How to Crack a Golden Age Slab Safely? 2 2

[Wayne-Tec]

Hey guys,

Looking at a number of GA slabs, the inner well is often sealed very close to the book itself.

Does anyone have experience cracking GA slabs and if so, do you have any tips for how to do so safely?

For GA slabs with inserts on the left side and bottom, is the process any different: more or less room to cut around where the well is sealed?

I've seen videos on YouTube but not for GA books and not for books with left side and bottom inserts.

[Wayne-Tec]

[MrBedrock]

There are two different answers to your question, depending on which slabs you are dealing with. Any slab pre-2017 (current or golden age size) can be cracked simply by running your fingers along the side, feeling for the gap, and then popping the front from the back at each post. You then need to get a very sharp exacto knife or box cutter. Place the comic on a flat surface and trim three sides of the inner well inside of the heat seals being very careful not to slip and cut the book. I try to use the edge of the inner well as a guide...and go slow.

The newer slabs (all essentially the same size) are a little more difficult to crack. The exterior shell is completely sealed on each side. You first need to pry along the top or bottom until you can fit a screw-driver or other solid flat instrument between the two shells to begin prying them apart. Once you have gained entry you can then pop the side seal along one side or the other a bit at a time. Be careful not to poke the book while you are cracking the seal. I recommend using a short, fat, stubby flat-head screw-driver. When you get one side popped from top to bottom you can open the shell and remove the inner well. Then, again using an exacto of box knife and a flat surface, you can trim the edges to remove the book. I always trim off the top portion first, the trim from the top down each side about 2 - 3 inches. This is especially helpful if there are spacers. When done you can open the top and slide the comic out. Be very careful not to catch any piece of the comic on the edge of the inner well as you slide the book out.

[Zolnerowich]

3 minutes ago, MrBedrock said:

There are two different answers to your question, depending on which slabs you are dealing with. Any slab pre-2017 (current or golden age size) can be cracked simply by running your fingers along the side, feeling for the gap, and then popping the front from the back at each post. You then need to get a very sharp exacto knife or box cutter. Place the comic on a flat surface and trim three sides of the inner well inside of the heat seals being very careful not to slip and cut the book. I try to use the edge of the inner well as a guide...and go slow.

The newer slabs (all essentially the same size) are a little more difficult to crack. The exterior shell is completely sealed on each side. You first need to pry along the top or bottom until you can fit a screw-driver or other solid flat instrument between the two shells to begin prying them apart. Once you have gained entry you can then pop the side seal along one side or the other a bit at a time. Be careful not to poke the book while you are cracking the seal. I recommend using a short, fat, stubby flat-head screw-driver. When you get one side popped from top to bottom you can open the shell and remove the inner well. Then, again using an exacto of box knife and a flat surface, you can trim the edges to remove the book. I always trim off the top portion first, the trim from the top down each side about 2 - 3 inches. This is especially helpful if there are spacers. When done you can open the top and slide the comic out. Be very careful not to catch any piece of the comic on the edge of the inner well as you slide the book out.

Bring on the 2017 video, Richard! Funny book boardies are much more comfortable with pictures than words. 

[MrBedrock]

3 minutes ago, Zolnerowich said:

Bring on the 2017 video, Richard! Funny book boardies are much more comfortable with pictures than words. 

I need to get that done.

[Superman2006]

 

[Superman2006]

Click on thread above and scroll down for a video that Mr. B posted earlier this year.

[Zolnerowich]

1 hour ago, Superman2006 said:

Click on thread above and scroll down for a video that Mr. B posted earlier this year.

Yes, that’s some of Mr. B’s finest work, showing off his producer-writer-director-actor quadruple-threat talents, but that short documentary film was based on the pre-2017 slab. 

[comicdonna]

 

[Superman2006]

Ahhhh, I see; it's been a while since I checked out Mr. B's video; to be honest, all that I really remember about it is that it was awesome.

 

Edited November 22, 2017 by Superman2006
clarification since I failed to quote earlier response...

[MrBedrock]

[Sqeggs]

3 hours ago, MrBedrock said:

There are two different answers to your question, depending on which slabs you are dealing with. Any slab pre-2017 (current or golden age size) can be cracked simply by running your fingers along the side, feeling for the gap, and then popping the front from the back at each post. You then need to get a very sharp exacto knife or box cutter. Place the comic on a flat surface and trim three sides of the inner well inside of the heat seals being very careful not to slip and cut the book. I try to use the edge of the inner well as a guide...and go slow.

The newer slabs (all essentially the same size) are a little more difficult to crack. The exterior shell is completely sealed on each side. You first need to pry along the top or bottom until you can fit a screw-driver or other solid flat instrument between the two shells to begin prying them apart. Once you have gained entry you can then pop the side seal along one side or the other a bit at a time. Be careful not to poke the book while you are cracking the seal. I recommend using a short, fat, stubby flat-head screw-driver. When you get one side popped from top to bottom you can open the shell and remove the inner well. Then, again using an exacto of box knife and a flat surface, you can trim the edges to remove the book. I always trim off the top portion first, the trim from the top down each side about 2 - 3 inches. This is especially helpful if there are spacers. When done you can open the top and slide the comic out. Be very careful not to catch any piece of the comic on the edge of the inner well as you slide the book out.

Reading this makes me 

[MrBedrock]

Just now, Sqeggs said:

3 hours ago, MrBedrock said:

There are two different answers to your question, depending on which slabs you are dealing with. Any slab pre-2017 (current or golden age size) can be cracked simply by running your fingers along the side, feeling for the gap, and then popping the front from the back at each post. You then need to get a very sharp exacto knife or box cutter. Place the comic on a flat surface and trim three sides of the inner well inside of the heat seals being very careful not to slip and cut the book. I try to use the edge of the inner well as a guide...and go slow.

The newer slabs (all essentially the same size) are a little more difficult to crack. The exterior shell is completely sealed on each side. You first need to pry along the top or bottom until you can fit a screw-driver or other solid flat instrument between the two shells to begin prying them apart. Once you have gained entry you can then pop the side seal along one side or the other a bit at a time. Be careful not to poke the book while you are cracking the seal. I recommend using a short, fat, stubby flat-head screw-driver. When you get one side popped from top to bottom you can open the shell and remove the inner well. Then, again using an exacto of box knife and a flat surface, you can trim the edges to remove the book. I always trim off the top portion first, the trim from the top down each side about 2 - 3 inches. This is especially helpful if there are spacers. When done you can open the top and slide the comic out. Be very careful not to catch any piece of the comic on the edge of the inner well as you slide the book out.

Reading this makes me 

Should I take out some of the big words?

[Sqeggs]

1 minute ago, MrBedrock said:

Should I take out some of the big words?

Just the stuff about exacto blades near GA comics!

[AJD]

3 minutes ago, Sqeggs said:

Just the stuff about exacto blades near GA comics!

It's fine, you just need a nice sharp new blade and - as Mr B says - work slowly.

[Sqeggs]

7 minutes ago, AJD said:

It's fine, you just need a nice sharp new blade and - as Mr B says - work slowly.

My hand just developed a tremor thinking about it ....

[atomised]

cracking Voldemort slabs is kinda fun, you get the pliers out and snap those corners off, pieces fly around the living room.  It's a party 

[Wayne-Tec]

Thanks for the feedback Richard.

With pre-2017 slabs, once you get the inner well out of the outer shell, are the inserts (sometimes at the bottom, sometimes along the spine) physically attached to the inner well?

Edited November 22, 2017 by Wayne-Tec

[MrBedrock]

42 minutes ago, Wayne-Tec said:

With pre-2017 slabs, once you get the inner well out of the outer shell, are the inserts (sometimes at the bottom, sometimes along the spine) physically attached to the inner well?

They are attached. They won't slide around when you open the inner well and they don't, at least in my experience, grab the comic if you slide it out through the top.

[Wayne-Tec]

48 minutes ago, MrBedrock said:

They are attached. They won't slide around when you open the inner well and they don't, at least in my experience, grab the comic if you slide it out through the top.

So does that mean that wherever there is an insert, you can’t cut along that edge, be it along the spine, the bottom of the book or both?

Because some GA books are heat sealed so close to the actual paper, that using a knife or pair of scissors looks to be risky.

If you can’t cut along sides supported by inserts, that forces you to cut on the top and on the right side of the inner well, regardless of how close it is to the actual paper, no?