Jump to content

Double (Gatefold) Plastic Outer Sleeves


Recommended Posts

Hi guys, sorry if this has been covered a million times already, but I wondered if you have any tips for where to get hold of some good quality plastic outer sleeves for double or gatefold albums, in the UK?

 

I bought these from Amazon, which are great for 99% of double albums, but now and then one comes along which won't fit. Also, it would be great to find some that allow the gatefold to open up whilst still covered.

 

There are these - also on Amazon - but they seem ridiculously pricey to me (£2 per sleeve)?! Perhaps I'm just a cheapskate!

 

Thanks in advance for any help you can give :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Which part of the UK are you from?

 

I usually buy mine from the guy that does all the sleeves at the London and south east record fairs but his better ones although very good quality are a bit tight on the fatter gatefolds or trifolds. From memory I pay £12 per 100 for them, I also get my poly lined inner sleeves from the same guy which are also very nice quality.

 

I did buy some nice quality larger ones from ebay in bulk a while back but can't find the sellers details now.

 

As to the opening ones for gatefolds I've only ever found PVC ones and I don't trust using them on anything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been using these for all of my single and double lp's: 

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B1UML82/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

But like you said, there is the oddball double lp that won't fit (ex: the Cure "Disintegration" doesn't fit but "Kiss Me..." does) so I ordered these which look a bit bigger:

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001719NXQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

They haven't arrived yet but I will update once I get them to let you know how they fit...I'm sure they will be big enough, I just don't want the albums swimming in the sleeve.

 

I realize you're not in the US but maybe you can find something comparably on Amazon UK.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been using these for all of my single and double lp's: 

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B1UML82/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

But like you said, there is the oddball double lp that won't fit (ex: the Cure "Disintegration" doesn't fit but "Kiss Me..." does) so I ordered these which look a bit bigger:

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001719NXQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

They haven't arrived yet but I will update once I get them to let you know how they fit...I'm sure they will be big enough, I just don't want the albums swimming in the sleeve.

 

I realize you're not in the US but maybe you can find something comparably on Amazon UK.

Update on this - I would definitely not recommend these sleeves: 

 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001719NXQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

The sleeves are cloudy and the three LP sets that I put in them (eg. The Beatles "Mono Masters") were just swimming in them. Sending them back to Amazon, still hoping to find a sleeve that's slightly bigger than the Sleeve City Ultimate Outer 2.5

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe it's just my own personal experience, but i've never been a fan of PVC sleeves. As others have said, you can't go wrong with Sleeve City Ultimate Outer sleeves. The only problem is the price of shipping to the UK (and the import tax you'll likely get).. but it's definitely worth it.

 

Has anyone tried the new larger sleevecity 5.0s? I'm tempted to upgrade my entire sleeve collection from the 2.5s to 5s.

 

http://www.sleevecityusa.com/ultimate-outer-5-0-record-sleeve-p/9390.htm

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe it's just my own personal experience, but i've never been a fan of PVC sleeves. As others have said, you can't go wrong with Sleeve City Ultimate Outer sleeves. The only problem is the price of shipping to the UK (and the import tax you'll likely get).. but it's definitely worth it.

Has anyone tried the new larger sleevecity 5.0s? I'm tempted to upgrade my entire sleeve collection from the 2.5s to 5s.

http://www.sleevecityusa.com/ultimate-outer-5-0-record-sleeve-p/9390.htm

I have an order in for those larger 5.0 sleeves, will update Monday when I get them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi guys, sorry if this has been covered a million times already, but I wondered if you have any tips for where to get hold of some good quality plastic outer sleeves for double or gatefold albums, in the UK?

 

I bought these from Amazon, which are great for 99% of double albums, but now and then one comes along which won't fit. Also, it would be great to find some that allow the gatefold to open up whilst still covered.

 

There are these - also on Amazon - but they seem ridiculously pricey to me (£2 per sleeve)?! Perhaps I'm just a cheapskate!

 

Thanks in advance for any help you can give :)

 

For all my sleeve/mailer needs, I've always bought from either Covers33 or www.soundswholesaleltd.co.uk

 

Both are really great and do free delivery. I much prefer Sounds Wholesale. They've got excellent customer service and delivery is always next day and signed for. Plus it's a bit cheaper too  :P. (And they do 450g polyvinyl sleeves - thickest Covers33 do are 400g,)

 

As for your gatefold sleeves that open up, Cover33 has a few. £15 for 10 or £24 for 20.  From the photos, they look like they've got slits on both ends for easy access. However, they're a bit pricey and made of PVC though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you have PVC sleeves (and some are issued this way new) you should check out this thread on Steve Hoffman http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/warning-to-all-record-collectors-outer-bag-inner-sleeve-concerns.387179/

Yes i tossed all my PVC sleeves. Even all my Simpmy Vinyl sleeves I swapped out (Marilyn Manson's etc).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Many thanks for the replies. Interesting to read about the effects of outer PVC sleeves on the inner vinyl. May have to rethink my entire strategy! Will check out the prices on Sleeve City and see if it would work with shipping them to the UK - would the 'Ultimate Outer 2.5' work for all size LPs (gatefolds etc)?

 

allenh - i'm in the London area... Do you know when and where that guy may be around? Be worth taking a trip to check out his wares.

 

Thanks again everyone :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Came across a record in my collection that doesn't fit in any of the regular sized sleeves (Beach House's Bloom).  What tips do you dudes and ladies have for acquiring 1-3 larger size bags?  Hope a local record shop sells them individually?  I think last time I requested a sample from SleeveCity there was like a $5 shipping charge for the free sample.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Came across a record in my collection that doesn't fit in any of the regular sized sleeves (Beach House's Bloom).  What tips do you dudes and ladies have for acquiring 1-3 larger size bags?  Hope a local record shop sells them individually?  I think last time I requested a sample from SleeveCity there was like a $5 shipping charge for the free sample.

My (excellent) experience with Sleeve City:

 

I placed an order for 50 of the 2.5 outers and then just got 'samples' of the box set and 5.0 larger outers. You can actually order them individually as samples, so I grabbed like 10 of the box set and 15 of the larger outers.

 

So far what I've determined is the 2.5 outers fit 98% of my double albums, the 5.0 larger outers will fit the ones that the 2.5 don't. The box set outers are kinda silly, was hoping to use them for 3 LP sets like the Beatles Mono Masters and Postal Service Give Up 3 LP but they are pretty much swimming in them and they are too 'tall' to fit in an Expedit. I trimmed them all down a bit to help out with the height issue but the albums are still pretty loose inside. 

 

TL/DR : order a pack of whatever you normally buy then get multiple samples for approx the same price per sleeve as you would have paid in a pack of sleeves of which you're not sure you want to commit to a whole pack. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

OK, so the shipping to where I am is around $15... I am going to grab a pack of the Ultimate Outer 2.5 and then samples of everything else... Right now I only have one album that won't fit in standard sleeves, so fingers crossed the Deluxe Oversized Ultimate Outer 5.0 sample will do the trick there.

 

Thanks for the help guys!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×

AdBlock Detected

spacer.png

We noticed that you're using an adBlocker

Yes, I'll whitelist