[PhoenixRisen]

I believe the "traditional card sleeves" they refer to were the hard plastic top-loaders which came first.

I don't. Because like I said, I 100% had sleeves before deck protectors came out. And deck protectors were slightly different from penny sleeves. Soft plastic card sleeves existed long before the 90s.

[zeprock]

Just passing along what I read on the internet.

[hempick]

Well I know they were around in the early 90s because I started collecting around 1992 and I remember them being a thing then. I was just curious how much earlier they were around than that. Thanks for all of the answers/thoughts so far!

[spyarbrough80]

I started collecting in 1989, and I had endless amounts of these penny sleeves, and I don't ever recall them being "something new" so I believe they were around long before I started collecting in 1989. I would guess in the mid-late 80s when the demand for cards went up, and the mass-production junk wax era started.

[aprirr]

From the very first time I walked into the long-since-closed local LCS in 1987, every star and semi-star card was in a penny sleeve with all cards above $5 being in a penny sleeve, top loader and in a locked display case. The higher valued cards were in a 2-piece snap-together hard case. The only cards not sleeved were the commons, which were housed in 5000-ct monster boxes with one set and year per box. It was an excellent and efficient system that is sorely missed.