How we measure box creep before a game earns shelf space
Box creep is the quiet drift where a game’s footprint grows faster than your shelf plan: promos, thicker card stock, metal upgrades, and inserts that no longer seat flush. We treat it as a buying signal, not a packaging flex.
Tray depth is measured with a digital caliper at four corners after five plays in our Ludgate Hill salon. If variance exceeds half a millimetre across seasons, we annotate the product page so collectors know what to bag.
Lid lift is photographed with a fixed light source and a reference cube. Anything over three millimetres of lift under its own elastic tension gets flagged before we recommend the title for travel kits.
Insert tolerances are checked with sleeved cards from our house standard sleeves, not the thin samples distributors sometimes ship. If a deck does not return to the well without bowing, we delay listing until a community fix is validated.
These metrics keep heavy euros in rotation after month six, when the honeymoon period ends and honest storage begins.