The exciting world of overlay storage

Faded 8-1

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So I bought a photo album (the 'magnetic' kind, with the cellophane flaps that fold over the tacky cardboard) thinking it would be a good way to store my overlays. There's two problems with it. One, it's not big enough to hold the large overlays, like the ocean overlays, the rice paddies, etc. It was the biggest one they had, except for a big-ass wedding album with pinks bows and crap on it. Two, the overlays slide out. You would think they would stay nicely in place, like a photo. Nope. The small ones especially go flying right out when I move it. Not enough surface area.

So how is the best way to store overlays?
 

SamB

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Laminate and cut out your overlays.

Get a three ring binder and page protectors.

On a black sheet of paper, write down the overlay ID and stick the overlay to the page using whatever method you use to attach them to the maps. (Make sure you can still see the label beside or above the overlay).

Put the paper(s) with the overlays attached in the sheet protector(s).

You're done. Your overlays won't come out and you can tell by thumbing through the book if you are missing an overlay. (It will be the one with a lable and no overlay - duh.)

This protects them, makes them painless to use, and lets you know before you leave your friend's house or that tourney if you are missing an overlay.

Sam
 

MrP

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What Sam said. Apart from the black paper bit, feel free to use any colour that suits.
 

Vinnie

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If you can get some plasticard then it's easier to remove the bluetack and it doesn't dry out so much.
 
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Baggies! (Ziplocs, of course.) Small baggies for small overlays. Gallon baggies for large overlays. Keep them all in an old module box.:cool:
 

62nd Army

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Mark

IMHO plastic page protectors work the best. You can use the "photo slide" pages for the small overlays. 1 to 3 hexes and go up from there. Baseball card pages work well also. I put my overlays in "backwards" to see the Overlay ID number/Letter. Just flip the page to actually see the overlay. All the overlays will fit into a 2" binder. This method has served me well for many years. It is also easy to put away the overlays after use. Just a warning, anything "sticky" overtime will leave residue on the overlays. It will happen!!

Regards
Joe
 

daveramsey

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62nd Army said:
Just a warning, anything "sticky" overtime will leave residue on the overlays. It will happen!!
Isn't that the point of laminating them?

I'm planning on using ink jet glossy paper as a background, and draw a border around each overlay. As Sam says, it's a great way to spot if you're missing one.

My problem is my laminator occasionally eats overlays. It's very disconcerting to feed in 4 inches of laminating envelope thingy into a 2 inch deep laminator and watch as no inches come out the other end. Finally a crumpled up overlay emerges, looking pretty sorry for itself.

My Brush overlay now appears in 3d and has more than a look of Difficult Terrain about it :(
 

jpellam

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Laminate and cut out your overlays.

Get a three ring binder and page protectors.

On a black sheet of paper, write down the overlay ID and stick the overlay to the page using whatever method you use to attach them to the maps. (Make sure you can still see the label beside or above the overlay).

Put the paper(s) with the overlays attached in the sheet protector(s).

You're done. Your overlays won't come out and you can tell by thumbing through the book if you are missing an overlay. (It will be the one with a lable and no overlay - duh.)

This protects them, makes them painless to use, and lets you know before you leave your friend's house or that tourney if you are missing an overlay.

Sam

Good idea, I will have to try that method.
 

dwardzala

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I use scrapbook photo/page stograge bags to store both my overlays and my CG maps (1 bag for maps & 1 bag for overlays). They are paper safe (i.e. won't cause discoloration), clear and zippered. They come in different sizes but I find the 12"x12" bags are the perfect size for the maps and will also hold all the overlays.

I am leary about storing my overlays in any type of sleeve or page protector as they could detach from their holding medium and fall out the top. I am thinking of incorporating the "page" methods with the bags (I could fit a lot of small overlays on both sides of a 12"x"12 sheet.
 

IYAOYAS

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Baggies! (Ziplocs, of course.) Small baggies for small overlays. Gallon baggies for large overlays. Keep them all in an old module box.:cool:
I'm glad it works for you. I'm using the Ziplock system and it drives me nuts. My next ASL improvement is getting the overlays in photo album format.
 

SamB

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The "baggie" method only works if you don't care that you can't tell if they are all there. It also can take more time to find specific overlays.

If you go to a tourney, you will probably (someday) loan an overlay to a friend. You will want to know you have your overlays all together when you leave.

If you use my method - you will always know if your overlays are present, and finding them to play a game is fast and easy. (all "building" overlays on one page, all "grain" overlays together, etc. And no need to fumble through the contents of a baggie to find building X10 - it's right there staring at you.)
 

Vinnie

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With the added advantage that you often have a niice sheet of clean white pape to write your HIP unit set-up on....OOOPS!
 

Faded 8-1

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I'm using the baggies-in-the-old-module-box system currently. It's served me for many years, but I thought I'd try to find a better solution. I like Sam's method best so far, but still would like to hear from anyone that uses a different method than those described above.

Tip for sticking overlays to maps: use Post-it notes. I keep several small post-it notepads handy for HIP and such. When overlays are needed, I just tear off the sticky part and make a 'tape-loop' to stick the overlay to the map. I think it's better than sticky-tack, because it doesn't leave any residue or damage the map or overlay.
 
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Isn't that the point of laminating them?

I'm planning on using ink jet glossy paper as a background, and draw a border around each overlay. As Sam says, it's a great way to spot if you're missing one.

My problem is my laminator occasionally eats overlays. It's very disconcerting to feed in 4 inches of laminating envelope thingy into a 2 inch deep laminator and watch as no inches come out the other end. Finally a crumpled up overlay emerges, looking pretty sorry for itself.

My Brush overlay now appears in 3d and has more than a look of Difficult Terrain about it :(
That's Overlay Abuse, Son! Punishable to the fullest extent of the law!:angry:
 

dspurlock

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My method

UNIKEEP BABY!

The best way I’ve found for my personal overlay storage http://www.unikeep.com


Here is the 1.5” View Case Binder in action. Note that when the binder is closed nothing can slide out. Regular Poly page protectors are used for the overlays. Plus you can add your favorite ASL picture or image to the front loading, wrap around, slide-in pocket binder cover; in my case it’s a cut down DASL map sheet.

It’s cheap, lays flat and the binder comes in all kinds of sizes






 

Bigkayeh

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This thread inspired me to change my storage from baggies in a module box to page protectors(large) and basballcard (small) and for the medium size I had some old page protectors for 3.5" floppies(long gone). I inserted a peice of cardstock into the full sheet page protectors and hope to get a labeling system for them in the near future.

The bad news: I've apparently lost X3 sometime in the past. (Last time I played with overlays was back about 12 years ago.):OHNO::upset::hissyfit:
 
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dwardzala

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UNIKEEP BABY!

The best way I’ve found for my personal overlay storage http://www.unikeep.com


Here is the 1.5” View Case Binder in action. Note that when the binder is closed nothing can slide out. Regular Poly page protectors are used for the overlays. Plus you can add your favorite ASL picture or image to the front loading, wrap around, slide-in pocket binder cover; in my case it’s a cut down DASL map sheet.

It’s cheap, lays flat and the binder comes in all kinds of sizes






Ooooooh! Me Likey!
 

WaterRabbit

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I would also suggest using page protectors and playing card/baseball protectors. I have all of my overlays stored in my original ASL Binder in a combination of these two. You can see both sides of the overlay, so no need to label and you can store them in order. I also created a document that lists all of the overlays and store it in the front of the binder for quick reference. No lost overlays yet.
 

Michael R

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post-it note tape

Someone mentioned using post-it notes to stick an overlay to a page. 3M is way ahead of that--they have put the post-it note glue on cellophane tape in a roll. I use this to store my overlays and to play with them. I will need to laminate them one day, to prevent possible.discoloration from the glue.
 

drchilds

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If you go with a binder-based storage system, I recommend the Avery #76000 "Secure Top" sheet protectors, which have a flap a the top to help keep the overlays from slipping out.

Dave
 
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