They are actually called "Really Useful Boxes" and are from Really Useful Products which seems to be a worldwide concern.

The boxes appealed to me as they are the right size, more or less, and can store the cards on their side, or in two rows. You would have to make a divider out of card though to have them in rows, which would take about 20 seconds!

As for the sleeves, I am keen to try them all as the thicknesses do vary. FFG's are 100 microns, Mayday's are 40 microns and Arcane Tinman's are 80 microns. I shall be factoring in things like stackability, feel, playability and cost...

JCHendee said:

Even if i have bought them now, the sleeves are really thick.

I need to make 4 stacks with the adventure card deck and 2 with the spell card deck.

Nothing to do about it i think..

The sleeves are also very smooth.

What we need is a very high card holder that can hold a lot of cards.

This way, the deck of cards cannot collapse, but now.. the cards are so smooth that it will collapse in a instant..

I wonder if FFG has think about it, that it is impossible to make a stack with all the adventure cards into sleeves.

Now that we have the sleeves, we have create another problem..

And  with sleeves, the cards takes more room now  in the Box.

And dividing the stacks into 4 stacks, takes more room on the table too !

talismanisland said:

Thanks Jon!  I look forward to your report on the different card thicknesses. For me, the 40 micron are best, for when using cardstock printed fronts and backs, home mades are no thicker than commercial cards in sleeves, which keeps deck thickness down a bit.

V. ... I know your pain as we've discovered the same problem with stacking outside of a box. I don't think there's anyway around it with those slick sleeves other than to buy or make a box. Although the RUP boxes Jon has show us are a little bulky, they do seem like a good way to go. Sturdy for storage and convenient for use.  My only concerns would be (1) fitting multiple boxes in the Talisman box and (2) having to draw cards slipped in on their sides that don't protrude enough from the box for easy drawing.

Jon, have you tried pulling the cards our, putting them back in on end for play, and do they protrude enough for easy drawing during play?  If so, that might V. and other out with the slipper sleeve stacking problem.

I also don't really see a place on the RUP site to actually select and buy boxes. I'm guessing they are only wholesale from there... or did I miss something?

Ooops... nevermind. I just notice they are still in process to launch online shopping.

Those boxes look perfect.  I'll have to check the Office Depot up the road.  If not, does anyone else have any suggestions for storage?

Today, I visit the "Spiel09" in Essen, Germany. There was a new trader of cardsleeves from asia. They had all sizes of cardsleeves. I found the right one for my talisman game and they fits well. And the prize was o.k.

here the contact:  www.swanpanasia.com

nice dice

fritz

Fritz said:

Heh, you could make the assumption that sleeves from closer at home might be cheaper or have exposure (Arcane Tinmen from Denmark in this case), but truth is often different.

[QUOTE efidm=221326]

Today, I visit the "Spiel09" in Essen, Germany. There was a new trader of cardsleeves from asia. They had all sizes of cardsleeves. I found the right one for my talisman game and they fits well. And the prize was o.k.

here the contact: www.swanpanasia.com

nice dice

fritz
[/QUOTE]

How much was the price?

Oops again... it was a Staples I went to, not an Office Depot. The boxes were very very similar but not quite the same.  Cards in sleeves didn't quite fit comforably, but those without sleeves just barely fit. I took cards with me to test since it was a long drive. I'm going to wait until I can get my hands on the ones Jon recommended.

Okay, a quick photo to show my "progress" with these boxes. It's (really) late here, so the quality is not great and I am off to my pit...

0.3lt boxes with Adventure-type cards in Talisman game box. Note the two MT (empty) boxes which could be exchanged currently for two of the smaller ones below and then have the Character cards above. This would leave room for minis in the second box. Third Adventure box is ready for Frostmarch!! Purchase etc box is divided with cardboard folded as required.

Note - 100 x Adventure cards appears to fill a box, but if you compress them it fills around 60% of the box, so should fit 150 cards comfortably.

Dungeon box with 0.2lt boxes containing tokens etc. There is space in top corner for characters, though I have yet to find a container. However, the size of these allows the boards and rules to fit on top of the boxes with ease. To keep it in two boxes I could switch to standees for figures.

Issues (kind of) -

As you can see, sleeved cards take up  more room. In order to use boxes as caddys during play it would be necessary to cut a piece of foam or polystyrene to shape and put UNDER the cards so that they stand proud of the box. More to come on that...

Tolerances in manufacture of the boxes and sleeves have made the Spell deck a very tight fit widthways in the box. The cards in sleeves will still fit straight, but only just. You are talking about 1/2mm play in the other boxes.

just ordered a few packs of "chimera sized" sleeves from mayday. I guess it's the ideal format for talisman cards.

I have a couple of packs to get yet to test them all thoroughly, but I suspect in the end it will come down to cost and personal preference.

FFG's sleeves are 100 micron plastic and come in packs of 50.

Mayday's Chimera sleeves are 40 microns and come in 100s.

Arcane Tinman sleeves are 80 microns and come in 100s.

Swan Panasia sleeves come in 200s and I am waiting to see how thick the plastic is.

To my mind the Mayday sleeves are a little flimsy to the touch, and FFG's are a little thick due to the size of the sleeves themselves, but as I say this is a personal thought.

As to Velhart's problems with stackability above, it should be noted that the Adventure deck will give problems whichever option is chosen. For example: 50 x FFG sleeves at 100 microns = 50 x 2 (for two layers of plastic) = 1cm extra in height PLUS the air pockets. So given that the Adventure deck is just over 200 cards tall at the moment and soon rising to nearly 300 after Frostmarch, it can be an issue as the sleeves can seem a little "slippery".

I'll report back soon on ideas for stacking, but for now the boxes I have found work well enough. If you fold the handles one way, the boxes tilt slightly when put on their side, so it is just a matter of making the cards stand proud of the box edge.

Overall, you can easily estimate the amount of bloat you'll get in deck height for any type of sleeves you are using.  Measure the height of the count of sleeves you'll need for any size of final deck. Add about 15% to the height of the un-filled sleeves, and that's the minimum extra height added to the deck once all the cards are sleeved. This is why I prefer the thinnest sleeve possibly. Thick ones might be more protective, but overall, the FFG cards are very durable, and one can always replace a sleeve easily enough.  The Mayday ones are very cheep, especially if you buy them more than one at a time to defray the S&H.

I found the "slip" factor to be no different based on the weight of sleeve used; one just has to live with it, or get a more stout card box to hold them on end for drawing. I recently ordered a couple of different clear plastic 2-piece slip sheath boxes for standard sized collectible cards. In theory, two side by side stacks of Talisman cards should fit into them, and one could pull the 2 stacks out and put them back in on end for play.  I ordered two different heights. Soon as I get them, I will report on how this experiment worked out for cards with and without sleeves.  They were reasonably priced even with S&H and might be a solution for all to consider.

talismanisland said:

Just to let you know that it seems another company has entered the fray, based in Thailand. Thai Board Games produce a range of sleeves, even some odd sizes for specialist cards (CE Aliens and Planchase), but none for Talisman Characters (sob).

TBG sleeves (SIze #8 - 42 mm x 64 mm) are 50 microns and come in 120s.

When it comes to Really Useful Boxes, which of their products listed here: Full Range are the boxes shown in this topic?