I do what I suppose a lot of other people with that goal also do. Whenever possible I just cut open the right-side (or left) face of the plastic sleeve of a new cd. So... I spend 3 extra seconds to open/close a cd case... the time to slide the cd case out of or into the open sleeve. For used records which I store in new cases there is not always a similar solution. However, I sometimes save plastic sleeves from catalogue cds that I get from several companies whose products or services I use at work, and use them for music cd cases which miss the plastic sleeve. I can't say for sure, but my guess is that around half of my collection is "case-protected". Later, Paulo Nóvoa Composite Materials and Structures Research Unit tel.: 22 957 87 13 | ext.: 2105   INEGI  - Institute of Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Management |  driving inovation www.inegi.up.pt Date: Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:41:56 -0700 From: To: Subject: keeping CD cases in good shape Message-ID: <15c2fc7066e61.486a1804@fibertel.com.ar> ok..just to prove how anal i am..(i know..a sign of mental illness)..I am visiting my family home in San Diego and burning some of my rock/pop CDs in order to take them to Argie..what I noticed (not the first time by the way) that it is really hard to keep the CD cases looking good, clean, uncracked. They are not like the old album covers that withstood everything, including younger siblings' crayon marks. In any case, what is it that you all do in order to keep your collection looking presentable? Is it just a matter of changing the plastic covers? Any other ideas? Just something to live with? best gabriel (enjoying summer before heading back to winter)