Mylar Advice Sought

[Cody_Starbuck]

Back in 1996, my meager collection of comics (nothing valuable, I collect just what I like to read) was destroyed by flooding. Over the last two years, I have been slowly but surely rebuying the comics that I lost and now have a couple of hundred books.

 

Most of these books are still in the cheap plastic bags that they came in but I want to start the process of moving them into Mylar. One of the things that really surprised me when I began to look into this is that there are Mylars listed for modern 90s comics (7"x10.5") and Mylars for 70s - 80s comics (7.25"x10.5"). Personally, I had never noticed this.

 

So these are my questions are:

 

1. Can I safely store a 90s comic book in a 70s - 80s Mylar? I would prefer to only order a single size of Mylar, jusy to keep things simple.

 

2. Is there a general concensus in regards to flaps? Are they worth the extra money or is it just as good to go without?

 

3. What you be recommend for thicker magazines like Epic Illustrated?

 

 

Thank you in advance.

 

BTW, a listing of what I currrently have is available here.

[lighthouse]

The 7.25" are just fine for 90s comics. I use them in the shop for everything from 1966-on with the exception of 100 pagers and some of the squarebounds. Everything else will be fine in them... You don't want to put recent books in a 775, because there is just too much room for them to slide, but 725s will work just fine.

 

If you do a quick forum search, you'll find there are many of us who advocate the Mylites2 725s, which have a flap you can fold down... at 2mil they are flexible enough for the flap to make sense. Don't buy any 4mil Mylar that comes with a flap, they are too stiff and you will damage your comics...

 

Welcome to the board!

[uclapeterg]

Search the forum database because this topic has been discussed a number of times and there is really good info out there. In addition, I'll answer your questions.

 

1. I don't see a problem with that. Does anyone else?

 

2. There has been some debate on this topic. People seem to prefer flaps, though. I don't personally use them myself.

 

3. I don't have any knowledge of magazines.

[Cody_Starbuck]

Thanks for the answers; I will just go ahead and go with 725 Mylars. Can I assume that I should continue to use a backing board with Mylar snugs?

 

Also, both E. Gerber and Bill Cole sell this size of Mylar. Any reason, aside from price, to choose one over the other?

 

And thanks again for the input.

[fantastic_four]

Yes, you definitely need a board. 4-mil melinex is stiffer than regular bags, but not stiff enough to keep the comic from getting dinged up if you neglect a board. I've bought thousands of Gerber 4-mil "Archives" and 2-mil "Mylite2" bags and boards with no problems at all (last batch I bought was about 3000-4000 in late 2000).

[towards2112]

As long as you buy from those two you shouldn't have any

problems. Service is good and product not a question.

If you do have a problem they stand behind their sale.

[Cody_Starbuck]

Well, I want to thank everyone for answering. After really digging into the archives and doing some reading, especially Fantasic_Four's posts, I ended up ordering 200 standard sized Mylites2s (725M2) with a matching number of Full-Backs (700FB) from E. Gerber. Shipping was a bit expensive ($18.00 via Fedex) but I think that I will be happy with them.

 

The only thing that I didn't see mentioned in the forums, although I am sure that it is somewhere, is what do people use to keep the Mylites2 closed? Certainly not regular tape?

 

 

Thanks again!

 

 

 

.

 

[lighthouse]

Yep... plain old everyday tape...

 

You could invest in special tape that runs about $30 a roll, but the amount of off-gassing you will get from regular old scotch tape is not enough to matter...

 

And when you need more Mylites2 and Fullbacks let me know... I could have saved you a few dollars on those.

[fantastic_four]

The only thing that I didn't see mentioned in the forums, although I am sure that it is somewhere, is what do people use to keep the Mylites2 closed? Certainly not regular tape?

 

I use little Avery circle-dots, the kind you get 1000 to a package for about $3-$4 from office supply stores.

[Cody_Starbuck]

I use little Avery circle-dots, the kind you get 1000 to a package for about $3-$4 from office supply stores.

 

How did you come up with that? Do you just prefer them over regular tape?

[fantastic_four]

How did you come up with that? Do you just prefer them over regular tape?

 

I saw someone else doing it and liked the idea for the following reasons:

• More aesthetically pleasing
• Tape catching the cover isn't a problem
• No gluey-gooey tape mess after a decade or so...they stick cleanly and come off cleanly

The only problem is that the very light glue seems to go away on some "dots." I rebagged some comics a few years ago that I had owned for over a decade and the dots on those just fell right off when I went to open them.

[UnrulyAppendage]

I use little Avery circle-dots, the kind you get 1000 to a package for about $3-$4 from office supply stores.

 

How did you come up with that? Do you just prefer them over regular tape?

 

I use the dots as well. Not as strong as tape, but that is the idea. If the book ever gets caught on the dot, it comes off with minimal damage.

[blowout]

I ended up ordering 200 standard sized Mylites2s (725M2) with a matching number of Full-Backs (700FB) from E. Gerber.

The only thing that I didn't see mentioned in the forums, although I am sure that it is somewhere, is what do people use to keep the Mylites2 closed? Certainly not regular tape?

 

A very good choice, this is exactly the combo I use and have been very happy with. As for tape I use scotch/magic tape, which I find to be much less sticky than regular tape.

 

Less chance of accidental damage.

[lighthouse]

I ended up ordering 200 standard sized Mylites2s (725M2) with a matching number of Full-Backs (700FB) from E. Gerber.

The only thing that I didn't see mentioned in the forums, although I am sure that it is somewhere, is what do people use to keep the Mylites2 closed? Certainly not regular tape?

 

A very good choice, this is exactly the combo I use and have been very happy with. As for tape I use scotch/magic tape, which I find to be much less sticky than regular tape.

 

Less chance of accidental damage.

 

One of the beauties of the Mylites2 is that you don't have to remove the tape or leave an edge hanging when you look at a book. They are flexible enough and sharp enough that you can put your thumb on the part of the tape that is below the flap and peel the flap back at an angle, perfectly cutting the tape in two pieces with the Mylar and leaving absolutely no hanging pieces that can catch on a comic.

 

There's no tape to possibly catch on the book. You have absolutely no tape residue on your fingers when you look at the book. You can open 200 Mylars this way and your fingers will be as clean as when you started.

 

It's really the only way to go. Sorry, ablue...

[fantastic_four]

They are flexible enough and sharp enough that you can put your thumb on the part of the tape that is below the flap and peel the flap back at an angle, perfectly cutting the tape in two pieces with the Mylar and leaving absolutely no hanging pieces that can catch on a comic.

 

So you end up leaving sliced-in-half tape on the flap and the back of the bag? That seems so un-ideal!

[blowout]

There's no tape to possibly catch on the book. You have absolutely no tape residue on your fingers when you look at the book. You can open 200 Mylars this way and your fingers will be as clean as when you started.

 

But there will tape and residue left on the Mylite2. If you want to re-seal and re-use the bag, I still say Scotch/magic tape is the way to go.

[lighthouse]

There's no tape to possibly catch on the book. You have absolutely no tape residue on your fingers when you look at the book. You can open 200 Mylars this way and your fingers will be as clean as when you started.

 

But there will tape and residue left on the Mylite2. If you want to re-seal and re-use the bag, I still say Scotch/magic tape is the way to go.

 

Yes, and you put a new piece of tape directly over the old one... That way there is never a possibility of a book catching on a loose piece of tape. There aren't any loose pieces of tape. Not on your fingers, not on the mylar flap, not stuck to a box on the table...

 

I have opened 5,000+ Mylars since the last time I caught a piece of tape on a book. And by opening that way, I don't even have to worry when some insufficiently_thoughtful_person wants to look at it. There's no way the guy across the table from you can cause a tape pull either...

[blowout]

Yes, and you put a new piece of tape directly over the old one... That way there is never a possibility of a book catching on a loose piece of tape.

 

And how many times can you safely do that before a huge ridge develops that can damage the book behind?

 

Besides all that it just looks ugly.

[lighthouse]

They are flexible enough and sharp enough that you can put your thumb on the part of the tape that is below the flap and peel the flap back at an angle, perfectly cutting the tape in two pieces with the Mylar and leaving absolutely no hanging pieces that can catch on a comic.

 

So you end up leaving sliced-in-half tape on the flap and the back of the bag? That seems so un-ideal!

 

Yes but extremely safe... and since the Mylar is chemically inert anyway, you could stick 100 pieces of tape to the back of a Mylar without anything happening. Besides, you're going to tape the thing closed afterwards. The fact that there is a second layer of tape under the first doesn't harm the book.

 

And you would not believe the speed difference... I can open and reseal Mylars five times faster that way than you can by pulling each piece of tape off separately, sticking them somewhere "safe" and then putting them back on...

 

Plus I am sure you have had the experience of getting a piece of tape that was all stretchy, and how annoying that is to get off your fingers so you can look at the book. With my method it doesn't matter if the tape is new or 20 years old. My fingers stay clean enough to read Mile Highs with...

 

But seriously, until you try it, you won't believe how much faster and cleaner it is...

[lighthouse]

Yes, and you put a new piece of tape directly over the old one... That way there is never a possibility of a book catching on a loose piece of tape.

 

And how many times can you safely do that before a huge ridge develops that can damage the book behind?

 

Besides all that it just looks ugly.

 

If I need to open a book more than three times to sell it, I didn't grade it correctly or I didn't price it correctly...

 

And tape sticks to itself better than it sticks to anything else, so once there are three or four layers there you can pull all of them off with ease all at once, if you choose...