Poly Bags?

[awe4one]

I've spent the better part of the day rebagging a old collection I bought recently and noticed something.....

 

The majority of these comics probably haven't come out of their bags for 25 years or more and yet when I pulled them out, they look as fresh as the day they were bought off the newsstand. Great gloss and near white pages. Now the conventional wisdom is to change your poly bags every 7 years or risk damage to your comics. Well I haven't seen it with these comics or my comics that have never been rebagged for that matter. Maybe the danger has been overstated a bit?

 

Thoughts?

 

Jim

[OldSchoolTerry]

I'm right with you on this one. I just recently did the same thing. I rebagged and boarded my comics, most of which had been stored with the original bags/boards from 15-20 years ago, and I did not notice any deterioration of the comics themselves. The bags were pretty cloudy, and some boards had a brownish halo around the outline of the book, but the pages of the book were just about the same color as when I purchased them, and the books themselves still looked brand new.

[joe_collector]

Storage conditions are far more important than the polybags IMO, and being from the Frozen North, I regularly re-bag old comics and find the pages and back covers still bone-white. Some of these polybags are ancient, but the low temps and low humidity kept the books pristine.

 

Of course if you live in the Southern States, all the Mylar in the world ain't gonna help you over the long-term.

[musicmeta]

I guess I'm doomed since I live in Texas and it gets hot here.

I can try ice packs.

[awe4one]

I'm right with you on this one. I just recently did the same thing. I rebagged and boarded my comics, most of which had been stored with the original bags/boards from 15-20 years ago, and I did not notice any deterioration of the comics themselves. The bags were pretty cloudy, and some boards had a brownish halo around the outline of the book, but the pages of the book were just about the same color as when I purchased them, and the books themselves still looked brand new.

 

Yep....that's what got me to thinking. You'd pull a comic out in a yellow dirty bag and expect the comic inside to be the same but once you pull it out, it's looks brand new.

 

I can say one thing.....the bags did their job. They may get ugly but the comics inside were well protected.

 

Jim

[awe4one]

Storage conditions are far more important than the polybags IMO, and being from the Frozen North, I regularly re-bag old comics and find the pages and back covers still bone-white. Some of these polybags are ancient, but the low temps and low humidity kept the books pristine.

 

Of course if you live in the Southern States, all the Mylar in the world ain't gonna help you over the long-term.

 

But that's the thing. I spent 4 years in Miami, a very warm, humid place, and my comics weren't effect much. Or at least the bags didn't damage them....

 

Who came out with the 7-year rule anyway? I'm starting to think it's a general rule that's put out there by bag suppliers so collectors will keep buying new bags every 5 years or so....

 

I'm not saying the poly bags won't start to damage the comic over an extended period of time but I'm looking at 25-30 year comics that haven't been effected much if at all.....

 

Jim

[Ze-man]

That 7 year rule , might indeed be a way to sell more bags...

 

Kinda like Shampoo

 

Lather.. rinse repeat.. lather rinse repeat.

 

But even if the comics dont get any damage even if the polly was 25 years old, it just looks bad to me, so I personally like to change them just for cosmetic reason alone.

But I am not talking about a huge amount of comics , as I know some of you are in several thousand, and more.

So that is indeed a daunting task to re bag them.

Heck, with a collection that big it might take you years to re bag them all, , you might have to start rebagging immeadiatly after you bag you last comic.

And start all over again .

 

Zeman

[Zonker]

Who came out with the 7-year rule anyway? I'm starting to think it's a general rule that's put out there by bag suppliers so collectors will keep buying new bags every 5 years or so....

 

...And don't forget to reslab your comics every 5 years to replace the microchamber paper...

 

:cha-ching:

[Clark Khaos-migration]

Who came out with the 7-year rule anyway? I'm starting to think it's a general rule that's put out there by bag suppliers so collectors will keep buying new bags every 5 years or so....

 

...And don't forget to reslab your comics every 5 years to replace the microchamber paper...

 

:cha-ching:

 

Zonk, are you implying that these people are just in this industry to make money?!?!? BLASPHEMY!!!!

 

All companies involved in the secondary aspects of comic collecting are simply there to help US in any way possible. They would NEVER actively try to sell us goods and/or services we don't need.

 

[underthebigw]

I'm with you guys on this. Some of the most gorgeous early 60's DC's I've ever owned were from a guy who wrapped them in cheap plastic from the dry-cleaners. They all had brilliant colors, bone white pages, and superb gloss. Kind of makes it clear that what they are wrapped in is only part of the story.

[drbanner]

I guess the question really is - does the bag itself "decompose" and release chemicals harmful to the book?

 

The acids in the paper do cause the polybags to turn yellow and break down which would reduce the physical protection they offer, but other than that...

[The_End_At_Last]

Funnily enough I was just about to post a similar story myself.

 

I was going through one of my comic boxes when I came across X-Force # 1 (August 1991). I had received this from Silveracre comics as part of a 'spend £25, get free comics' deal. This comic was completely sealed in a '1st Issue Collector's Item' bag. This bag was then inside another poly bag that had a backing board inside it (so the acid-free board was not actually in the sealed bag).

 

I decided to open up the sealed bag and found the comic to be in just about perfect condition. Certainly 9.9. No stress marks, bone white pages etc etc.

One might think that because the comic was sealed that eventually a build up of gases might affect the page colour, but this has clearly not happened. I've had the comic for 2 years, kept in relatively cool and non-humid conditions 50-75 F so I expect this is the real reason why its kept such good condition (probably Silveracre had them in a cool warehouse for the previous years).

 

As a further experiment I decided to read the comic. OK, I didn't attempt to open the pages fully, and I was careful with it, but not to the extent that I was wearing gloves etc. Anyway, the result was that I couldn't see any damage (e.g. slight spine stress) due to reading it. The only thing damaged was my mind because the story was total c&^p. So in other words CGC 10.0 comics can be read if you are careful without any damage. Reading lower graded comics e.g. Silver Age 8.5 will no longer have me worried !

 

Teal

[shadroch]

I change bags mostly for cosmetic reasons.It just seems books that are newly bagged and boarded standout better,thus they sell better and for more money.

I recently opened some old Marvel Tales I had wrapped in supermarket fruit storage bags,circa 1974, and the pages were white.

[Ze-man]

I recently opened some old Marvel Tales I had wrapped in supermarket fruit storage bags,circa 1974, and the pages were white.

 

What issues?

they are among my favorites.

[OldSchoolTerry]

I think the more interesting question is what fruit was originally in those bags? Were they bananas, apples, or perhaps even a nice canteloupe?......

[Mister_Comics]

Before poly bags (Yes i was collecting before there were poly bags) I use to take food storage bags. The kind that were on a roll. Kind of like how alumium foil or wax paper is on. I use to put comics in them. They stayed in great shape. I gotten high grades on some of those. The food bags are long gone and I've switched over to poly bags over the years and have switched over to mylars now later on.

 

From years of experence I have noticed that comics that were not in any poly bags stacked on top of each other left inpressions on the covers from the other comic. Next time look at the gloss on the cover of a comic that has had comics stacked on it for some time. You will see the words and art from the back cover in the gloss.

Just something I've noticed over the years of collecting. Its best to have some protection then none at all.

[towards2112]

The great POLYETHELENE vs. POLYPROPLENE debate, and I

certainly have an opinion. Most of the late 60's and early 70's books

I bought off the stands were stashed away in polyethelene produce

bags my granddad would bring home from the supermarket where he

was employed. I'd put 15-20 comics counterstacked in a bag, fold over

the top and tape it closed, and put them in a box.

Some of those stayed sealed for 10-12 years. My oldest son is

a chemical engineer for Lyondel here in Houston and works with

different grade polys and tells me that polyethelene, or certain varieties

are food grade materials, and that polypropolenes are not. The age

old subject of PE not being as clear as PP used to be entertaining

15 years or so ago, but, long term PE is the only way to go for

economical long term storage. If you're interested in adding 'POP" to

an issue that you want to show off, go for the PP, as the light

refraction is definitly higher. Personally I'd rather store items in

something I wouldn't be afraid to eat a ham sandwich out of than

a possible source of hazardous gas.....

[Zonker]

The great POLYETHELENE vs. POLYPROPLENE debate,

 

 

I'm also old school. When not using Mylar, I much prefer polyethylene bags to the now-more-commonly-found polypropylene bags. Mainly I just dislike the 'crinkly' effect PP has, and prefer the smoother texture of PE bags, as when I first started collecting.

 

Thanks for the opportunity to nerd out on the subject!

[towards2112]

Age on most of the low end PP bags that are exposed to a tad

bit of humidity, such as here in Htown, produces the ever

popular NUT-SAC wrinkles that certain members of this board

[greggy] are fond of...

[sterlingcomics]

We are supposed to change poly bags? Darn, is that why they are so yucky yellow and sticking to the book?