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Best Way To Store Expensive Slabs
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Started by Jginsberg79,

34 posts in this topic

Sky1

Sky1

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Jginsberg79 said:

Not bad to store. That's more a case of use of space and avoiding wife annoyance ;-)

Thanks! I thought I was doing something wrong that I didn't know about.  I mean I shouldn't be surprised about anything tbh, found out sunscreen might cause cancer now.  Apparently I was protecting myself wrong from the sun all this time too.  So yea, like I said, shouldn't be surprised that closets are bad to store things now too, lol

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Black_Adam

Black_Adam

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Nothing to do with light or humidity, but one useful tip I did receive during my years on these boards is that slabs should not be stored upright (which is how I am guessing the vast majority of collectors store them), but should be stored on their side with the spine of the comic down. I believe this tip came via Joeypost.

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ExNihilo

ExNihilo

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51 minutes ago, Black_Adam said:

Nothing to do with light or humidity, but one useful tip I did receive during my years on these boards is that slabs should not be stored upright (which is how I am guessing the vast majority of collectors store them), but should be stored on their side with the spine of the comic down. I believe this tip came via Joeypost.

This is how I store my slabs.  My belief was that the gravity (as imperceptible as it is) would eventually put pressure on the staples from the weight of the pages.  By putting the book spine down, the spine spreads the weight of those pages evenly.  I have wondered, over enough time, would the weight of those pages tear the spine?  I think the optimal storage is laying the slabs flat on their backs.  You can only stack a few books though, otherwise the weight of the slabs might eventually crack the bottom slab.  So many factors.

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MattTheDuck

MattTheDuck

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21 minutes ago, ExNihilo said:

This is how I store my slabs.  My belief was that the gravity (as imperceptible as it is) would eventually put pressure on the staples from the weight of the pages.  By putting the book spine down, the spine spreads the weight of those pages evenly.  I have wondered, over enough time, would the weight of those pages tear the spine?  I think the optimal storage is laying the slabs flat on their backs.  You can only stack a few books though, otherwise the weight of the slabs might eventually crack the bottom slab.  So many factors.

Yes - too many.  Ideally I guess you'd have tiny metal shelves that bear the weight of each slab so you could stack them without fear.  Considerations are endless it seems.

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Sky1

Sky1

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19 hours ago, ExNihilo said:

This is how I store my slabs.  My belief was that the gravity (as imperceptible as it is) would eventually put pressure on the staples from the weight of the pages.  By putting the book spine down, the spine spreads the weight of those pages evenly.  I have wondered, over enough time, would the weight of those pages tear the spine?  I think the optimal storage is laying the slabs flat on their backs.  You can only stack a few books though, otherwise the weight of the slabs might eventually crack the bottom slab.  So many factors.

Couple questions about this if anyone know.

1) Has anyone tested to see how long someone might be able to get away with storing it upright (before staple implosion)?

2) Honestly I feel like most collectors stores it upright, every seller/dealer I see at cons store it this way as well.  If storing that way causes such damage it's a wonder why CGC will not come out and say something.  With that said, is it possible that this is just conjecture and not a fact?  With the gun safe thing, it's been proven & CGC even had to make a statement about it.

3) Just to be clear when people say spine side down, it means that the spine is at the top pointing down towards the base, correct?  To me it seems the other way would put more pressure on the spine.  I don't have a clue about this though.

4) Someone mentioned laying flat is the best, what about a shelf that can display at a 135 degree angle, is that enough to take away pressure & the effects of gravity?

Anyways, thanks for the response & help.  Just want to get to the bottom of this so I can better store my slabs.

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ExNihilo

ExNihilo

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4 hours ago, Sky1 said:

Couple questions about this if anyone know.

1) Has anyone tested to see how long someone might be able to get away with storing it upright (before staple implosion)?

2) Honestly I feel like most collectors stores it upright, every seller/dealer I see at cons store it this way as well.  If storing that way causes such damage it's a wonder why CGC will not come out and say something.  With that said, is it possible that this is just conjecture and not a fact?  With the gun safe thing, it's been proven & CGC even had to make a statement about it.

3) Just to be clear when people say spine side down, it means that the spine is at the top pointing down towards the base, correct?  To me it seems the other way would put more pressure on the spine.  I don't have a clue about this though.

4) Someone mentioned laying flat is the best, what about a shelf that can display at a 135 degree angle, is that enough to take away pressure & the effects of gravity?

Anyways, thanks for the response & help.  Just want to get to the bottom of this so I can better store my slabs.

With regards to item number 3: spine down means the spine/staple side is at the base of your display.  The side upon which you would normally flip while reading, would be at the top.  The CGC label would be to the left, and you'd have to crane your neck and read bottom to top.  (hopefully that awkward visualization makes sense).

As for the rest, I don't think anyone's actually done any testing.  Someone would have to measure staple wear on a book that already has loose staples to confirm.  If the staples are firm, I don't think the force from gravity over a human lifetime would be enough to make any measurable difference.  CGC's only been around for what?  30 years?  And the majority of books have likely been slabbed in the last decade?  You can probably chalk this one up to theory.  Logically it makes sense in my head, just as it makes sense that the 100% safest way to store a book is completely flat on its back.

2c

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