Cracking the Cold

[Tnerb]

Or the opposite of 451

 

It's a bit nippy out on the east coast which make me wonder how cold is too cold? At one point of time I had my books in storage. I of course had more than my comic books, but it was those Collectibles that had me pick a climate controlled storage locker. My addiction called this place home for the better part of five years.

 

My current location houses my full collection and normally when I leave the house I lower the temperature to sixty degrees. The unfortunate problem is when it's windy, as it has been, my place becomes a lot colder than I feel comfortable with. If I put the heat on seventy, it might actually be sixty five, and though I know there are mini home remedies to help insulate better, I don't because I rent.

 

So I wonder what is the optimum temperature to keep books healthy, whether it is an encapsulated graded comic book I own or my numerous raw copies. When it gets hot, how cool should I keep it; when it's cold, how warm? Will a move in geography help or hinder the destruction of my collection caused by time. Is CGC encapsulation the answer, and if so how could I pass in ever reading them again.

 

Thanks for Reading

 

Tnerb

 

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[bagofleas]

I've been told that 50 or so degrees is the most ideal temperature to keep them in. But that's difficult to accomplish. Realistically, it is probably perfectly fine to keep them around 70 to 78 degrees.

 

Mine generally sit at 74 to 76 during the summer and 65 to 70 during the winter.

[Brandon Shepherd]

I've thought about this too, I also want a thermometer and humidity meter to set on my stack of white boxes. I've heard quite a bit over the years how the altitude and low humidity in Colorado are good for comic collections. It can get cold here and I also set my temperature to 60 degrees or so when I leave home this time of year, but my basement can get cold.

 

I also get a little nervous when I have books shipped to me this time of year, the packages can go through some sever temperature changes.

[kaholo1256]

For me right now I am in the storage locker boat. For the most part until I can get things organized here at the house my only option was the garage, the shed, or shelling out some cash for my books and putting them into a climate controlled area. Felt almost like I was sending my kid off to college when doing this with all of the questions I posed. How hot will it get, how cold will I get, what kind of insurance will my babies need.... Ok maybe not the last part in those exact words but close enough.

 

Another issue I had though was over the summer it gets HOT in Texas. Maybe not Arizona or Death Valley hot, but HOT none the less. Always wondered what the best conditions were and always wondered how much before it was too much.

[Ozark Comics]

The colder your comics are kept, the longer they'll last.

 

I know someone wrote an article about this in one of the older Overstreet Price guides, I just can't remember which one. But the bottom line was that as the comics get colder there is less and less activity in the acids in chemicals in the paper. So cold comics = white pages. Comics stored at 40° age about 10 times slower than if they are stored at the 70°-75° range.

 

The opposite of that is never store your comics outside during the summer months or your attic. Temperatures in your attic can reach 140°+. Expect to have cream or light tan pages in just a couple of years.

 

A couple of examples I know about.

 

Reynold Jay's Bsck Issue Comix in Saginaw, MI used to always display/brag the temperatue of his warehouse and he used to have an extensive article about the benefits cold temperature storage.

 

About 15 years ago I took my family on a RV trip across Canada from Ontario to British Columbia. I stopped in Steinbach, Manitoba to visit Doug Sulipa's Comic World to see if he could help me finish off my 1st set of Richie Rich. I only needed about 10-20 Digests then it would be complete. He has a huge 2 story warehouse unheated out in the middle of nowhere surrounded miles and miles of fields of blooming yellow canola. When I visited it in the summer the warehouse was quite cool, probably around 50°. I'm sure if you visited it today it would be -10° or so inside.

 

I have my comics in the basement which is usually 5° to 10° cooler than upstairs. So they are kept at an average of 60° to 65°.

 

KEEP YOUR COMICS COLD. AVOID HEAT AND HUMIDITY.