General Forum

Sorry for another supplies question, but I’m wondering what the deal is with penny sleeves sticking to cards.  On this site here, there have been people who have said they won’t use penny sleeves because they can stick to the cards.  I’ve seen others also say penny sleeves are good for keeping your cards in nice shape. I was at a LCS recently, and there was a box I was looking through.  Most were 2000 Topps Chrome.  Just about every card was completely stuck to the penny sleeve and seemed to be ruining the card.  I couldn’t even budge some of them.  I also got a card given to me recently in a sleeve from a very recent set, and the card was stuck to the sleeve a bit.  Took me a little to remove it.  So what’s going on here?  Are penny sleeves actually safe storage?

News to me, but I'm sure there's exceptions to every rule depending on the materials in the sleeve and the type of card it's holding. Wonder if those little anti-moisture packets would help if you're putting a bunch of cards in a box (or even washing your hands before working with cards if you're a sweatier-than-average individual - no judgement here).

Bricking's been more of a pressing concern to me, to be honest. Never remember that being a problem back when I collected in the 90s, but now I'm seeing packs as recent as 2020-21 that need a bit of careful maneuvering when opened.

Only on the older sleeves, partially stuck to card, no damage. 

And some of it isn't necessarily the sleeve itself, but, yes, the card stock. I have 01 Std Club Diamond Pearl and 01 base hickey, as example, that have sticky fronts for whatever reason. All sourced from different places so it's the cardstock itself 

Aside from being exposed to moisture at some point, it is common to find sleeves stick to cards made of plastic (of which Chrome cards are plastic front) and some other high-gloss type releases.

As said, card stock and finish affects the penny sleeve. Also, cramming too many cards in a box or storing sleeved cards horizontally stacked, especially in a binder can cause the sleeves to stick.

It could also be user error. Storing cards in a hot and humid environment could be a problem. 

From my experience, this is mostly just a problem for chrome cards. There seems to be something about that chrome finish that makes them stick to the sleeve. Not a problem for normal card stock though.

I haven't had penny sleeves stick to my cards, but they do sometimes cling to each other in the box. Personally, I am a forever penny sleeve user after my dad accidentally dropped one of my card boxes while bringing them from the car into the house after I moved back from college. Because of the sleeves, my cards were perfectly safe after ending up on the floor of the garage. Don't think I'd be saying that if I stored my cards sleeveless.

I have purchased cards which have been stuck to the penny sleeves, mainly, as someone already mentioned, they’re chrome or glossy cards. I have to wonder how long these cards have been lying around in the sleeves before I purchased them.