Are comic books well-suited for encapsulation?

[joeypost]

For those that have not been here long...when Steve Borock was prez. he challenged anyone to come up with a better slab design. He said CGC would pay handsomely for it. Not sure if this applies now but I'm betting if someone has a design it will be worth money.

 

If slabs are:

1) handled carefully

2) packaged properly (cardboard sandwich, lots of stryophoam peanuts surrounding)

3) opened carefully

 

You will eliminate 99% of problems.

 

Thing is many people assume the comic is not indesctructable in a slab. I had a guy mail me a slabbed hi grade SA Marvel key worth $1000 in just a yellow padded envelope!!

 

Common sense will keep your comics safe whether slabbed or not.

 

There is nothing you can do against the remaining 1% as nothing or nobody here is perfect.

 

R.

 

 

Roy, what you say is true...to a certain extent. One law of physics "Inertia" is the biggest killer of books in slabs. You can protect a comic to the very best of your ability but it still moves at the same rate that the box does. When the box comes to a screetching halt the book inside will continue to move if there is room. Even 1/16th of an inch play can create significant damage to a book with enough force.

 

Without providing stabilizers in the box SCS will be next to impossible to prevent. Even a better well cannot eliminate this, but it can reduce the instances of it happening.

[VintageComics]

Right. Styrophoam peanuts absorb shock better than bubblewrap or anything else you can use. They allow the force to distribute evenly around the book because they are fluid. Anything else you use acts as a solid and transfers the force directly AT the book. That's my experience.

 

R.

 

 

[Paul_Maul]

Right. Styrophoam peanuts absorb shock better than bubblewrap or anything else you can use. They allow the force to distribute evenly around the book because they are fluid. Anything else you use acts as a solid and transfers the force directly AT the book. That's my experience.

 

R.

 

 

Mine too! Too bad nobody with the exception of Metropolis seems to ship that way. I got

a book from ebay that was packed amazingly well, except the book still moved in the inner

well. All you're protecting with cardboard sandwiches and bubble wrap is the slab itself,

not the book.

 

People need to be made to understand that the slab moving within the box (if protected

by peanuts) is a positive, not a negative. Everyone please start shipping slabs this way!

[Paul_Maul]

 

If slabs are:

1) handled carefully

2) packaged properly (cardboard sandwich, lots of stryophoam peanuts surrounding)

3) opened carefully

 

You will eliminate 99% of problems.

 

 

I had to go back 3 pages in the "just back from CGC" thread to find a book with obvious

SCS, and these are books (presumably) shipped BY CGC. I don't know if it's bad

form to post someone's book in this context, it's not necessary anyway, we've all

seen it. What drives me nuts is everybody seems to pretend it's not there as they

proudly display their newly arrived 9.6 which is now a 9.0. It's really like "The Emperor has

No Clothes."

[nearmint]

Whenever I hear discussions of SCS(which is a legitimate problem), I can't help but wonder how many books have been rescued from damage by having been slabbed. Clumsy hands at conventions, thumb indentations from sliding books back into mylars, etc.

[Paul_Maul]

A nice thought, but since I don't tend to kill my books in the way you describe very

often, it doesn't make me feel any better every time I'm a victim of SCS.

[THE_BEYONDER]

 

If slabs are:

1) handled carefully

2) packaged properly (cardboard sandwich, lots of stryophoam peanuts surrounding)

3) opened carefully

 

You will eliminate 99% of problems.

 

 

I had to go back 3 pages in the "just back from CGC" thread to find a book with obvious

SCS, and these are books (presumably) shipped BY CGC. I don't know if it's bad

form to post someone's book in this context, it's not necessary anyway, we've all

seen it. What drives me nuts is everybody seems to pretend it's not there as they

proudly display their newly arrived 9.6 which is now a 9.0. It's really like "The Emperor has

No Clothes."

 

I've seen numerous examples posted in the marketplace as well. 9.4/9.6 slabbed books with a corner crunchs that were obviously caused post-slabbing. Not sure if the sellers are aware......or just don't care.

 

I imagine a large number of slabbed books on Ebay are 'hot potatoes' with SCS problems.

[VintageComics]

A nice thought, but since I don't tend to kill my books in the way you describe very

often, it doesn't make me feel any better every time I'm a victim of SCS.

 

 

Talk to a dealer and ask them about showing books to customers. If they are as open and honest as someone like Bob Storms they will tell you how much they *love* when people bend and [inject your favorite] here to their books.

 

We do see SCS, I agree...but a book will fare better in a CGC slab than outside of one.

 

The majority of slab damage that I have seen has come from

 

1) a book that was dropped...in this case any book will fare poorly

2) a book that was improperly shipped...in this case any book will fare poorly

 

I'm not saying it doesn't happen at all...what I am saying is that books in general fair quite well in a slab when treated well.

 

R.

 

 

[THE_BEYONDER]

A nice thought, but since I don't tend to kill my books in the way you describe very

often, it doesn't make me feel any better every time I'm a victim of SCS.

 

 

Talk to a dealer and ask them about showing books to customers. If they are as open and honest as someone like Bob Storms they will tell you how much they *love* when people bend and [inject your favorite] here to their books.

 

We do see SCS, I agree...but a book will fare better in a CGC slab than outside of one.

 

The majority of slab damage that I have seen has come from

 

1) a book that was dropped...in this case any book will fare poorly

2) a book that was improperly shipped...in this case any book will fare poorly

 

I'm not saying it doesn't happen at all...what I am saying is that books in general fair quite well in a slab when treated well.

 

R.

 

 

Sounds to me like you're trying to downplay the occurence of SCS. It doesn't happen once in a blue moon ....at least not in my experience.

[VintageComics]

A nice thought, but since I don't tend to kill my books in the way you describe very

often, it doesn't make me feel any better every time I'm a victim of SCS.

 

 

Talk to a dealer and ask them about showing books to customers. If they are as open and honest as someone like Bob Storms they will tell you how much they *love* when people bend and [inject your favorite] here to their books.

 

We do see SCS, I agree...but a book will fare better in a CGC slab than outside of one.

 

The majority of slab damage that I have seen has come from

 

1) a book that was dropped...in this case any book will fare poorly

2) a book that was improperly shipped...in this case any book will fare poorly

 

I'm not saying it doesn't happen at all...what I am saying is that books in general fair quite well in a slab when treated well.

 

R.

 

 

Sounds to me like you're trying to downplay the occurence of SCS. It doesn't happen once in a blue moon ....at least not in my experience.

 

Not really. I'm trying to up-play the incidence of when it does NOT happen. 1 bad apple can spoil the bunch but out of a 1000 books how many experience SCS?

 

Out of those 1000, how many were poorly shipped, handled or otherwise and how many have actually exhibited SCS simply because the slab is a poor design?

 

R.

 

 

[trmoore54]

Whenever I hear discussions of SCS(which is a legitimate problem), I can't help but wonder how many books have been rescued from damage by having been slabbed. Clumsy hands at conventions, thumb indentations from sliding books back into mylars, etc.

 

Thought I'd picked up most of the acronyms around here...what's SCS?

[joeypost]

Whenever I hear discussions of SCS(which is a legitimate problem), I can't help but wonder how many books have been rescued from damage by having been slabbed. Clumsy hands at conventions, thumb indentations from sliding books back into mylars, etc.

 

Thought I'd picked up most of the acronyms around here...what's SCS?

 

Shaken Comic Syndrome

[trmoore54]

Whenever I hear discussions of SCS(which is a legitimate problem), I can't help but wonder how many books have been rescued from damage by having been slabbed. Clumsy hands at conventions, thumb indentations from sliding books back into mylars, etc.

 

Thought I'd picked up most of the acronyms around here...what's SCS?

 

Shaken Comic Syndrome

 

Really?

[cujobyte]

Do the inner wells differ between SA and BA or SA and even Modern? I know GA is a lot bulkier. I just received an ASM 121 back today from cgc, and the inner well is definately bigger than a moder book I received back. Just curious.

[rob_allan]

I don't think the slab is without problems, but on the other hand I can't envision a way to improve it that won't cause a different set of problems.

 

That said, the ways a comic gets damaged in-slab and nekkid are pretty much the same. If you mistreat a comic, regardless of how it's packaged (bag/board , mylar, etc.) it will get damaged.

 

It's not like other methods of preservation don't also cause damage. Anyone seen a comic that's been in a bag too long? I got a discount from a noteworthy dealer once because when I tried to get the comic out of the bag they were fused together and it was hard to get it out. I also recall several instances in my youth of the dreaded tape pull. I've owned a couple of books that got spine splits because the board was a little too small and there was room for movement in the bag. The board cut into the top of the book. And let's not forget when backboards get bent and corners get dinged anyway. Realistically, all books don't get fullbacks. And even fullbacks aren't invulnerable.

 

I see the problem with SCS. But I don't think it's worse than any other method of storage. I still think the slab is better than other forms of storage when handled with the same care as those other methods.

[awe4one]

Of course not. Slabs are inherently taking away the appeal of what makes a comic great and sought after in the back issue market...the story, with few exceptions. At the end of the day, despite what others will try to justify, slabs are a manufactured collectible that dwells on the nostalga of previous young readers who are trying to recapture a semblance of youth or never matured in the first place.

 

Jim

[rob_allan]

or never matured in the first place.

 

Jim

 

[trmoore54]

or never matured in the first place.

 

Jim

 

 

Maturity is over-rated...

[Mister_Comics]

No, comics are not suited for slabbing. At least for now until the slabs are improved.

 

The only way a comic can be protected from movement while in a slab is it would have to be held in place from inside the book. I've said this before and its fallen on deaf ears but here goes again.

 

What the slabs need is a sheet of the same material as the inner plastic. This sheet would be within the comics center. Were the staples are. The sheet would be sealed with the book in the inner plastic holder. It could be part of the inner plastic or welded in some fashion. Regardless, the plastic sheet holding the comic in place would stop all movement and eliminate any SCS.

 

Thats it! Thats what it needs. I've experimented with this and it works.

 

 

[awe4one]

You're going cause greater damage with that method. A comic doesn't like some hard piece of anything in it's centerfold...even in Mylar. Causes rips...

 

Jim