Storing your comics...

[InfernoFX-migration]

Kind of a silly question... but how do you store your comics... do you just prefer poly bags taped and put in a comic storage box... or maybe you get those comic bags with the 3-ring punch holes and put them in a durable binder... or do you only use the most expensive high-grade mylar available??? What do you think is the best in the long run?

 

Personally, I am really into these self adhesive bags by Ultra Pro, but I haven't been able to get my hands on any just yet. Also, I think using scotch tape to seal your bags is the biggest mistake, and probably the most commonly used - don't understand why anyone would want to - almost every time you try to take a comic out of it's bag carefully, the tape catches on the comic. When that happens, geez, that sucks! Since I started collecting, I have been using this tape made by 3M that is used in Post Production studios and tv stations for taping down 1-inch video tape -- this tape is awesome -- it is just sticky enough hold the flap down, but will not damage your comic if you accidently catch it with the tape. The only reason I found out about this tape is because I am visual effects artist working in the biz.

 

Anyway, let me know your thoughts about all this!

 

Thanks,

 

InfernoFX

[PovertyRow]

I use standard 4-mil mylars and buffered backing boards. The books are housed in those plastic, open magazine holders you can get a places like Staples and Office Max - the kind designed to hold magazines upright. Got the idea from Chromium here:

 

Read This Thread on Organizing Your Comics

[ninanina]

I store 2 comics to a poly-bag with the each of the front covers visable when I flip the bag. Although I do use scotch - tape to seal the bag, I remove the tape whenever I remove a comic. Books are stored flat, not on edge.

[InfernoFX-migration]

Do any of you think it matters if your comics are stored on the edge upright, or flat laying down??

 

interesting thought...

 

InfernoFX

[ninanina]

The only damage I do experience in laying the books flat without a backer board (for the last 25 odd years or so) is minor curling upper and lower right corners on occasion. I am sure this would not happen storing the books with a backer board flat or on edge. The backer board assists in preventing the corners of the comics from coming into contact with the bag, which is what causes this damage. Also, the odd books lower down on a pile occasionly develop a compression mark down the length of the spine from the weight of the comics above it. However, for the most part ... 90% of the comics have no visible damage from being stored this way. I suppose it could be mentioned that I rarely handled my collection after the comics were bagged. Certainly that saved a bit on normal wear and tear.

 

My 2 biggest reasons for storing them this way is the minor damage I can live with and I'm too lazy to re-bag 16,000 odd comics with a backer board. If I had a choice to do it all over again, however, I would definitely store them on edge with a backer-board to avoid the damage to the corners.

[shiverbones]

i put mine in saran wrap & keep them near my radiator....

 

i have gone through tons of options including the EXPENSIVE 3 ring binder mylars, and have settled on Mylite 2's with full backs.

[brian1227]

I keep mine in bag and board laying flat underneath my bed, where nobody can find them.

[Warlord]

Also, I think using scotch tape to seal your bags is the biggest mistake, and probably the most commonly used - don't understand why anyone would want to - almost every time you try to take a comic out of it's bag carefully, the tape catches on the comic. When that happens, geez, that sucks! Since I started collecting, I have been using this tape made by 3M that is used in Post Production studios and tv stations for taping down 1-inch video tape -- this tape is awesome -- it is just sticky enough hold the flap down, but will not damage your comic if you accidently catch it with the tape.

 

I use ordinary polyethylene bags for common comics. For anything deserving I'll use a Mylite 2mil bag. For even better stuff, I'll put the Mylite bag inside a polyethylene bag, and then insert a basic backing board inside the poly bag, but outside the Mylite bag. That gives the comic support, but doesn't bring the backing board into contact with the comic.

 

For tape there is a "Scotch Removable" tape which seems pretty safe to use. If I need to seal a Mylite bag, that is the best choice. Regular tape adheres tightly and is nearly impossible to remove from Mylar/Mylites. The Scotch Removable will peel off the Mylite rather easily. Similar to the 3M tape you describe, it can also attach to the comic (presumably by accident) and yet be removed safely. I suppose it is also possible to remove it and do damage if you're not gentle enough though!

 

For the most part I haven't been sealing the poly or Mylite bags in recent years, I just leave the bags open. Probably for long term storage it is best to seal them though, to decrease the amount of oxygen that gets to the paper.

 

[dad-migration]

The responses here show why 99% of all silver and gold-age comics have degraded. It is absolutely essential to keep oxygen away from your books as much as possible. The only reason the Edgar Church books were so well preserved is that they were stored in high stacks under compression, keeping air from infiltrating and oxidizing the paper.

 

Comic-book paper is inherently unstable. In essence, it slowly "burns" when exposed to air.

 

By all means use mylar bags, as mylar is really tremendously impermeable compared to ordinary plastic bags. This is not BS!

 

I am in the process of transferring my books from horizontal storage in piles to vertical storage. The only reason I am going with the vertical storage is that I found a way to put my books in airtight metal boxes that will STOP the oxygen infiltration and reduce the book's aging to near zero.

 

Each metal box will also have silica gel to control humidity and prevent any possible condensation.

 

 

[garthgantu]

I agree with the point about oxygen having some detrimental affect on comic books over loooong periods of time... but am not convinced that taping a plastic bag "shut" will in any way prohibit oxygen from entering. If anything, it seems to me that a plastic bag with taped flap may trap some amount of moisture, which over the long run could prove more damaging than the oxygen.

 

Further, the Church books that did the best were the ones at the bottom of 6-foot tall stacks of comics, thus having what, maybe 30-50 lbs. of weight on top of them - for 35-40 years.

 

I believe that standard thick mylars in acid-free boxes - with acid-free boards for each book - are a safe way to store comics. I've got some books that I've owned for 25 years that haven't shown any deterioration over that period, and have been stored vertically in "non air-tight" mylars with boards for nearly all of that period (they were previously in thick poly bags, not sealed with tape).

[jkrk]

I had no idea of how to store the comics when I decided to put them away in 1970.

I was really just trying to get them out of the way. I decided to put 8/10 in glad bags and taped the bags (no backing). I stored the books in the headboard (a deep storage area) of my bed, one set on top of another. I left the books there for 20 years, rarely opening the storage area. When I took the books out (mid 90's) they looked the same as the day I put them away. I have no clue what I did but it worked.

[brian1227]

I had no idea of how to store the comics when I decided to put them away in 1970.

I was really just trying to get them out of the way. I decided to put 8/10 in glad bags and taped the bags (no backing). I stored the books in the headboard (a deep storage area) of my bed, one set on top of another. I left the books there for 20 years, rarely opening the storage area. When I took the books out (mid 90's) they looked the same as the day I put them away. I have no clue what I did but it worked.

 

Nice goin'...I don't think many people knew how to store comics in the 70's. While not a comic, I saved my scorecard from game 3 of the 1969 Mets-Orioles World Series in a closet unbagged under a bunch of photo albums and other heavy stuff, and took it out to look at it just recently. While the colors may have dimmed a bit, structurally the book is Mint (oops, I opened it so I guess its not Mint, VF then). For a lot of reasons, that's my favorite collectible item, even though I don't often look at it.