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Bagged comics...the funniest of ironies.
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54 posts in this topic

So, bagged "by the manufacturer" comics were introduced in the very late 80s...think "Black Kiss", or "Uncensored Mouse"...but they really took off when Spiderman #1 was introduced with special bagged variants in June of 1990, unannounced to retailers. 

That soon followed with other examples, from Uncanny X-Men #294-296, X-Force #1, Darker Image #1, to Superman #75, and many more.

At the time, the prevailing wisdom was that buyers had to keep the bag perfectly intact, or the "condition would be ruined." An opened bagged was tantamount to throwing it in the trash, fit only for recycling. For the purest of collecting purposes, the bag HAD to remain sealed, or it would be rejected as inferior. Nobody ever considered the impact that the inclusion of various oddly shaped, hard edged items..like cards...or the heat seal of the bag itself.

Fast forward 20 years, and all of these books...literally every book published with a manufactured bag and heat seal...have been damaged by the uneven pressure exerted by that seal over the ensuing decades. The only salvation for those books in ultra high grade was the people who opened those bags, carefully took the comics inside out, and stored them properly. Those didn't have time to develop the problems that the "still in the original plastic, mint condition!!" copies have today, that have to be, at a minimum, pressed to remove those indentations...if they can be, and if the heat seal wasn't set a bit too high, to take off some of the ink of the cover below it.

My 20 year old self laughs at my 46 year old self.

:whee:

 

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6 minutes ago, RockMyAmadeus said:

 

Nobody ever considered the impact that the inclusion of various oddly shaped, hard edged items..like cards...or the heat seal of the bag itself.

Fast forward 20 years, and all of these books...literally every book published with a manufactured bag and heat seal...have been damaged by the uneven pressure exerted by that seal over the ensuing decades. The only salvation for those books in ultra high grade was the people who opened those bags, carefully took the comics inside out, and stored them properly. Those didn't have time to develop the problems that the "still in the original plastic, mint condition!!" copies have today, that have to be, at a minimum, pressed to remove those indentations...if they can be, and if the heat seal wasn't set a bit too high, to take off some of the ink of the cover below it.

 

 

Oh yeah, I remember those days. It was so exciting to take a book out of the plastic and ACTUALLY see what it looked it (if it wasn't spoiled already).

So, my question on this topic is every copy of a book that is "still in the original plastic, mint condition!!" technically damaged goods and not mint condition?  And are the people that buy old bagged comics not getting any book that is mint condition? (asking for a friend). 

Thanks for the nostalgic topic! 

(thumbsu 

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3 minutes ago, DjMartini said:

Oh yeah, I remember those days. It was so exciting to take a book out of the plastic and ACTUALLY see what it looked it (if it wasn't spoiled already).

So, my question on this topic is every copy of a book that is "still in the original plastic, mint condition!!" technically damaged goods and not mint condition?  And are the people that buy old bagged comics not getting any book that is mint condition? (asking for a friend). 

Thanks for the nostalgic topic! 

(thumbsu 

I was very annoyed, because it forced me to buy at least two copies...one to keep "mint in the bag!", and the other to actually open and read.

It nearly caused a panic attack to actually OPEN a Superman #75 to see what was inside. "You're RUINING IT!!"

lol

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I kept my copies of that 12 part X-Men crossover sealed for years.  I think one of the price guides (Overstreet Fan, maybe?) finally said that they were the same price whether the bags were sealed or not, as long as the contents were complete, so I finally sliced the tops open and read them.  I've kept them in the bags with the cards still inside, and I have to admit, I'm not in any hurry to throw them out, my OCD is too strong.

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I was lucky enough not to have any part in that farce, as collecting was suspended for me for much of the 80's and 90's (real life interceded).  My only role later in life was to find this stuff in collections and say, "I can't believe this karp!" lol

 

Edited by divad
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How much are those bagged books worth?  X-Force #1?  Spider-Man #1?  X-Ecutioner's Song?  It seems the only bagged book of any value is Superman #75 Platinum Edition.  Otherwise it turns out it doesn't matter whether the book remained in the bag or was removed.  In either case, they're still $1 bin books.

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On ‎10‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 9:14 AM, RockMyAmadeus said:

Fast forward 20 years, and all of these books...literally every book published with a manufactured bag and heat seal...have been damaged by the uneven pressure exerted by that seal over the ensuing decades

Fortunately, this funniest of ironies can be corrected by ironing of the funnies.

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