To laminate or Not to laminate? That is the question.

[CanadianPitbull]

I have got a lot of insight on this and thanks for the suggestion of the those specific lamination pouches Cory (and Chad). I may be blowing the dust off the laminator soon enough.

[malicelover]

Jul 11, 2024 22:50:55 GMT -5 Cory Olson said:

As Chad said, I've laminated mine since about '95. Chad and I bought a laminator together about 20 years ago. (I think this is one he mentioned that broke.) My wife bought me my own for Christmas some years ago and I've used it since. Mine got jammed last year but my mechanical-minded son was able to fix it

I used to use the full laminating sheets and do two game cards on one. But then Chad introduced these sheets to me. They fit the playing cards almost perfectly with minimal trimming needing to be done.

I used to laminate every FG card. But with so many different lines now, I just usually laminate my Legends cards to save on laminating sheets. Since I've started an indie fed (my IPW), I might laminate some of the indie cards I use more often.

As far as resale, I'm not big on reselling things. If I have an extra card that's out of print that someone wants to buy, I will sell it. I sold one out-of-print LOW card to Barry (malicelover) about two years ago and I told him up front that I had laminated it.

Cory Olson, I think you may be misremembering this. I think your Brutus Beefcake SE card (B&W) might have been laminated but I picked up a Pesek or Jim Londos extra you had that WAS NOT laminated.

I don’t laminate my cards - just because as a teacher I have seen horror stories of posters, anchor charts, etc. go through the laminator and come out more wrinkled than my oldest workout t-shirt that was placed in the bottom of the storage basket and hasn’t been worn in seven or eight months. I exclusively use Toploaders, and if I sell something I send the cards in the Toploaders more often than not because I figure it saves time and ensures the cards arrive in pristine condition.

[CanadianPitbull]

The wrinkling is a potential downside however I put a back sheet underneath the laminated page to ensure there is no wrinkling and warping in past things I have laminated. But good to take into account.

[the_faction]

I to have and still laminate my entire collection across CotG, Indies & Legends. It's a nice little 'tradition' to laminate a set of cards and is just a part of my process when integrating new cards every quarter.

When I moved back to the states a couple of years ago I bought this laminator and haven't had any issues with it or the sheets that I bought for it.

Unlike individual sheets per card with these sheets I can get 4 cards in a sheet and then I trim it with a paper cutter. That's not the one I use as I've had mine for 10+ years and it's still going strong. You will also need with this method a corner trimer as laminate can be pretty sharp and when you are flipping and moving your cards around they can poke you.

But to answer your original question on how do they hold up to play? They are fantastic, the cards never yellow as they are sealed and the laminate really doesn't scratch or scuff over years of use. The only real issue that can be a determent is during the laminating process you have to be very careful that your laminate sheets are clean. They are very static electric and can have an 'extra' take a ride right at the time you seal them. I have just a few cards w/ a dog hair sealed in with the card...

[Cory Olson]

Jul 12, 2024 8:09:01 GMT -5 malicelover said:

Cory Olson, I think you may be misremembering this. I think your Brutus Beefcake SE card (B&W) might have been laminated but I picked up a Pesek or Jim Londos extra you had that WAS NOT laminated.

I don’t laminate my cards - just because as a teacher I have seen horror stories of posters, anchor charts, etc. go through the laminator and come out more wrinkled than my oldest workout t-shirt that was placed in the bottom of the storage basket and hasn’t been worn in seven or eight months. I exclusively use Toploaders, and if I sell something I send the cards in the Toploaders more often than not because I figure it saves time and ensures the cards arrive in pristine condition.

It was a Londos card and now that you mention it, you're right, it wasn't laminated. I had forgotten about the Beefcake card.

With all the laminating I've done over the years, I've been blessed not to have had too many horror stories of cards getting jammed, wrinkled, or other flaws. When Chad and I originally bought the laminator together, I jammed one of our early Legends cards (Virgil, I think) and we had to replace that laminator.

The laminator where I teach is this hand-crank one that's awful. There's a built-in cutting blade that barely cuts. I avoid using it when possible and just use my own.

Jul 12, 2024 10:07:16 GMT -5 the_faction said:

I to have and still laminate my entire collection across CotG, Indies & Legends. It's a nice little 'tradition' to laminate a set of cards and is just a part of my process when integrating new cards every quarter.

I agree with Jared about integrating the new cards by laminating them. I typically do this and then sort them into their various binders. I've joked that organizing the cards is half of the fun.

[hexxstar]

I don't personally laminate my card but I've bought laminated Out of Print items and I don't have a problem with it. I was lucky that I was able to buy quite a bit of top loaders right when the pandemic started (over 1500) to put my COTG collection in. I might have around 6 laminated cards I've bought off the second hand market. It didn't stop me from buying them.

I agree with everyone that has said it's up to you, don't let the worry of not selling them bother you. If you are only purchasing cards to sell them, then maybe not laminate them but if you are playing with them, then laminate away.

[Carlzilla]

I prefer the top loaders for official cards. I'm just not a big fan of lamination on my cards.

However, I don't think it's a bad way of protecting your cards, it's just a personal hang-up because I've always collected stuff, and lamination just rubs that portion of my brain the wrong way.

I did stop putting bootlegs in top loaders though, instead opting for 3 ring post card sheets for those.

[on_the_edge]

Jul 12, 2024 10:07:16 GMT -5 the_faction said:

They are very static electric and can have an 'extra' take a ride right at the time you seal them. I have just a few cards w/ a dog hair sealed in with the card...

The question now is, how did the card(s) with the dog hair do? Did the dog hair hinder them? Give them a boost to overperform? I wonder how a cat hair would affect the careers of the wrestler.

[Vegas]

I personally choose not to laminate as it seems like alot of extra work compared to just sliding the cards into top loaders and I like to get my Indie cards autographed.

When the pandemic started in China, I saw "made in China" on the package of my top loaders and immediately ordered a large number of top loaders before the manufacturing sector there shut down for awhile. Today I still have a decent size stack of empty top loaders in my closet and an entire box of them in my living room that I have not opened yet, so I will have top loaders avaialble for new releases for a long time.

I personally really prefer the top loaders. They protect the cards well and I roll my dice right on top of them (even with the autographs inside the top loaders) without damaging the cards.

[lk3185]

I know I'm just really diving in and things are different all around the world as far shipping and all that But I've never considered laminating.. too clumsy that I think I would screw it up. I like the Toploaders, bought directly from Ultra pro cause they have deals on them that make it cheaper than Amazon.. always looking to find them cheaper though. I like the idea of using binders, perhaps for Indie cards if I don't use the postcard soft sleeves. Toploaders I feel for me will only be used on LOW/COTG cards..