...do any of you use them?

 I've never sleeved a card in my life, though I don't doubt some games might benefit from them

Note really a fan of card sleeves, the cards are small and hard to handle already with sleeves they litterly get 3 times as think and become near impossible to shuffled.  I spent about 200 dollars on my game and all expansions put together and have gotten about 7 years of enjoyment out of it, so if I have to replace it, it will be money well spent because I can't think of much else that gives you 7 years of entertainment for 200 bucks.  Hell I spend that much on a night out at the movies with the wife and kids.

Rule 1 for me.  Never feel bad about a game that looks used and worn out, thats the mark of a great game.  Worry about the ones that are 10 years old and look brand new, thats a bad omen.

BigKahuna said:

I wasn't worried about the look of the game, just protecting the investment.  How often do you play the game?  I have a very limited budget, I survive off of $700 a month.

I have played it pretty consistantly 2-3 times a month for the past 7 years with a few breaks here and there that last maybe a month or two when we get on some new temporary bandwagon.

My game definitly looks used, but the components are very good quality, they have lasted very well given their treatment.  The only thing really showing age are the action cards, they get man handled probobly more than anything else.

BigKahuna said:

Okay

BigKahuna said:

I have both the original version of Dungeon Quest from the 1980s and a copy of Circus Imperium also from the 1980s. They've both been played a lot over the years and are definitely well used. Both show a few signs of wear but are both still in good shape. I figure if games I have from this long ago that have been played as many times as they have don't need protecting, then most games don't - especially given the high quality components that many games these days come with.

I think sleeving cards may have begun in ernest with the collectable card games and has more recently come over to the board games that have lots of cards.

 I just ordered 800 sleeves! Feels crazy and I had to double check my numbers concerning the amount of cards the base game, plus the two expansions, contain. It amounted some around 720! I figured that some cards need protecting more than others, like the action, political and planet cards. I still decided to just sleeve the lot. But paying 14 squid for 800 sleeves and shipping was ok. I plan to play TI a damned lot during the coming years and I easily fuss over small things like bent or even slightly torn cards. Now I just need to make high quality scans of ALL the different cards in case someone looses one of them during our game sessions :(

I have sleeved my entire game.  I want to protect the investment nd it helps in the rare cases where someone has a drink with them and possibly has a mishap.

I also use some variant cards and the sleeves make it so you cannot tell the difference and makes it easy to shuffle.

 All my TI cards are sleeved.  

Sleeved cards can get stuck together, but will certainly help protect from accidents. I kind of prefer the character that comes with a well-used set: for example, my Advanced Civilization game board has a couple of red wine stains that always bring a smile.

Growing up I never used sleeves for my card games but once I got older I realized that protecting them was a good idea. My group is pretty careful though accidents like the Trade Strategy Card going in the nacho cheese do happen. It's a testament to FFG craftsmanship that there isn't a mark on the card.

Short answer: my cards are getting sleeves.

I'm curious how much taller a complete stack of sleeved action cards will be :D

Treguard said:

My sleeved cards are kept in the Action Card box they came in as it is to tall to stand on its own.

My guess would be that it builds two inches or so on the AC deck.

 I've lseeved all my cards. The sleeves add some height to the card piles but since you can't stack more than roughly 40 cards on top of each other, lest they all just slide into a complete disarray at the sligthest nudge. I just keep them in the tray, just like I (have to) do with the political cards. But it's easier to mix the cards now and I don't have to feel nervous as soon as someone is touching a card with even slightly grubby fingers.