Mylar - Flapped or Open-Ended ?

[Dick Pontoon]

The closed end (flap) Mylars are WAAAAAAYYYYYYYY more dangerous to comic books on average, WAY more! The simple task of removing the comic from the Mylar becomes an endeavor once you decide to use closed end Mylars. The caution, and effort NEEDED to remove and re-insert the book into these Mylars is extreme compared to the open top Mylars. You often have to slightly bend, tweak, and shimmy, the book around in order to complete these tasks, just ridiculous.

 

Sure, you can buy Golden Age 'flap' Mylars, bag the book, and insert it into the larger Mylar, but personally, I think Silver age, or Bronze age books look horrible in that type of package. There is far too much room in the mylar for the product, the book visually seems out of place, and will still have the potential to move around and fall out.

 

I ABHOR the FLAP Mylars, have seen, and experienced disasters, with these Mylars, and in no way shape or form, would I EVER put my books in them again.

 

My books in their 4 mil Mylars sit in covered boxes, in a temperature controlled room, in utter pitch. This preservation design is more than capable of keeping my books boootiful for a LONG, LONG, time.

_________________________

 

 

Your right here, those flapped Mylars are like putting your comic into surgery, putting them in and out. I had to cut out every book I had in them for fear of damaging the book when removing them. I did however find a very nice subsitute for awhile. Jef Hinds comics in Wisconsin was selling his own brand of 4 mil mylars but they were different from the ones with the big flap. These were a little taller that the standard flapped ones and the great thing about them was the flap on these was only about 3\8" of an inch. When you inserted the book it was past the flap so there was no danger of damaging the book. I have alot of my books in these and they worked great. Now the problem, I dont see them listed on his site anymore. I havent called them in awhile, so I dont know if there still available. I also use the open top mylars with the book in a mylite put inside.

 

DRX

 

are you guys talking about Mylars that come with a pre-folded flap? I've never had a problem with an M2 that you fold yourself.

[peewee22]

The closed end (flap) Mylars are WAAAAAAYYYYYYYY more dangerous to comic books on average, WAY more! The simple task of removing the comic from the Mylar becomes an endeavor once you decide to use closed end Mylars. The caution, and effort NEEDED to remove and re-insert the book into these Mylars is extreme compared to the open top Mylars. You often have to slightly bend, tweak, and shimmy, the book around in order to complete these tasks, just ridiculous.

 

Sure, you can buy Golden Age 'flap' Mylars, bag the book, and insert it into the larger Mylar, but personally, I think Silver age, or Bronze age books look horrible in that type of package. There is far too much room in the mylar for the product, the book visually seems out of place, and will still have the potential to move around and fall out.

 

I ABHOR the FLAP Mylars, have seen, and experienced disasters, with these Mylars, and in no way shape or form, would I EVER put my books in them again.

 

My books in their 4 mil Mylars sit in covered boxes, in a temperature controlled room, in utter pitch. This preservation design is more than capable of keeping my books boootiful for a LONG, LONG, time.

_________________________

 

To each his own.

 

I don't use boxes...of course, with only 2 books, who would??

[CKB]

The book is in the bag, lying on a board. The flap is tucked in behind the board. The flap doesn't touch the book, just the back side of the board. How does that create pressure or leave an imprint?

You and I would put a board in with the comic as added protection. Many assume because it is "hard plastic" they can cheap out and skip the boards.

 

Next question?

 

I agree, you dont want to skip the board. But I think the flap is thin enough where it wont leave flap impressions unless you pack them really really tight or have a stack of a few thousand 10 feet high.

 

Even with the board, the flap does face the book behind it. While Mylite2s are thin enough that it would be hard to do damage this way, those old ultra-pro sleeves made of thick plastic and holddown tab for the flap - BAD BAD news.

 

[CKB]

are you guys talking about Mylars that come with a pre-folded flap? I've never had a problem with an M2 that you fold yourself.

 

Yes, if you dont have a lot of experience, dexterity or are careless, like those guys... , you can have the cover of the book catch the ege of the mylar on the way in and slice it rather nicely.

 

[Limited66]

Mylar Damage

[John A III]

are you guys talking about Mylars that come with a pre-folded flap? I've never had a problem with an M2 that you fold yourself.

 

Yes, if you dont have a lot of experience, dexterity or are careless, like those guys... , you can have the cover of the book catch the ege of the mylar on the way in and slice it rather nicely.

but can you have that with mylars that don't have a flap?

[FFB]

Flaps for me... and I think putting a comic protected by a Mylite (with a Half-Back) inside the 4-mil rigid holders protects a comic book almost as well as a CGC slab.

 

Did I just say that out loud, on CGC's own forum???

 

 

 

 

-slym

 

Kenny did a test a few years back and proved that the Mylar setup actually protected the book BETTER than the CGC holder because you don't get SCS from a Mylar.

[FFB]

Open-ended.

 

Paper sealed air-tight for a long period of time will turn brittle.

 

Not if you have an alkaline reserve inside the enclosure.

 

Even if you use open top Mylars but you don't use buffered back boards, your books will stew in their own juices and degrade over time, eventually becoming brittle.

[thirdgreenham]

Open-ended.

 

Paper sealed air-tight for a long period of time will turn brittle.

 

Not if you have an alkaline reserve inside the enclosure.

 

Even if you use open top Mylars but you don't use buffered back boards, your books will stew in their own juices and degrade over time, eventually becoming brittle.

 

Would an acid-free fullback be considered an alkaline reserve? Also, what's the importance of micro-chamber paper, again?

 

Thanks,

 

Andy

[Bosco685]

I don't doubt your experience, but it has been mine that I've never seen a book in a mylar without a board. If a dealer or seller knows the book is important enough for a mylar, they know its important enough for a board as well. I've seen plenty of books in polybags sans boards, but never a mylar.

 

Trust me, I'm with you that when you have gorgeous books in high-grade, you protect them. But I've received a few of these books where people cheap out on boards and most probably pack these books into a box as tight as possible because AGAIN they go the cheap route leading to the pressure damage.

 

I've been surprised how many I've come across, and how sellers then may even try to explain it off as "It's just the back cover - the front looks great!"

[DR.X]

Flaps for me... and I think putting a comic protected by a Mylite (with a Half-Back) inside the 4-mil rigid holders protects a comic book almost as well as a CGC slab.

 

Did I just say that out loud, on CGC's own forum???

 

 

 

 

-slym

 

Kenny did a test a few years back and proved that the Mylar setup actually protected the book BETTER than the CGC holder because you don't get SCS from a Mylar.

 

SCS, be careful here. They claim that it doesnt exist.

 

DRX

[3319comics]

Just CGC everything.

[FFB]

Open-ended.

 

Paper sealed air-tight for a long period of time will turn brittle.

 

Not if you have an alkaline reserve inside the enclosure.

 

Even if you use open top Mylars but you don't use buffered back boards, your books will stew in their own juices and degrade over time, eventually becoming brittle.

 

Would an acid-free fullback be considered an alkaline reserve? Also, what's the importance of micro-chamber paper, again?

 

Thanks,

 

Andy

 

Yes. That's exactly what I'm talking about. A Full Back is a kind of alkaline reserve. Anything that is alkaline (pH above 7.0) and is placed in the Mylar is an alkaline reserve. You need that to absorb the acids produced by the comic book as the impurities within the comic book itself degrade and off-gas over time.

 

Microchamber paper is also an alkaline reserve, plus it also has the benefit of absorbing and neutralizing certain atmospheric pollutants that a Full Back doesn't neutralize.

[thirdgreenham]

(thumbs u Thank you very much.

 

Andy

[Reno McCoy]

Okay, someone explain to me how I can seal a mylite2 so tight that it's airtight. I fold the bag over the backing board (fullback) and use those little sticky note things to keep it held in place.

 

 

Also, does anyone care to show a picture with an example of this open mylar the way some of you are suggesting. I don't have any high dollar books and thus have never had a need to use these more expensive mylars (although I do have a handful of top loaders I use for my better books).

[peewee22]

Okay, someone explain to me how I can seal a mylite2 so tight that it's airtight. I fold the bag over the backing board (fullback) and use those little sticky note things to keep it held in place.

 

 

Also, does anyone care to show a picture with an example of this open mylar the way some of you are suggesting. I don't have any high dollar books and thus have never had a need to use these more expensive mylars (although I do have a handful of top loaders I use for my better books).

 

Here's my grail in an open ended Golden Age mylar. Note the extra roominess for comfort and the wider backer..it's still stiff and rigid in there and easily will come out should I wish to visit the book...it lives in pitch black darkness on a shelf in my fireproof safe...cool and dry in there. Simple, but effective.

[kingofwhales]

Mylite2`s for most of my collection.

4 mil flaps for better books then for even better ones the very pricey bill cole 4mil Time-loks.

all with fullback boards.

[Reno McCoy]

Okay, someone explain to me how I can seal a mylite2 so tight that it's airtight. I fold the bag over the backing board (fullback) and use those little sticky note things to keep it held in place.

 

 

Also, does anyone care to show a picture with an example of this open mylar the way some of you are suggesting. I don't have any high dollar books and thus have never had a need to use these more expensive mylars (although I do have a handful of top loaders I use for my better books).

 

Here's my grail in an open ended Golden Age mylar. Note the extra roominess for comfort and the wider backer..it's still stiff and rigid in there and easily will come out should I wish to visit the book...it lives in pitch black darkness on a shelf in my fireproof safe...cool and dry in there. Simple, but effective.

 

Sweet mylar.

 

 

 

 

 

The comic's cool, too.

[Coach]

Here's my grail in an open ended Golden Age mylar. Note the extra roominess for comfort and the wider backer..it's still stiff and rigid in there and easily will come out should I wish to visit the book...it lives in pitch black darkness on a shelf in my fireproof safe...cool and dry in there. Simple, but effective.

 

 

I'm new here so I don't know how to provide a link, but there is a thread in the Ask CGC section entitled "Important information about storing comic books in fire proof/resistant safes". Apparently fireproof/resistant safes MAY cause staples to rust. With that AF15, I thought you might want to look into it.

[peewee22]

Here's my grail in an open ended Golden Age mylar. Note the extra roominess for comfort and the wider backer..it's still stiff and rigid in there and easily will come out should I wish to visit the book...it lives in pitch black darkness on a shelf in my fireproof safe...cool and dry in there. Simple, but effective.

 

 

I'm new here so I don't know how to provide a link, but there is a thread in the Ask CGC section entitled "Important information about storing comic books in fire proof/resistant safes". Apparently fireproof/resistant safes MAY cause staples to rust. With that AF15, I thought you might want to look into it.

 

Welcome!

 

Seen it hundreds of times. Mine is fine. Thanks.

 

(Click on the Quote button to attached a thread).