Long term preservation / selling of Silver Age #1s 1 1

[marf]

Hi there,

 if this is repeated elsewhere please let me know the thread.

What is the best way to preserve key silver age #1 comics like Xmen #1 that is currently in bags/board? I also have the same questions below for less pricey (<$1000) comics that I may sell soon. 

1. 2mm silver age Mylar and board? 4mm?

2. Send CGC / CBCS to Grade and slab? Does this preserve the same as 2mm silver age mylan /board?

3. Other?

I may hold the best comic books I have at least 30 years and maybe pass it on...and sell the rest. 

Thanks,

Eric

[revat]

Best will involve some sort of dark sealed room with temperature and humidity control on top of the stuff you’re talking about

Edited December 25, 2022 by revat

[Artboy99]

I like the 56 pt thickness backing boards and use mylite 2 for bags.

Send to CGC if it is important to you, or if you plan to sell the keys.

[zzutak]

On 12/24/2022 at 7:55 AM, marf said:

What is the best way to preserve ... comics

• Mylar sleeves with acid-free backing boards.
• Then into an acid-free archival (museum quality) storage box.
• Move to Salida, Colorado or Truckee, California (paper ephemera thrives at 6000 ft elevations). 
• Be certain your in-house storage location is insect- and rodent-free and protected from water-pipe bursts, roof leaks, and other "unexpected" sources of water.

[marf]

Thanks,

I'm leaning towards 56 pt boards from comic pro line and mylites 2.

One more question about sizing for silver age pricier comics:

Are 56 pt GOLDEN boards 7 1/2" effective with Mylites 2 at 7 3/4" (silver/golden)?

If not , what sizing combo?

Lastly, if I was to send 5-10 of my priciest comics to CGC would people recommend still sending them in mylars or going with OPP/poly?

[marf]

One more thing,

has anyone used these from comicproline instead of mylar/mylites? Are they worse than mylay/mylites? Says Mylar and  Polypropelene Disentegration on package...

https://officialcomicproline.com/collections/mylar-bags/products/copy-of-mylar-silver-regular-size-7-1-8-x-10-1-2-with-2-flap

 

[Dr. Balls]

Depending on your budget, de-humidifiers are relatively cheap ($120 before Covid), and can be set to hold your room to 40-50%. I live in a place that is super dry in the winter, but has much higher levels of humidity in the summer - so it keeps my collection in a consistent relative humidity environment.

[comick1]

I am noting that there are no venders/dealers who carry 4 mil mylar sleeves in silver or gold or super-gold size any longer. I've scoured ebay and Amazon as well as internet websites of typical dealers. And when I go into my LCSs, they say that 4 mil isn't being carried by distributors anymore. I've been double bagging my comics for 35 years upside down in a mylite (originally only in 1 mil, but later in 2 mil) and then right side up in a 4 mil mylar sleeve at the next largest width from the interior mylite.

Anybody have any recommendations for me regarding where to find 4 mil mylar sleeves in silver, gold, or super-gold size?

[Silver_Couch_Surfer]

On 12/27/2022 at 9:21 AM, marf said:

Lastly, if I was to send 5-10 of my priciest comics to CGC would people recommend still sending them in mylars or going with OPP/poly?

That's how I do it. Mylars for everything. 

[comick1]

On 12/31/2022 at 2:18 PM, Limer Slimer said:

Did you try Gerber?

https://www.egerber.com/catalog_archives.htm

Hiya Limer,
Yes, I've just found them thanks to you and another poster from another thread. I may have been conflating them with Bill Cole whose site was no longer functioning (although I could swear that Gerber was down as well when I checked about 2 months ago. . .). I'm on it. Thanks so much for the referral!

[Dick Pontoon]

On 1/1/2023 at 12:23 PM, comick1 said:

Hiya Limer,
Yes, I've just found them thanks to you and another poster from another thread. I may have been conflating them with Bill Cole whose site was no longer functioning (although I could swear that Gerber was down as well when I checked about 2 months ago. . .). I'm on it. Thanks so much for the referral!

https://scoop.previewsworld.com/Home/4/1/73/1013?articleID=234656

 

[Heronext]

On 12/27/2022 at 10:21 AM, marf said:

Lastly, if I was to send 5-10 of my priciest comics to CGC would people recommend still sending them in mylars or going with OPP/poly?

I ship everything in poly bags now.  I have had Mylars split during shipment, in two cases tearing the book

[jcjames]

On 1/2/2023 at 7:10 AM, Heronext said:

I ship everything in poly bags now.  I have had Mylars split during shipment, in two cases tearing the book

Wow! How does such a thing happen? How/where does it split or what causes it do you think? Sheering? 

 

[Heronext]

On 1/4/2023 at 5:13 PM, jcjames said:

Wow! How does such a thing happen? How/where does it split or what causes it do you think? Sheering? 

 

The knocking about of the package likely caused the comic to punch through the side seam of the Mylar, which sometimes come apart easily.  Might have been faulty product but I no longer take the chance.

[comick1]

On 1/4/2023 at 3:33 PM, Heronext said:

The knocking about of the package likely caused the comic to punch through the side seam of the Mylar, which sometimes come apart easily.  Might have been faulty product but I no longer take the chance.

My experience is somewhat different. I think that it would be true that I do NOT receive most of my mail purchases through mylar, but I do for some. . .rough estimate 20%. In zero of those cases in 30+ years of mail order where I've received the comic in a mylar have I ever received it with a split seam. It just never happened. 

In 35+ years of collecting (my mail order activity started about 5 years after I started getting serious about buying older back issues at the local shops), it would be also fair to say that an overwhelming majority of the comics I've purchased (whether at a convention or via mail order) that I needed to remove from a polybag and place into a mylite/mylar have ALSO not had issues with splitting or tears to the bag or flap. If anything, I've found that the mylites/mylars are MORE durable than their polybag counterparts. It would be fair to say that in those 35 years, the majority of the comics' lives have been spent in a dark closet in a box neatly stored standing vertically with a bunch of other comics and not being disturbed; but I've bagged, unbagged, read/examined comics out of the bag, and rebagged them--on average 3-5 times per comic (I like to periodically read through my comics CAREFULLY to remind myself what's inside). This would amount to unbagging and rebagging comics tens of thousands of times over those past 35 years. 
And I would say that that I'm being generous if I estimated that I've had any more than 20-30 seam splits on mylite or mylar EVER. 

20-30 seam splits EVER in handling comics in mylites/mylars tens of thousands of times. Seam splits or tears on polybags seem much more common in my less frequent handling of polybags, but because I don't handle polybags very much, perhaps that's a skewed viewpoint.

My own experience with mylites/mylars is that they're the best thing on the market as far as durability. 

. . .and to be 100% clear, I don't work for and am in no way affiliated with any business that stands to gain from that kind of endorsement. Strictly an assessment from a consumer point of view.

Edited January 7 by comick1

[comick1]

On 1/7/2023 at 1:13 PM, [O,O] said:

Are talking about 1ml, 1.5ml, 2ml, or 4ml Mylars? Because I've split 1mls, no problem.

I don't recall a 1.5 as an option for purchase as this is the first time I've heard of that as a thing (although it's possible that I've bought a comic or two over the years that I removed from a bag that felt slightly more substantial than a 1mil and somewhat narrower than a 2mil. . .and even wondered where that even came from). 

In answer to your question--other than what I've said above re: 1.5--I've deliberately purchased 1mil, 2mil, and 4mil for decades and what I said above is based on my perception of ALL of those. I can imagine the perception that a 1mil will be more likely to split. . .but I'm articulating my honest perception based on my experience. 

To reiterate:
20-30 seam splits EVER in handling comics in mylites/mylars tens of thousands of times. 

Edited January 8 by comick1