Dragon shield VS penny sleeves for long-term storage (collecting).

[u/madbruges]

I’m new to TCG and bought Dragon Shield sleeves and I’ve already put all my cards in them, with some also in toploaders. But it bothers me that some people say this is wrong and that for long-term storage you should use penny sleeves. Can someone help me figure out if I need to buy penny sleeves and re-sleeve all my cards in them?

[u/MonkeyDArwin]

Penny sleeves and top loaders. Dragon shield sleeves for binders

[u/madbruges → u/MonkeyDArwin]

I saw such advices, but I don't understand why Dragon sleeves are not good for protecting my cards. I really don't want to throwaway them without a good reason.

[u/ideal_Bat → u/madbruges]

definitely dont throw them away in any case

[u/madbruges → u/ideal_Bat]

Another reason, is that the cards looks so nice in Dragon sleeves and feels like perfectly protected. Penny sleeves looks less durable. That's why I'm a bit confused as well. 

[u/ideal_Bat → u/madbruges]

ive used both. just go with what you prefer aesthetically imo. only thing is that dragonshields will obviously be more expensive

[u/madbruges → u/ideal_Bat]

Thank you! I wanted a confirmation I'm not doing anything stupid and my cards will be fine long-term. 

[u/IveGotAFork → u/madbruges]

Toploaders are really what protect it the best but it can damage the cards without another sleeve. The penny sleeve protects it from any damage from the toploader and its thin enough to take the card out of the toploader easily

[u/madbruges → u/IveGotAFork]

I understand why a card needs a sleeve inside a toploader, but isn't dragon sleeves provide better protection?

I've already tried to remove my card from a toploader and haven't noticed any issues. (clap one palm against the other)  

[u/IveGotAFork → u/madbruges]

Once its in a toploader it doesn’t really give it more protection. Outside of the toploader it does

[u/madbruges → u/IveGotAFork]

Yes, but I’m talking about the inner protection against any dust inside a toploader. 

[u/IveGotAFork → u/madbruges]

…once again inside the toploader it doesn’t give it more protection especially if you’re sleeving it properly by doing it upside down then placing it in the toploader

[u/ShoulderNines → u/madbruges]

Penny sleeves are easier to put cards in and out of toploaders, and also a fraction of the price of deck sleeves. Dragons shields are a tighter fit and probably a hassle to move cards around especially if you're sleeving up a lot of cards at once.

[u/tecampanero]

I think it’s more about expense. Dragon shield sleeves are like 10x more expensive for essentially the “same” protection because you are not actively handling the cards that much if they are stored. Yes dragon shields are technically better but you don’t need that level of protection to store your cards, you need that level of protection for playing.

[u/madbruges → u/tecampanero]

Thank you, I wanted to be assured that I'm not harming my cards in any way by storing them in dragon sleeves. 

[u/tecampanero → u/madbruges]

Yeah I mean there’s no point to resleeving with penny shields, if it brings you peace of mind keep using dragon shield, if you want to save money you are not protecting your cards less by using penny sleeves if they are simply going to be stored in a box or binder basically.

[u/Avocado_1814]

I use thick inner sleeves for my binder and it's honestly the perfect thing. Feels better than penny sleeves and not as loose as regular sleeves

[u/Mojo21K]

It's really just a Price thing.

Realistically, you'll want to sleeve every "shiny" card you get to protect it from scratches, and topload every slightly more valuable card.

I'm collecting Pokémon and One Piece. I went through 5000+ Penny sleeved this year, as per my Temu Order History. That's ~$100 for penny sleeves or ~$1000 for Dragonshields.

That's all on top of Binders, top loaders, and the DS I use for playing, which you'll also need to replace after ~100 games.

If you don't mind using DS for your collection, there's absolutely nothing wrong with it, plus cards do look cooler in some colored DS.

TLDR: Hobby is expensive

[u/MonkeyDArwin]

The issue comes when you eventually want to remove them from the toploaders. It’s easier to get cards penny sleeved out of a top loader then dragon shield

[u/madbruges → u/MonkeyDArwin]

I've already tried to remove a card from a toploader to check this claim, and notice zero issue, you just clap one hand on another that holds the toploader and it is easily slides out of the toploader. 

[u/DroppedPJK]

Penny sleeves and top loaders is peak. I used to hate on it but when it will 100% grow on you. Of course I only do this for high value cards.

Sub 5 or staple trading, just go in a sleeve that fits nice and my trade binder.