Comic Storage Issues.

[Stronguy]

I had folks driving 250 miles to my shop on a semi-regular basis and they rarely saw the same books on the wall from month to month (other than that [embarrassing lack of self control] Hulk 1 and a couple others).

 

It wasn't the comics I kept coming down there for...

 

It costs next to nothing to buy enough UV protected plastic to convert all your drop-ceiling light diffusers into virtually UV-free light sources... If you can't retrofit a shop to incandescent lighting, there is no reason to not climb up a ladder and add a UV-barrier between the fluorescent bulbs and your comics.

 

Did you ever get to do that experiment with the UV sheets/Mylar in the light boxes?

[lighthouse]

It costs next to nothing to buy enough UV protected plastic to convert all your drop-ceiling light diffusers into virtually UV-free light sources... If you can't retrofit a shop to incandescent lighting, there is no reason to not climb up a ladder and add a UV-barrier between the fluorescent bulbs and your comics.

 

Did you ever get to do that experiment with the UV sheets/Mylar in the light boxes?

 

Indeed I did. My back room at the shop in Oregon got virtually no natural light, and had two fluorescent fixtures in the ceiling. I took a few torn Archives from Gerber and taped them over the inside surface of the diffuser.

 

Using a test card similar to this one,

 

 

we found that the 4mil Mylar (even pieced together as they were) blocked around 96% of the UV light. I tested a couple times about five months apart (after the mylars had been up there) and there wasn't a significant difference. Presumably the mylar was reflecting the UV back into the well of the fixture (and was accelerating UV damage to the fixture itself) but very little UV was coming through the diffuser.

 

I know you can order any size Mylar you like from Gerber. I would be tempted at my next shop to use two layers of 4mil, cut to fit the diffusers, for any areas that I go with fluorescent. And UV coating the store windows themselves is a no-brainer...

[Timulty]

I was thinking about having one completely open, no bag, no board cover side up. the other I would leave in polybag with board(probably sealed). I could do this with some of the older(85-89) comics I have but I want to use same issues. Let me know, if I am in the ballpark with this.

[B-Smooth]

What about the newer comics with the high gloss paper? Say, like Marvel's Ultimate Universe books? Any word on those?

 

Yea. "Worhtless in any condition" is the word on those.

 

whoa....chanelling JC there.

 

The challenge for the grumpiest old man cup has begun!