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What takes away gloss on comic magazines?

Started by supapimp,

30 posts in this topic

supapimp

supapimp

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Posted

it's amazing how the DD #5 currently on eBay is still supa glossy after all these years for a non NM/HG book. 893whatthe.gif my question is what takes away the gloss? i've seen structually NM 9.4 books with most of the gloss gone or left. confused-smiley-013.gif

 

thanks in advance for your reply,

 

pimpy

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Aman619

Aman619

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just a guess, but it gets rubbed off sitting up against other comics for years. Or it flakes off, tiny bit after bit, (it is after all just a dried liquid sitting on the ends of what amounts to a shag carpet (wood pulp) that's been pressed down "flat". Take a close look at paper: even cover stock is like a jungle if you get small enough - - it only appears as smooth as glass or metal.)

 

but thats just a guess.

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underthebigw

underthebigw

Posted
Posted
it's amazing how the DD #5 currently on eBay is still supa glossy after all these years for a non NM/HG book. 893whatthe.gif my question is what takes away the gloss? i've seen structually NM 9.4 books with most of the gloss gone or left. confused-smiley-013.gif

 

thanks in advance for your reply,

 

pimpy

 

My guess is oxidation caused by both oxygen and moisture exposure. It's like my other hobby, character drinking glasses--even if a glass has never been used, if it's from a damp basement, you'll often find dull paint on them. I've also wondered if exposure to booklice or psocids (which eat the starch in sizing) could cause this, but I think that's probably a long shot.

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jonnydouble

jonnydouble

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even if a glass has never been used, if it's from a damp basement, you'll often find dull paint on them. I've also wondered if exposure to booklice or psocids

 

I'm never drinking anything at your house,...ever.....

 

J.D.

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Dave_Hennen

Dave_Hennen

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I've often wondered (when I have nothing better to do) how the type of weather in a particular geography plays into the condition of books, cover gloss included. I live in RI which can get pretty humid and we sometimes get Ozone alerts in the summer. I know Ozone does bad stuff to people's lungs, what does it do to a book? Would my collection be happier in New Mexico or someplace like that?

 

I see books from pedigree collections in great shape like the Boston collection which would have to withstand weather condition the same as where I am, so maybe it's not so much of a factor and proper storage can eliminate the adverse effects. I keep most of my collection in an air conditioned room that's pretty dark when I'm not in there. It probably doesn't qualify as archival storage but it's the best I can do.

 

Plus CGC is in Sarasota, FL. I've been in FL in the summer, it's pretty f^ing humid there too. My last batch took just short of two months to come back. Two months in a sauna is sure to something bad to a book. I'm sure they've got the place properly AC'd and whatever it just makes me wonder ...

893scratchchin-thumb.gif

 

dave h

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supapimp

supapimp

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Plus CGC is in Sarasota, FL. I've been in FL in the summer, it's pretty f^ing humid there too. My last batch took just short of two months to come back. Two months in a sauna is sure to something bad to a book. I'm sure they've got the place properly AC'd and whatever it just makes me wonder ...

 

sounds like a question for ask CGC to me. 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

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Aman619

Aman619

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just a guess, but it gets rubbed off sitting up against other comics for years.

 

what about the edgar church collection? 893scratchchin-thumb.gif they were stacked on top of one another. confused-smiley-013.gif

 

another guess: the Church books were piled up and (conceivably) never moved again for many many years. Whereas most books in circulation get moved around, re-piled, looked at, bagged, rebagged, mylared, sold to dealer, remylared, taken out a few times before finally selling, taken home by happy buyer who takes its out to admire and maybe read...and remylar etc....etc

 

like I said...another guess. and the weather conditions also sounds plausible as an affector....

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ninanina

ninanina

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just a guess, but it gets rubbed off sitting up against other comics for years.

 

what about the edgar church collection? 893scratchchin-thumb.gif they were stacked on top of one another. confused-smiley-013.gif

 

another guess: the Church books were piled up and (conceivably) never moved again for many many years. Whereas most books in circulation get moved around, re-piled, looked at, bagged, rebagged, mylared, sold to dealer, remylared, taken out a few times before finally selling, taken home by happy buyer who takes its out to admire and maybe read...and remylar etc....etc

 

like I said...another guess. and the weather conditions also sounds plausible as an affector....

 

Handling is definately a factor. The SIlver/Bronze Age collection I bought 3 years ago were all comics stored just like the Edgar Church Collection. Many of the 30 year old (or so) comics had the look of being read once and never handled again. Result: cover gloss was like new.

 

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fantastic_four

fantastic_four

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I'm not really sure where gloss goes, but I would think friction (handling) is the only factor that makes it go away.

 

Why would temperature or humidity do it? And if it did, wouldn't the gloss end up as some gooey-sticky residue that's stuck to the inside of the bag? I wouldn't think that the chemical compounds in gloss dissipate totally into a gaseous form.

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Aman619

Aman619

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the gloss is a coating, like a lacquer...applied in liquid form that dries on the paper. It 'cracks off' in tinier than dandruff sized flakes over time until the paper is left uncovered...and no longer shiny. Think of the paper surface more like a grass lawn when viewed up close. The gloss is like a taking one pass with a paint roller to the grass. It covers the top blades but doesnt penetrate the surface layer or soak the blades all the way down to their ground. The grass is pressed down, but in time exerts pressure to regain its shape, which helps break up the paint/gloss layer. As it breaks up into smaller pieces, it can be dislodged easier.

 

Wait for Dice to come home and answer this. Im still only trying to make the point that paper is a very ROUGH surface and ink and gloss sticks on top of it and can come off.

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fantastic_four

fantastic_four

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Wait for Dice to come home and answer this. Im still only trying to make the point that paper is a very ROUGH surface and ink and gloss sticks on top of it and can come off.

 

Even if it doesn't come off sticky, it still seems like you'd still see it in the bags if the environment knocked it off. Anybody finding little semi-clear gloss-dandruff flakes in the bottoms of their bags? I haven't seen this myself.

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Aman619

Aman619

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Im gonna go look....

Aew you talking about a 40 year old Silver book? If so, I would think the gloss was gone long before it was placed in whatever bag its in now. Also, not many books were in bags right away in the 60s. And the ones that were well protected or not moved have more gloss today.

 

Do the MH2s and the Dolgoff/Marvel warehouse books which sat around for years have nice remaining gloss? That would point to the "not being moved around a lot" theory.

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fantastic_four

fantastic_four

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Aew you talking about a 40 year old Silver book?

 

Any book that was improperly stored. There are McFarlane Spider-Man books with "cream to off-white pages," I assume because somebody stored them in their garage.

 

Speaking of that...if temperature or humidity knock gloss off, then you wouldn't see any books with tan or cream pages which still have gloss. This isn't something I've thought about looking for before...does anyone have any glossy books with tan or cream pages?

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PovertyRow

PovertyRow

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just a guess, but it gets rubbed off sitting up against other comics for years. Or it flakes off, tiny bit after bit, (it is after all just a dried liquid sitting on the ends of what amounts to a shag carpet (wood pulp) that's been pressed down "flat". Take a close look at paper: even cover stock is like a jungle if you get small enough - - it only appears as smooth as glass or metal.)

 

but thats just a guess.

 

Actually I believe that, at least gettng away from the moderns with their ultra-slick and hologram type covers, the gloss is not a coating but a result of calendaring (running through rollers several times) a high-clay content (aka "hard") paper. Such paper is ideal for cover stock as the surface allows for minimal ink spread and nice, sharp images.

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