PSA: A guy at the Gen Con library taught me to always bring a $5 pack of card sleeves for demo games.

My friend and I were trying a new deckbuilder there, and his sweaty hands totally wrecked the demo copy's cards... the volunteer just sighed and pulled out a fresh box, saying 'happens every year, but sleeves would've saved it.'

3 comments

3 Comments

campbell.robin3mo agoProlific Poster

My hands are basically a humid climate zone, so I get it. I once left a thumbprint smudge on a friend's rare magic card that looked like a tiny modern art painting. That five dollar pack of sleeves is cheaper than the shame of watching a volunteer silently judge your clammy life choices. I should just buy stock in a sleeve company at this point.

grant.richard3mo ago

Worrying about a volunteer's silent judgment seems like a stretch. Most people at those events are just trying to get through the day and don't care about your hands. That smudge probably looked more like a smudge than art to anyone else.

rayc382mo ago

Yeah that "silent judgment" line from the original post is real, you can feel it in the air. I read a whole forum thread once where demo volunteers talked about keeping a "disaster box" of ruined games for when management asks why they need more copies. Campbell.robin is right about the shame, it's not about the money, it's that awful moment you see you left a mark. My local game store guy told me he sleeves every single demo deck now because the cost is nothing compared to replacing a whole game.