Hyper Mats to try out for my Elves deck.

What happened? Out of 80 sleeves, FOUR of them split immediately upon inserting the card. And I'm no moron, I know how to handle sleeves and never ran into this issue while blowing through about 15 packs of KMC Black Mats over the last years. Yes, I play a lot and over the that time I maybe had alltogether 4 sleeves split.

Another issues is that the Hyper Mats are slightly shorter than the Mat Blacks, which gives less protection to the card inside and makes it stick out more easily. I hate that.

Honestly, there's no "maybe you got a bad pack" for me. If people open bad packs this often, chances are the product itself if flawed. I'm going back to Mat Blacks and will never look back.

I'd still go with "you got bad batch" though.

I bought 1 pack of Hyper Matte and not a single one split yet even though I jammed dozens of games with them. I like that they are stable, don't "slide" when just opened and they indeed do shuffle well. However, being 1mm shorter in length is a major downside which prevents me from using them in bigger constructed tournaments since I double sleeve my cards with KMC perfect fits. You can fit perfect fit sleeve and the card in question into Hyper Matte, but during shuffling it isn't unusual that few of the perfect fit sleeves move and start to stick out - making the cards sort of marked. Can't comprehend the reason why they decided to shorten them 1 mm...

I usually use KMC Matte Black and even though they are excellent sleeves (1mm longer in length being main selling point over hyper matte) they do split from occasion to occasion. That is entirely up to the shuffling method of the player though, and since I shuffle like a caveman I usually split at least 2 sleeves during bigger tournaments. Latest example was during GP Prague where I split 2-3 KMC Matte Black during the whole 18 rounds of the event.

Side note - KMC seems to have improved their manufacturing process lately and sleeves seems more sturdier and of better quality, I used to split them quite a bit more in the past.

[Julian23]

I'd still go with "you got bad batch" though. [...]

My point is that "bad batch" loses most of it's relevance if the likelyhood to get one of those gets too big.

[Kayradis]

I hate the Hyper Mat. I stick to the standard KMC Mat (screw the glossy ones too while we are here)

[Secretly.A.Bee]

I play Super Purple and I love them. I have a buddy who plays matte black and the split way more than mine. I've split 2-3 in the last year or so.

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

[wooboy11]

I play Super Purple and I love them. I have a buddy who plays matte black and the split way more than mine. I've split 2-3 in the last year or so.

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I recently bought the Super Purple ones, after using Mattes for a while. The Super Purples got mad dirty really quickly, and they get sticky so much. I have 2 Mattes that are like 6 months old and they have no apparent dirt. And I never split a sleeve my whole life, even Ultra Pros.

Bad batch?

[Secretly.A.Bee]

Nah, I think it's a "super" trait. I buy new super purple sleeves every 2 months or so for the same reason. I'm more oily though, than some individuals, so that could be part of it. I dunno. I really like them. They make all the cards' art in my EsperBlade list "pop".

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[HammafistRoob]

Moarr Oily!⸮¿?!

[Secretly.A.Bee]

I have quite a bit of Native American lineage in me. We tend to have an abundance of natural oils that European//Caucasian individuals lack. It's suddenly uncomfortable to talk about, thanks.

Edit: Also, my vodka tolerance is inequivocal.

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[Secretly.A.Bee]

Double post

[Norm]

I'm glad someone finally made one of these threads. I also experienced many splits during my first tournament (GP Washington) with them. They shuffle well, but aren't durable at all. If I shuffle extremely carefully, this issue goes away. The biggest problem with that is that my opponents were splitting them more frequently than I was and it just lead to awkward situations.


Bottom line, I hated the hyper mats but really enjoyed the super series. It's not a case of receiving a bad batch, they're just plain terrible.

[Kayradis]

They were a good idea.
The feeling of an Ultra Pro with the durability of a KMC.
The fact, is....

You can't turn a Lada into a race car.
http://hooniverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/lada-1200-4737541_l_f3dc9775064f5997.jpg

[Jon]

They were a good idea.
The feeling of an Ultra Pro with the durability of a KMC.
The fact, is....

You can't turn a Lada into a race car.
http://hooniverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/lada-1200-4737541_l_f3dc9775064f5997.jpg

http://i009.radikal.ru/0905/6a/b9516c587c67.jpg
But you can! Russian Rally Cars!

Yeah KMC Hypermats SUCK anyway.

[Gunz24]

I just experienced the bottoms splitting on my first batch of hyper mats after about two months of use. I thought it was just me because no one else had been having this problem at my shop. I love the sleeves and to be honest I play A LOT of games so two months isn't terrible but certainly not what was advertised. Has anyone tried to get a hold of KMC about the issue? If so what was your experience.

[Phelix]

honestly, 2 months of use and id be satisfied with most products (dont mention my silve ninjasleeves that ive played for 3 years)

you should probably be switching sleeves every other tournament, its anything major, to avoid having marked cards.

[barcode]

So i tried out a bunch of KMC hyper mat sleeves. I like the fact it shuffles well and it's textured on the back so marks are less noticable..... However, the bottoms split easily. Like, super easily. I've only had the hyper mats for a month or so and have split 20 of them, all at the bottom.

Never had this problem with a sleeve before. Not dragon shield, KMC regular mat (yet, haven't tried out for too long) or even the cheap ultra pros.

I hate all KMC sleeves. They shuffle very poorly before the day's Magic is over. They split very easily. Dragon Shields shuffle much better, last longer and are better value for money.

I've split exactly two Dragon shield sleeves in 3 years.

[Michael Keller]

I hate all KMC sleeves. They shuffle very poorly before the day's Magic is over. They split very easily. Dragon Shields shuffle much better, last longer and are better value for money.

I've split exactly two Dragon shield sleeves in 3 years.

The new Dragon Shields (Turquoise, Orange) are probably the best sleeves I've ever shuffled. They don't chafe, they simply don't split, there's a nice distance between the top edge of the sleeve and the top of the card itself and they don't accumulate a lot of "gunk" on the backs of the cards.

[H]

The new Dragon Shields (Turquoise, Orange) are probably the best sleeves I've ever shuffled. They don't chafe, they simply don't split, there's a nice distance between the top edge of the sleeve and the top of the card itself and they don't accumulate a lot of "gunk" on the backs of the cards.

I love the feel of Dragon Sleeves. I bought a full display box of the dark blue ones a few years ago, but I am running low now.

How is the opacity of these newer ones? What I like about the dark blue ones is that you can't see through them at all.

[Gunz24]

The inconsistency of Dragon Shields is awful. Ever open a box and then look at the tops of the sleeves? More often then not they're cut to different heights. That's a marked sleeve issue right out of the box.

As for changing your sleeves every other event, that's something I only ever had to do with Dragon Shields (of any color) because they scratch so much. My very first tournament I used a set of Dragon Shields and received a warning for marked sleeves (week old). Never again will I use those pieces of shit. I have NEVER had that problem with KMCs.

As for the time frame I think two months for a product advertised to be the most durable sleeve on the market is not OK. Even the owner my LGS was surprised at that and encouraged me to get a hold of KMC. I've written to them so I'll keep everyone posted.

[ESG]

As for the time frame I think two months for a product advertised to be the most durable sleeve on the market is not OK. Even the owner my LGS was surprised at that and encouraged me to get a hold of KMC. I've written to them so I'll keep everyone posted.

Just for the sake of historical comparison, sleeves should last longer than that. I have sleeves I bought in the early 2000s that are still playable today. They're Ultra Pro Black Shield. Only one ever split. The only reason I replaced them was that textured sleeves were invented. In terms of durability, that Black Shield line was the best. I don't know if they're still being made today. I suspect they were replaced by the current Ultra Pro line. Some of the longer-term posters might remember the Black Shield sleeves:

http://940ee6dce6677fa01d25-0f55c9129972ac85d6b1f4e703468e6b.r99.cf2.rackcdn.com/products/pictures/300520.jpg

[the Thin White Duke]

+1 for Dragon Shields. Except...
There is sometimes a difference in sleeve size from box to box. And they tend to attract the gunk (but it may just be me.) But the important facts are that they shuffle great and are very durable.

Ultra Pro Black Shields were the shit! I used those for YEARS and only got rid of my stash because I got sick of black sleeves. Those were awesome sleeves.

[cab0747]

I am on the Dragon Shield bandwagon. I used different varieties of KMC for the past 6-8 months. I got one batch that held up well (super purple) the rest kept on splitting (super silver, mat black x2).

I went with Dragon Shields for my Tron deck (which sees tons of shuffling) and I haven't been able to split one yet. After the success with DS, I sleeved the rest of my decks in them and I have split a total of 1 sleeve. Only downside is they can get dirty.

I might try the hyper mattes for my next deck... I don't know.

[Elfkid]

Dragon Shield Turquoise and Dragon Shield Pink the best evah!

[rancOr_]

I use KMC purple, find them among the best. Normally I'm not huge on Dragon Shields, because KMC is just plain better, but I bought the turquoise to check it out. Those are really good too,they clearly changed the texture as to the previous DG, which were terrible.. So I can recommend either KMC(prefer purple) or the new DG.

[dragonwisdom]

I use KMC mat black

KMC mat black is 92 by 66
HYPER KMC mat black is 91 by 66

The 1mm difference in double sleeved cards matter. Why would you want the cards to pop out of the top even occasionally. Both ultrapro and KMC made the new product lines with
91 by 66. I use cheaper ultrapro sleeves for draft sets and common cube stuff.

Legacy or modern cards need to to be in KMC mat black with 92 by 66 dimensions. I have used it for years with no problems in splitting and the extra 1mm is great for double sleeved cards.