Puppet & Retro decks...to sleeve or not to sleeve...

[Iron Heel]

...that is the question.

I now have both decks. They seem better quality that the colored ones.

I like the feel of using cards unsleeved, but I dont want them falling apart.

If you've been using these, do you sleeve them?

[Ausplosions]

Not at all.

They do not need sleeving.

[Forar]

Not sure about the puppet deck, but it's my understanding the retro deck is plastic, not paper, so I doubt you'd need to sleeve it.

[Gruesome]

I got a retro deck because I was tired of sleeved cards.

I like them much better now that my brain finally accepts the new suit designs on the retro decks.

[decker_cky]

Sleeving the retro deck isn't really needed, but it would deal with the slipperiness. I don't think it's that much of an issue, but if it bothers you too much, sleeving would be a good solution.

[xKoBiEx]

Pro-fit sleeves eliminate the leaning tower problem. I have even went so far as to make a custom deck case out of paper craft.

[Ozz]

They dont need Sleeves but for the slipperiness problem, spend 10 - 15 min just shuffling them and that should sort it as they are much better after a few games:)

However, the puppet deck does scratch the backs of the cards so if you dont want that you may be better of to find suitable sleeves for them.

[Pierowmaniac]

Yeah no need for sleeves, but retro deck does like to jump all over the table and floor.

[karavak]

I would recommend sleeves for the puppet deck BUT this is based off of my experience with the first puppet decks they released. I don't know if the quality has improved since then.

I made heavy use of my puppet deck and then at GenCon one year I asked them if my decks was supposed to look this way.. faded, the grey rubbing off, etc. And I was told that is just normal wear and tear. And I was also told that in the condition my deck looked it would almost be considered a marked deck. Now this was a deck that got very heavy use and, again, it was the first runs of those decks. It might have improved since then.

[Claymore65]

Retro decks are plastic, so it shouldn't be a big deal. If you love sleeves, you can, but you don't need to.

[Q'iq'el]

I think you should consider a deck a supply rather than an investment. All the decks, Malifaux or not, wear and become unusable. Plastic decks are just a bit more sturdy.

Also I'd have a problem with a sleeved deck or laminated deck. The later is almost equal to marking it (depends how well it is made, but there are bound to be some tiny bubbles and there are margins that may differ in size). The former will make the cards hard to see in some conditions (and the sleeves can look unique and therefore mark the cards as well, once they scratch or tear on the corners).

Malifaux decks are pricey, as far as decks go, but not extensively so - they still last quite a bit. If you are concerned with paying for new deck, use regular cards, they are dirt cheap all over the world.

[i_was_like_you]

I think you should consider a deck a supply rather than an investment. All the decks, Malifaux or not, wear and become unusable. Plastic decks are just a bit more sturdy.

Also I'd have a problem with a sleeved deck or laminated deck. The later is almost equal to marking it (depends how well it is made, but there are bound to be some tiny bubbles and there are margins that may differ in size). The former will make the cards hard to see in some conditions (and the sleeves can look unique and therefore mark the cards as well, once they scratch or tear on the corners).

Malifaux decks are pricey, as far as decks go, but not extensively so - they still last quite a bit. If you are concerned with paying for new deck, use regular cards, they are dirt cheap all over the world.

Or get another deck that strikes your fancy, like using a tarot deck. If you're going to cheat fate, after all, why not go all the way. Use the Minor Arcana (minus the Pages) and two of the Major Arcana as your Jokers. I found a nice one I found the other day:

http://www.wyrd-games.net/showthread.php?38331-Steampunk-Tarot-Deck-as-Fate-Deck&p=495920#post495920

[Skamter]

I don't think you need to sleeve the retro deck. I personally dont like sleeves much anyway. But I found that if you take a tea light candle and rub it on both sides of the cards you will almost solve the slipperiness problem until you wear them down in use

[xKoBiEx]

I don't think you need to sleeve the retro deck. I personally dont like sleeves much anyway. But I found that if you take a tea light candle and rub it on both sides of the cards you will almost solve the slipperiness problem until you wear them down in use

Cool idea, Skamter. I am a fan of sleeves, however...the Pro-Fit (tight sleeves,) anyway.

[96p]

If it becomes to used just buy a new one, it may be even cheaper than sleves and you support your favorite tabletop producer^^

[Rathnard]

I don't sleeve my fate deck. The way I figure it, they're neither difficult to acquire nor expensive (unlike Magic: The Gathering cards, for instance) so why bother trying to protect them?

My own puppet deck has seen very heavy use and is scratched to sh$t, but that honestly doesn't bother me. Being plastic they're still perfectly functional and in any case, the extensive wear and tear gives them a bit of character.

[i_was_like_you]

You should see my deck for the game Lunch Money. It's a towering mass of Lunch Money (60 cards?), Beer Money (another 60?), and two Lunch Money Sticks n Stones expansions (another 30 or so each?).

If I sleeved it, there'd be no way to shuffle it, much less stack it up for play. As is, most of the cards, except for the second SnS pack, have the same level of playing cards out in the desert wear n tear to them. Which, somehow, tends to make all of the newer cards find their way to each other during the course of shuffling, even if table shuffling is involved.

Players of Magic and other CCGs sleeve them to avoid having marked cards and to protect the value of cards. Even in the Standard, these cards are a year or so old, format of Magic, cards have still reached values of $100 or so. As long as fate decks are less than $15 each, there's no reason not to play them unsleeved.