How Do You Preserve Your Collectible Comic Hardcovers? 1 1

[Number 6]

I know many of us use hardcovers and and trades mostly for reading purposes, but I would guess that some of us make it a point to actually collect and preserve our hardcovers the same way we do our floppies. 

I’m interested in what method you use to preserve your comic hardcovers in high grade. 

I only have a couple collectible hardcovers now - Batman: Son of the Demon and Star Trek: Debt of Honor. Both are still shrink wrapped.  SotD has the poster offer so pretty sure that’s factory sealed. And the DoH is the copy I bought from my LCS when it was released. I remember getting hardcovers in my pull box back then that weren’t shrink wrapped so I’m pretty sure the shop wasn’t doing that, it came from the publisher that way. 

But being shrink wrapped doesn’t guarantee a book is “mint” from the publisher; I know of at least one shop that shrinkwaps everything (I think they do it more to prevent books from getting dog-eared and people using their stock as a free library than actually trying to deceive costumers into think the books are “factory mint”)

But even if a book comes from the publisher shrink wrapped, that wrap doesn’t seem really the best for archival preservation. And you can’t look at the book. 

There’s putting the books in poly bags of course. But those aren’t the best in terms of archival storage either. They’re inexpensive enough to change regularly, but the thicker the book the more excess bag you have pooching out at the corners. 

Mylar bags would be better but because of the stiffness you’d have the pooching problem even more and it would make it hard to store the books upright. 

I know that people who collect first edition novels use removeable Bodart/Demco/Gaylord jacket protectors. Those are made of Mylar I believe so they would be archival safe and you could still look at the book. But there’s nothing covering the top of the page block so you’d have to be diligent about not letting dust accumulate. 

For those of you who make it a point to preserve your hardcovers, what have you found that works best for you?

[Phantalien]

We got some of those book jacket covers.  It mostly protects the book jacket but to be honest that is what most people are looking at.  As long as the dust jacket is covered the inside stays the same and the jacket is protected.  If  you size your shelves well then you don't have to worry about dust on top of the book as much, just on the spine.   Of course the covers do not prevent fading from the sun..

 

[Brian48]

Magazine bags for the most part. Oversized bags intended for treasury edition books are good too whenever I can find them.  

[Ken Aldred]

40 minutes ago, Brian48 said:

Magazine bags for the most part. Oversized bags intended for treasury edition books are good too whenever I can find them.  

Yup. I put my unwrapped Archives and Masterworks in magazine bags as well.

[batmiesta]

I use Fullback boards and Magazine mylites.

[theCapraAegagrus]

I just keep them on my bookshelf and dust them every 2 years...

[Jeffro.]

20 hours ago, batmiesta said:

I use Fullback boards and Magazine mylites.

Why would you use a backer board at all for hardcovers? Seems totally unnecessary given the nature and thickness of most HC books.

 

[picon3]

Number 6,

I also collect books, and have used DEMCO superfold for 25+ years.  These are crystal clear, archival safe and will protect the dustjackets for as long as you own them.  https://www.demco.com/demco-reg-superfold-trade-book-jacket-covers-sheets  I like the 14 inch tall as it usually covers most hardcover volumes.  Then for extra protection against dust, I usually put them in some type of mylar bag/holder.  (I'm not a big fan of leaving items in their original shrinkwrap due to concerns about the wrap not being archival safe.)

Paul~ 

Edited June 17, 2019 by picon3
removed "foxing"

[Krismusic]

I wonder if there would be a future resale market for Hardcovers or Soft TPB Books? 

[picon3]

Good question.  Here's a link to an old thread in which the topic is discussed.

 

[theCapraAegagrus]

30 minutes ago, Krishosein said:

I wonder if there would be a future resale market for Hardcovers or Soft TPB Books? 

There already is. I've paid a premium for some First Printing books (most notably Spawn).

[F For Fake]

I use Brodart sleeves for the dustjackets on the bigger omnibuses, magazine toploaders/bags/board for the large Marvel Gn's, and that's about it. Otherwise I keep the books on shelves in a smoke, pet and sun free part of the house, and keep them dusted, and they seem to be doing fine. 

[F For Fake]

1 hour ago, Krishosein said:

I wonder if there would be a future resale market for Hardcovers or Soft TPB Books? 

As has been stated ,yes, there's a current resale market for collected editions. Print runs on collections these days are razor thin. Once a volume goes out of print, prices can go up dramatically. 

[James J Johnson]

4 hours ago, TwoPiece said:

I just keep them on my bookshelf and dust them every 2 years...

#1 answer!

[batmiesta]

6 hours ago, Jeffro™ said:

Why would you use a backer board at all for hardcovers? Seems totally unnecessary given the nature and thickness of most HC books.

 

Because I want to. 

[90sChild]

I stack them in piles until I run out of space.  Kidding.  Sort of.
I've been able to keep dust off them this way.  It also helps limit me for buying more stuff because there's nowhere to put it.

You'll notice I'm missing X-Men Omnibus #1 (Lee/Kirby) because that one is out of print and sells regularly for $300-400.

Edited June 17, 2019 by 90sChild

[Phantalien]

14 hours ago, 90sChild said:

I stack them in piles until I run out of space.  Kidding.  Sort of.
I've been able to keep dust off them this way.  It also helps limit me for buying more stuff because there's nowhere to put it.

You'll notice I'm missing X-Men Omnibus #1 (Lee/Kirby) because that one is out of print and sells regularly for $300-400.

 

Wow I did not realize that there really are some Omnibus that go for that much.  I remember buying those things during Christmas time at Barnes and Noble when they had the buy 2 get 1 free graphic novels sales.   I am happy that the one thing I ever got signed by Stan Lee was an omnibus book, which is thankfully not out of print.  Or else that signature would just bring down the value

 

Have you thought about asking book collectors who specialize in Little Golden Books or something like that?   

Edited June 18, 2019 by Phantalien

[Martin Sinescu]

I usually re-use the bags I get from my InStockTrades orders to keep my hardcovers protected. Many of my older tpb's from the early 90's have yellowed with age, so I'm trying to minimize exposure to air. I just tape the bags snugly around the books so it doesn't look sloppy on the shelf. I'm guessing these bags aren't archival, but keeping air and dust out while having the books in a dark, temperature-stable environment is hopefully going to preserve them better in the long run. Another thing I do for the omnis is cut some archival matt board (I have lots of this stuff sitting around) as a shim on the bottom to fill the gap between the pages and the shelf. I've seen people complaining that the weight of the omnibus set makes the pages sag if they're set normally on a shelf with nothing to support the pages. 

[theCapraAegagrus]

16 hours ago, 90sChild said:

I stack them in piles until I run out of space.  Kidding.  Sort of.
I've been able to keep dust off them this way.  It also helps limit me for buying more stuff because there's nowhere to put it.

You'll notice I'm missing X-Men Omnibus #1 (Lee/Kirby) because that one is out of print and sells regularly for $300-400.

I think you and I have the exact same bookshelf.

[F For Fake]

2 hours ago, Phantalien said:

Wow I did not realize that there really are some Omnibus that go for that much.  I remember buying those things during Christmas time at Barnes and Noble when they had the buy 2 get 1 free graphic novels sales.   I am happy that the one thing I ever got signed by Stan Lee was an omnibus book, which is thankfully not out of print.  Or else that signature would just bring down the value

There are several Omnis that sell in the $300-$500 range. Particularly the variant covers of out of print volumes. X-Men Omni 1, Lee/Claremont X-men volumes, Eternals, Miller Wolverine, Hickman FF, and on and on. 

Of course, the problem with collecting them is if you pay out big money for an OOP Omni, you never know when Marvel may choose to go back to press. I sold my Howard the Duck Omni when it went out of print and started selling for $250+. Then they went back to press. You can still find copies for $40. The Bendis DD volumes were selling at nice prices, and just last week they announced a reprint. To be fair, sometimes it is a LOOOONG gap between printings, like 10+ years. And in many cases, there is no reprint at all (Captain Britain, Immortal Iron Fist, Ghost Rider by Aaron, etc).  The moral: they can be a nice investment, but I wouldn't buy OOP volumes at OOP prices.