Dragon Shield
| Dragon Shield | |
|---|---|
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| General Information | |
| Status | Active |
Dragon Shield is an online market leader in the retail of Magic: the Gathering sleeves and other gaming accessories.
Description
As a brand, Dragon Shield has been produced by the Danish company Arcane Tinmen since 2000, and distributed in the U.S. by Fantasy Flight Games. As they have archival quality, Dragon Shield sleeves have considerable heft in the plastic material that makes them about two to three times as thick as other premium card sleeves. The price is almost twice the price of other premium sleeves.
Packed in a box about an inch thick, the sleeves are more transparent than other premium sleeves, and not quite as slick. Dragon Shield sleeves come with a wide range of colored backs, with Classic, Metallic, Matte, Sparkles, and Non-Glare treatments. The sleeves have an obvious edge where they have been sealed and a faint plastic odor.[1] They also have an options to create personalized sleeves.
Apart from sleeves, Dragon Shield also sells binders, card boxes, and playmats. In 2021, they started the release of roleplaying accessories like Dungeon Master Screens en Dice Companions.
Types of sleeves
Dragon Shield currently has three card sleeve textures available, Matte, Brushed & Classic.
- Dragon Shield Classic card sleeves are the original card sleeve by Dragon Shield, they have smooth backs without texture. Decks sleeved with Dragon Shield Classic sleeves will have a firmer shuffle feel than decks sleeved with Matte or Brushed sleeves. Slightly more force is required when shuffling, especially when ‘mash’ shuffling (pushing two piles of sleeved cards together). Brand new Classic card sleeves are very slippery to start with, a deck sleeved with classic card sleeves may even topple over sometimes. After use and over time they will become less slippery adhere to each other a little more strongly, over time they will become the least slippery of all the textures available so your deck will be very unlikely to topple over. Classic card sleeves are more prone to scratching and scuff marks than other card sleeve textures.
- Dragon Shield Matte Sleeves are 120 microns thick, making them the thickest sleeves on the market. The Matte card sleeves have a textured ‘roughed’ matte back offering a very smooth shuffle feel, especially when compared with the Classic texture. Decks sleeved in Matte card sleeves will shuffle effortlessly. These sleeves can be slippery when they're new, but they become less slippery over time.
- Brushed sleeves feature a lightly textured back with a silky-smooth shuffle feel. The artwork is printed directly on the sleeves and doesn't peel or split.
References
- ↑ Dan Ededelen (October 1, 2012). "Dragon Shield card sleeves by Arcane Tinmen—a review and overview". Boardgamegeek.com.