Record Sleeves - Which ones and where?

Hello, There's numerous places to buy Sleeves. One, is Sleeve Town (Or is it Sleeve City)
Usually places like Elusive Disc, Needle Doctor, Garage A Records sell them.

I have always bought my Poly Lined Inner, and Outer Sleeves from MusicDirect. www.amusicdirect.com

While the Mobile Fidelity Sleeves are really nice, they do also cost a bundle, and generally are sold in quantities of 50.

The Inner Sleeves I have usually bought from MusicDirect are a high quality Poly Lined Paper Sleeve, are very well made, are quite a bit less money than the Mo-Fi's, and can be gotten in lots of 100. (They may still break lots of these to sell lots of 50 also, you'd have to inquire)

As for Outer Sleeves, yes, they are a wise investment, and if you only use Inner Sleeves, IMO you are only doing half the job of protecting your LPs from Dust, and wear, and tear.

The very best Outer Sleeves I have ever bought, and used, were the 6-mil Resealable Japanese Sleeves that MusicDirect sells.

These are not a "stretchy" plastic, where when you go to open the Flap, the Sleeve itself wishes to stretch, and tear. I've had these, and didn't like them, and returned them once with an in store purchase.

They are just large enough to hold some "thinner" double LPs, and will contain any of the single Mo-Fi releases, but will not hold any of the occasional triples you might have. Hope this helps you,

Bes Nivera is the guy to speak with at MusicDirect, ask for him. He'll know what you want, as they carry a plethora of Inner, and Outer Sleeves in various price ranges. Mark

I second Markd51's recommendation for the Poly Lined Paper Sleeve and the resealable Japanese Sleeves that both Elusive and Music Direct carry.

The out sleeves are excellent and also completely clear (nice to see the the cover) and it is very to easy to read the spine of the LP. They look the best on the shelf too.

Far West Records is a nice mom and pop near LA with better prices than the above, especially if you're out West. No website! ph: 626-335-5544.

Sorry for being dim, but what are outer sleeves, why are they important and how do they protect the LP from wear, tear and dust? I've heard of plastic covers used to protect the album cover, but never heard of an outer "sleeve" that could protect the vinyl record itself. Thanks.

Thanks for the tips guys. As far as the outer sleeves(Hartwerger, I believe the "plastic covers" and "outer sleeves" are one in the same, and keep your albums from getting scuffed up), I like the idea of a thicker 6 mil sleeve (thanks Markd51!). I've been looking at the 3 mil, but I've never used any outer sleeves and so I don't know what the quality will be like. Do the outer sleeves fit snugly or are there edges that will fold under when I place the albums on shelves and end up taking away valuable real estate on my shelves with the "bunching up" of the plastic on the bottom?