Well, I or my wife one have taken every one of our maps to Office Max over the last couple of years to get them laminated, at a cost of between $5-7.

But my wife went in there during her lunch break today to see about getting some maps laminated and the lady at the counter said lamination would be about $16 each.

So she told them she would just go somewhere else and the lady was like, "Sorry."

Of course my wife and her sharp wit, she said, "Don't apologize to me. You're the one who just lost business."

So I wondered if it was a price increase in general, or if it's just that one store. I really don't know where I will go for lamination now. $16 is just too damn high.

costs me roughly $12 a map at the nearest Staples, which is about 45 minutes away.

I was having it done at a chain store for $15, then I found a small local shop that will do it for $5 (that was a month ago). Getting it done cheap and supporting a local business !

A lot of people at my LGS don't laminate their maps and instead use one of the huge toploads to store all their maps. I keep forgetting to buy one of those (Lobo, Madman: if you read this and you're coming Sunday, remind me to buy one!) A lot people find this toploads to be better than laminations cause they'd have lamination screw up their maps and also if someone has the huge dice (and I mean half the size of your fist dice) that dent the lamination but not the toploader.

yeah I just got all mine laminatied.

staples bent me over at $12 a pop!!!!

Check "ULTRA PRO" site-
they can be purchased in "case loads" and it comes to like $9.00 apiece...?
you 'll want the 24"x 36"
for a while one of our players with a Business credit card ordered them once a year and we all bought them from him...

That's ridiculous. My mom took them with her to Staples a while ago, and the guy just looked at it and said
"Uh"
Needless to say my map wasn't laminated due to employees being Pre-Sschool drop-outs.
On the otherhand, I like the way your wife handled the situation, points for her!

Yup, MAJOR price jump.

My local Staples used to be about $3 per map. I got the JC Map Pack and the set poster map laminated and trimmed earlier this week and those four cost me over $50. OUCH!

The crummy part is they wrinkled the laminate on one of the JC maps. Fortunately, it's still usable, but it's not "clean."

Still cheaper than Kinkos, though! (They were $25/map two years ago.)

I think I would have to demand a discount or something if they mess up one of my maps from JC. Those things are irreplaceable.

That's some lazy service for sure....I haven't laminated any of my maps and my Death star is getting a bit worn. I may go the top loader route rather than risk some part time high school buffoon wrecking a hard to find map.

Petro prices are partly behind the jump in laminate I'm sure. We live in a plastic world.......

The toploaders are great. I've seen too many horror stories on the boards to go the laminating route. I've ordered a few cases in the past from various dealers and have sold extras to the local gaming guys. By the case is the way to go - about $60 for a case of 10. You can use dry erase markers on them too - great for keeping score and marking doors. The downside is finding a carrier to lug the things around. Fortunately, I have a wife that is good at sewing. PM me if you want a list of a couple dealers I've used (don't know if the mods care if I post the names here)

yeah, me too. the last time i got a bunch of maps done there, I only paid $24... so either the price was hiked up or someone did something wrong then. Bummer. But worse, whichever Staples lackey did the lamenations, they bent up my Theed map beforehand. I didn't inspect them in the store and didn't find out until i got home.

I need to drop by my local place. Used to be $10 a map. They usually keep it overnight though. But, it is too straighten them out. They've come out pretty damn close to perfect, neatly trimmed. And the laminate is different too. Lighter and more flexible than the other's at my store who have laminated maps. I bet it will be more now, but personally, I would do it for $20 (just not all my maps at once).

OK - sites for 24x36 toploaders:
http://www.bcwsupplies.com/ - although they appear to be out of stock until June on the 24x36.
eBay member = hobbysupply168 or search for their store "Hobby Supplies Only" through the site.

The price hike for all things plastic might hit those soon though as it has the laminating prices.

Upon searching, I have found another site.
http://www.cardclubusa.com

Went to Staples today.

$5 for each. The girl behind the counter was really friendly, too, even gave me a discount after I told her I'd be coming in there with all my maps.

She did a great job laminating them.

Damn you must have used some Master Technician on her

she's like the perfect woman for a SWM fanatic.