I think the moral of this thread is we need
@Actarus to post some pics of his next opened Asian steel...
you know you want to!
I don't think I'm regretting opening my steels. But I definitely go the extra step to protect the open steels, especially full slips.
Here's my process: I take a poly bag, trim it to the point where I can fold the edges down and put a little piece of tape on each edge. This allows me to protect the steelbook from the little scratches that they get when you take the steel out of the slip.
I have first hand experience with kimchi pianist getting these crazy scratches because of the glossy finish. So I had to come up with something ;P the trimmed poly bag acts like the original tight shrink wrap.
Below are the pics. You might ask why not just leave it sealed then? That's a valid question honestly, and I've asked myself that too. However, every steelbook I buy, I watch it. Also, after a long day at work or if I'm bored, I like to open them up and look at the contents, booklet, cards, artwork, etc. After all that is why I collect these, to enjoy them.
I guess you can call me crazy, but every release I grab my scissors, tape, poly bag, SCF2, and white gloves and I go to town. I'm far less ocd then I was a year ago. If I open a steel and it has some paint chips, fine. But I'll be damned if I'll scratch up the steel by just removing it from the slip case Lol. I'm not sure if anyone else does this too, but it works for lenticular and full slips...