12/14/2016
Topic:
Books right off the shelves
crockettartworks
|
CapnDoug wrote:
ComicFan70 wrote:
As a quick Q - Does anyone totally rebag their books with new boards, bags every 5-7 years as I've heard, or is this an urban LCS legend?
I push my rebagging to every 10 years, but yes, I do fell better making sure that the bags and boards not really old. I've seen comics that were still in their original bags from the 80's and 90's and can safely say that it is not just an LCS urban legend. Those bags had almost liquified in spots and the boards had the back ad burned onto them. Replace your bags and boards, but you can stretch the timeline a bit.
Hello, Folks:
On the question of comic bags: for me, it was love at first sight when I discovered Mylar. You can see and feel the difference in many ways from typical plastic; it is transparent but smoother to the touch. It is an archival material engineered specifically for the protection of paper items, and I'm fairly sure it does not break down at all. It is more expensive, but I use mylar bags for all the books I really care about.
If you care about the book, and the plastic feels or looks different than when new, even a little, I would immediately change them out. I've noticed that after I've pulled a few bags off, and they're sitting in the trash bin, old bags can have a yellowish tinge to hem, or take on a tea color that you can't see as clearly when you're looking at single bags. Changes of color, or "moistness," means the bags are breaking down, which is NEVER a positive thing for your books.
I'd certainly agree it's better to be safe than sorry, but if the books are bring kept in a climate healthy for comic books, it will help the bags, as well. If you are confident enough make sure there's been no breakdown in the bags, I don't think they need be change out. but again, much better safe than sorry.to It's also important to realize that when we speak of "plastic bags," it's not like "plastic" is monolithic, or just one thing.
In the last 20 years, the manufacturers of the bags have (for the most part) very much improved the product. Which is no small part of the reason why changing out the bags is recommended. The earlier bags were flat out dangerous!
A few years back I bought some old FF comics from a seller on eBay that were really nice people, a married couple. Their books were absolutely magnificent in their condition, with one serious exception. From cover to cover, there was extreme tanning.
I sent him a note to thank him, and said "what a shame about the browning." He had mentioned it in his ads. He back explaining that he and his wife were long-time comic nuts, and they'd had a strong sense early on that the books would be valuable one day. So, being conscientious people and all, they bought the best plastic bags available, and boarded and bagged them all, and then put them away, untouched, for some years.
When they finally went to pull them out, they were horrified to see that their prized books had been completely "cooked." The particular bags they were using had apparently been extremely unstable.
I never forgot that. Imagine how frustrating that would be. Had they simply stacked them up and left them alone, they would have been fine.
Thanks for your ear.
edited by crockettartworks on 12/14/2016 |
