Slabbing Comics for Preservation Rather than Investment? 2 2

[rosegirl87]

I'm getting back into comic collecting after stopping when I went to college 20 years ago. I've decided to have a small well-curated collection and also, at least for now, am not considering anything an investment. Meaning I don't plan to resell anything if it goes up in value.

I am planning to send a shipment to CGC for grading of comics I do want to resell from my collection. So since I'm shipping them something anyway, the marginal shipping cost of a few extra books is basically free. I am thinking of sending some 90's issues of Wolverine and Xmen that aren't really worth much, and grades may even be in the 7.0 to 8.0 range which is bad for common 90s Marvel comics.

But, it's only $18 to get a book slabbed. The outbound shipping is the same price on my end, not sure if they charge based on book count for return shipping, but I'd guess if they did it's not too expensive per extra book.

So for $18 each, maybe I get 5 or 6 economically "worthless" books slabbed in order to keep them better protected since I don't want to deal with swapping mylars/backboards every 10 years, and I don't have dedicated storage space so the books aren't well protected in just bags/boards because I move the boxes around every few months. 

Anyone else do this? Good idea, dumb idea? Anything I am not thinking? Maybe there's a cheaper option like a re-usable/re-seable aftermarket slab that's the same size as CGC that can fit stored with my other CGC books in the same stack that would make more sense for this situation?

Edited June 6, 2020 by rosegirl87

[Myowncollector]

If your plan is to spend $20 on a worthless book so it can take up even more space then it's a good plan. 

Personally I would get better nm copies of the 90s book for under a $1 and try not to destroy them. In a full short box you should be able to move the box around every single day and not harm the actual books that are bagged and boarded. If in 10 years you don't want to rebag then don't. 30 years from now you find they are destroyed (good chance they won't be) then you can probably replace them again for the same $1. Might be $4 but same worth because of inflation. 

[F For Fake]

At the end of the day, any reason for wanting to slab a book is valid if that's just what you want to do. It's your money and that's how you want to spend it, more power to you.

Me personally, I wouldn't bother with any 90's Wolverine/X-Men etc unless they were keys (I guess there are a few?) and/or slam dunk 9.8's. The books are just too plentiful to make it worthwhile. Most of them are barely worth the price of a standard bag and board, much less bothering with swapping out mylars for a few years. I'd keep the ones I like in bags and boards, or even mylars and fullbacks if you're really concerned about maintaining their condition, and be done with it. If down the road the books have suffered any deterioration, there are zillions of them around for a buck or less. It's just not worth slabbing stuff that isn't worth the cost of the slab, particularly if you're pretty sure of that going into it.

There's no wrong way to collect, but your money could almost definitely be better spent in other ways. If you really want to sub a bunch of books, contact CGC about pre-screening. I'm sure someone else can give the pertinent info (I haven't subbed in a long time) but I think it's like $5 per book. I'd definitely do that if I was subbing a bunch of books and wanted to see if there was any purpose in slabbing.

Good luck and enjoy the hobby however you see fit!

[Domo Arigato]

1 hour ago, rosegirl87 said:

I am planning to send a shipment to CGC for grading of comics I do want to resell from my collection.

You might want to first post some of these books in here for opinions on whether it's even worth sending them in for CGC grading, or if you'd be better off just selling them raw.  Simply CGC grading any old book does not mean it's going to net you any extra money after figuring in the expense of shipping, insurance and grading.  Often times you'll end up losing money instead.

 

 

1 hour ago, rosegirl87 said:

I am thinking of sending some 90's issues of Wolverine and Xmen that.....may even be in the 7.0 to 8.0 range......it's only $18 to get a book slabbed.

My apologies.....because I truly don't mean any offense.......but I really have no choice in this matter....

 

 

1 hour ago, rosegirl87 said:

.....I get 5 or 6 economically "worthless" books slabbed in order to keep them better protected since I don't want to deal with swapping mylars/backboards every 10 years, and I don't have dedicated storage space so the books aren't well protected in just bags/boards because I move the boxes around every few months. 

If you're really just looking for some extra protection for books that have sentimental value to you and aren't really worth much......consider doing the following

Put each book in a Mylar (which is inert) and either a Full Back or a Half Back (which are acid free boards).  Do this and you'll never need to change out the bags and boards again.  Of course, you'll also want to store the books in a proper environment.......avoid a hot attic.....damp basement.....sunlight.....etc.

If you want additional protection (like a hard CGC case offers)......then consider sliding each bagged and boarded book down into a hard plastic Top Loader.

You can find Top Loaders for sale at this link to hotflips.com........which is where I (and a lot of other board members) get their comic supplies.  You can also get E.Gerber brand mylar bags, as well as Full Back and Half Back boards there.

The guys @HOTFLIPS are great and are also forum members here.

 

 

Edited June 6, 2020 by Domo Arigato

[rosegirl87]

Thanks for the replies so far. I saw the subforum for asking for opinions and will post a couple scans before I submit, great idea!

One more factor I didn't mention that might make the plan seem less silly is that I want to display some of my collection in a rotating fashion. Maybe 3 to 10 books on display at any given time. My leading idea on how to do this in a high-end tasteful way is to have my local framer make some custom frames that fit CGC slabs and has matting around the top graded portion strip and equal matting on the sides and bottom. The idea is I could swap what's on display by sliding the CGC slab into or out of the slots. I have a cheaper handmade frame of this style, with no matting, and it works nicely. The reason this is my leading idea is because any other alternative will require significant effort to put raw comics perfectly centered into matted frames. If all of the about 30 potential books I want to display are slabbed then I could easily swap them out.

Maybe that sounds equally crazy LOL

[Domo Arigato]

1 minute ago, rosegirl87 said:

Thanks for the replies so far. I saw the subforum for asking for opinions and will post a couple scans before I submit, great idea!

One more factor I didn't mention that might make the plan seem less silly is that I want to display some of my collection in a rotating fashion. Maybe 3 to 10 books on display at any given time. My leading idea on how to do this in a high-end tasteful way is to have my local framer make some custom frames that fit CGC slabs and has matting around the top graded portion strip and equal matting on the sides and bottom. The idea is I could swap what's on display by sliding the CGC slab into or out of the slots. I have a cheaper handmade frame of this style, with no matting, and it works nicely. The reason this is my leading idea is because any other alternative will require significant effort to put raw comics perfectly centered into matted frames. If all of the about 30 potential books I want to display are slabbed then I could easily swap them out.

Maybe that sounds equally crazy LOL

It doesn't sound crazy at all. 

This is a hobby and you should enjoy it however you like.  If doing that will make you happy and help you enjoy your books more.....then why not?

Some people in here are going to tend to focus on resale value.......either now or what it will be years down the line.......and use that to base a decision on whether or not to get a comic CGC graded.

If resale value doesn't matter to you......and you just like your books and want to display them nicely in a CGC case.....then there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. 

I have some completely trashed comic books from my childhood (some are even coverless) that will never be worth the match it would take to set them on fire.  But I wouldn't part with them for any amount of money (well.....I probably would.....but it would have to be quite a bit of money).  Sometimes I think it would be nice to have them all CGC graded just to have them sealed up in nice cases.  Sure, they aren't worth anything.....but they mean a lot to me and I enjoy still having them.

 

[Domo Arigato]

50 minutes ago, rosegirl87 said:

My leading idea on how to do this in a high-end tasteful way is to have my local framer make some custom frames that fit CGC slabs and has matting around the top graded portion strip and equal matting on the sides and bottom. The idea is I could swap what's on display by sliding the CGC slab into or out of the slots.

One more thing.......you are going to want to be very careful to avoid exposing your books to sunlight or any other form of UV lighting.  Sunlight and some forms of artificial light are very bad for comic books, and will cause permanent damage and fading to your books if you are going to be displaying them.  

Would probably be best not to have any sunlight.....or at least any direct sunlight in the room......and it would be wise to use a glass or plastic in your frames that offers good UV protection.

Someone else might want to chime in here, as I don't recall if the CGC case itself offers any form of UV protection or not.  I don't think it does.  But just keep in mind that the absolute best environment for comics is dark, dry, cool and temperature-controlled.  Anything outside of that kind of environment will, over time, lead to faster deterioration of the books.......the only thing you can do in those instances is take measure to lessen the impact and slow that process down.

Edit:  I saw from your post in another thread that your are definitely aware of potential sun damage.  I'll go ahead and leave this post here in case someone stumbles over it later that isn't.

 

 

Edited June 6, 2020 by Domo Arigato

[GeneticNinja]

The majority of my comics are in mylar and fullbacks. They are preserved just fine like that. I only slab comics that I'll sell or really old issues in high grade. Usually 8 or 8.5 and higher. 90s comics in the 7 to 8 range aren't worth it for me unless it's a key comic with high value.

[namisgr]

3 hours ago, rosegirl87 said:

I am planning to send a shipment to CGC for grading of comics I do want to resell from my collection. So since I'm shipping them something anyway, the marginal shipping cost of a few extra books is basically free. I am thinking of sending some 90's issues of Wolverine and Xmen that aren't really worth much, and grades may even be in the 7.0 to 8.0 range which is bad for common 90s Marvel comics.

I'd consider it both a waste of money and a decision to use potentially inferior paper archival methods to encapsulate books whose value in the marketplace is greatly exceeded by the cost of slabbing.  If you use mylar with acid-free buffering backing boards to preserve your collection, you're consistent with the preservation policies used by the country for its most historically important documents.

[vheflin]

Isn't the paper from 90s onward lignin free?  It won't rot so nothing to preserve...

[Hollywood1892]

I honestly don't understand why people slab books that won't increase in value over time, why preserve it?

I have numerous raws I never intend to slab, and I enjoy reading them

[skypinkblu]

7 hours ago, rosegirl87 said:

Thanks for the replies so far. I saw the subforum for asking for opinions and will post a couple scans before I submit, great idea!

One more factor I didn't mention that might make the plan seem less silly is that I want to display some of my collection in a rotating fashion. Maybe 3 to 10 books on display at any given time. My leading idea on how to do this in a high-end tasteful way is to have my local framer make some custom frames that fit CGC slabs and has matting around the top graded portion strip and equal matting on the sides and bottom. The idea is I could swap what's on display by sliding the CGC slab into or out of the slots. I have a cheaper handmade frame of this style, with no matting, and it works nicely. The reason this is my leading idea is because any other alternative will require significant effort to put raw comics perfectly centered into matted frames. If all of the about 30 potential books I want to display are slabbed then I could easily swap them out.

Maybe that sounds equally crazy LOL

Welcome to the boards, I'm always thrilled to see more females here:) 

I would consider what Namisgr suggested, using some archival backing boards and Mylite #2 covers. They will make the books look nice at a minimal cost and preserve them.

I've seen some strip wooden shelving with notches for books that you can mount. If you used that or purchased a comic book spinner  rack (that's what I have) you can easily switch out books and display them.

I have a vintage one, but I see they even make the racks new, now.

 

Faster Friends had these for sale a while ago

 

[skypinkblu]

Oh, one more thing...you said 

8 hours ago, rosegirl87 said:

since I don't want to deal with swapping mylars/backboards every 10 years

But CGC used to recommend reslabbing after I think it was 7 years? Something about the microchamber paper not working after that.

[steveinthecity]

16 minutes ago, skypinkblu said:

Oh, one more thing...you said 

But CGC used to recommend reslabbing after I think it was 7 years? Something about the microchamber paper not working after that.

I’d like to know the percentage of collectors that actually use microchamber paper inside their unslabbed comics.

[skypinkblu]

4 minutes ago, steveinthecity said:

I’d like to know the percentage of collectors that actually use microchamber paper inside their unslabbed comics.

I'm probably one of a few, lol. I do take it out when I sell the books because otherwise it looks like I deslabbed them;) 

[letsgrumble]

9 hours ago, rosegirl87 said:

I'm getting back into comic collecting after stopping when I went to college 20 years ago. I've decided to have a small well-curated collection and also, at least for now, am not considering anything an investment. Meaning I don't plan to resell anything if it goes up in value.

I am planning to send a shipment to CGC for grading of comics I do want to resell from my collection. So since I'm shipping them something anyway, the marginal shipping cost of a few extra books is basically free. I am thinking of sending some 90's issues of Wolverine and Xmen that aren't really worth much, and grades may even be in the 7.0 to 8.0 range which is bad for common 90s Marvel comics.

But, it's only $18 to get a book slabbed. The outbound shipping is the same price on my end, not sure if they charge based on book count for return shipping, but I'd guess if they did it's not too expensive per extra book.

So for $18 each, maybe I get 5 or 6 economically "worthless" books slabbed in order to keep them better protected since I don't want to deal with swapping mylars/backboards every 10 years, and I don't have dedicated storage space so the books aren't well protected in just bags/boards because I move the boxes around every few months. 

Anyone else do this? Good idea, dumb idea? Anything I am not thinking? Maybe there's a cheaper option like a re-usable/re-seable aftermarket slab that's the same size as CGC that can fit stored with my other CGC books in the same stack that would make more sense for this situation?

[littledoom]

I would suggest E Gerber Mylites 2 for posterity... I like them... those can be bought direct from the Gerber website or ebay or amazon.. plenty of sizes and thickness and quantity options..

[littledoom]

Top loaders? Lol. I never liked them but I find many dealers use them.. 15-20 years ago many dealers wouldn't use mylars as much as archival mylars lol.... this