Stryfe1000 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 WTTB's Kenner, some great bits you got, dont worry about not making it for food, always good sharing a beer or 2 instead before you have to rush off, believe we will be there from 7, myself a few hours earlier if parched Great stuff! I'll keep in touch, as I formulate my schedule for that one, long day (thumbs u in permanent section we have a UK thread so if you decide give us a shout in there Let's not scare him off too soon. That thread has more nonsense than a Chuckle Brothers conference!!! Back on topic. Kenners, any details on those custom bindings? Don't think I've seen any this side of the Atlantic. I've thought about doing something similar with a few of my mid-grade reading copies but being bone-idle I've never actually gotten around to looking into it. I've been binding for about 2 years now. I design the stamps (had about 5 Custom made now), choose the lettering, choice of foil, colour if buckram used. Here's a link to my binds on Photobucket .. Photobucket Binding Pics You did those yourself??? Good work fella You should tout that skill on these boards. I'm sure there would be some takers for some custom bindings to turn reader copies into HC's (Me included) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenners Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 (edited) WTTB's Kenner, some great bits you got, dont worry about not making it for food, always good sharing a beer or 2 instead before you have to rush off, believe we will be there from 7, myself a few hours earlier if parched Great stuff! I'll keep in touch, as I formulate my schedule for that one, long day (thumbs u in permanent section we have a UK thread so if you decide give us a shout in there Let's not scare him off too soon. That thread has more nonsense than a Chuckle Brothers conference!!! Back on topic. Kenners, any details on those custom bindings? Don't think I've seen any this side of the Atlantic. I've thought about doing something similar with a few of my mid-grade reading copies but being bone-idle I've never actually gotten around to looking into it. I've been binding for about 2 years now. I design the stamps (had about 5 Custom made now), choose the lettering, choice of foil, colour if buckram used. Here's a link to my binds on Photobucket .. Photobucket Binding Pics You did those yourself??? Good work fella You should tout that skill on these boards. I'm sure there would be some takers for some custom bindings to turn reader copies into HC's (Me included) Well, I do all the creative design stuff and I liaise with a bindery in Leeds to put it all together. I'd be happy to turn around some custom binds, just tell me what you want and I'll get a price put together. If anyone wants to email me for quotes, I can be got at: ken@kenworthing.com or my AOL email addy: lastsurfer64@aol.com. Always happy to help Custom binders, dipping their toes in the water Edited January 31, 2012 by Kenners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whizzer Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 There is another boardie who does this, can't remember who at the moment. They look very cool. Do you bind the whole book or remove the ad pages? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenners Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 (edited) There is another boardie who does this, can't remember who at the moment. They look very cool. Do you bind the whole book or remove the ad pages? It depends on the age of the books. For me, personally; Silver Age books I leave untouched .. Everything stays in, but Bronze Age to the Present, the back covers and any double-page ads are removed. .. but I'll basically do whatever a customer wants, they're the boss Edited January 31, 2012 by Kenners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComicDoc Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Your books look great! Love the Captain Britain volumes! Let me know if you ever want to part with them By the way how do evaluate the value of bound books? Does the value go down dramaticly? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenners Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Your books look great! Love the Captain Britain volumes! Let me know if you ever want to part with them By the way how do evaluate the value of bound books? Does the value go down dramaticly? Thanks, ComicDoc. I might be tempted to part with those Captain Britain volumes. Make me an offer, Sir It seems that binding comics doesnt make their value go down at all (actually seems to go up). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waylander Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 (edited) Your books look great! Love the Captain Britain volumes! Let me know if you ever want to part with them By the way how do evaluate the value of bound books? Does the value go down dramaticly? Thanks, ComicDoc. I might be tempted to part with those Captain Britain volumes. Make me an offer, Sir It seems that binding comics doesnt make their value go down at all (actually seems to go up). Hey Kenners, How do you figure? Edited February 1, 2012 by Waylander Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stryfe1000 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Your books look great! Love the Captain Britain volumes! Let me know if you ever want to part with them By the way how do evaluate the value of bound books? Does the value go down dramaticly? Thanks, ComicDoc. I might be tempted to part with those Captain Britain volumes. Make me an offer, Sir It seems that binding comics doesnt make their value go down at all (actually seems to go up). Makes sense to a point. I assume that the books you bind are below resale grade (i.e.50p bin pulls).A bound HC run would certainly be more desirable as a reading set than a pile of separate floppies. It would certainly have more eye appeal on a shelf. Then again if a bound set cost more than the official HC, I'd probably opt for the official to guarantee the consistency of the format in the spine (I'm a stickler for ensuring my bookshelves look as tidy as possible). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waylander Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Your books look great! Love the Captain Britain volumes! Let me know if you ever want to part with them By the way how do evaluate the value of bound books? Does the value go down dramaticly? Thanks, ComicDoc. I might be tempted to part with those Captain Britain volumes. Make me an offer, Sir It seems that binding comics doesnt make their value go down at all (actually seems to go up). Makes sense to a point. I assume that the books you bind are below resale grade (i.e.50p bin pulls).A bound HC run would certainly be more desirable as a reading set than a pile of separate floppies. It would certainly have more eye appeal on a shelf. Then again if a bound set cost more than the official HC, I'd probably opt for the official to guarantee the consistency of the format in the spine (I'm a stickler for ensuring my bookshelves look as tidy as possible). The titles did not seem like 50p pulls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miraclemet Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Hey guys, I bind too. Have about 10 binds completed and another 20-30 prepared for binding once I get back in the money. There are lots of options for binding here in the states, you can find most of them mentioned in the link Kenners provided. Some of the better know ones are Single Bound Studios (with the great David Banks), Hauchen and others. Its a good idea to investigate if there is a book binder who would do your binding projects locally since a decent part of the cost ends up being shipping (even when using media mail, which some binderies do not). As far as bound collections being worth more than the sum of their parts... well its very hit and miss. The biggest example was a Miracleman binding that went for (if I'm remembering correctly) around $1000. The guy probably doubled his money, depending on how much he paid for some of the key issues. But since there there have been multiple binds of the same subject so their uniqueness is going downhill. Most binding collectors are trade readers so the more valuable binds are those that have a lot of interest, but for some reason have no TPB/HC collections (or they are long OOP, like Miracleman). Of late I've seen single binds of low-interest material (Ravage 2099) go for $16 on ebay (and thats was with a Stan Lee signature in it!) which doesnt even cover the costs of originally shipping the comics back and forth from the binder, much less a basic bind ($30ish) plus the cost of the books. Similarly a bind collection with lots of interest (an Avengers run that chronicled from Disassembled all the way thru Heroic Age) may not have interest because there are ready made HCs available (this collection of 10 binds went for over $300, but again didnt cover cost of production and materials) There are the occasional binds that hit the perfect spot of interest w/o available trades and enough bidders to drive up a price to $100 for a book. But again when you factor in the cost of the 20-30 books ($1ea or $3 off the shelf) plust the cost of binding ($30) and two way shipping ($20) you just break north of even at $100. Binding is a lot of fun, and theres a sweet spot of books from the bronze/copper age that arent old enough to have nice Archives made, and arent new enough to be part of the modern TPB/HC collection churn. Or there are events from the past that dont have collections "the way you want" to read them, so you can do a custom bind. My collection is sporatic at the moment including: 2 volume DC Who's Who, 3 Volume Gotham Central (bound before they started finally collecting this), 4 Volume Star Man (again bound before DC started collecting it), and some random love like: Atari Force, Resurrection Man, Human Target, etc... My biggest bind is yet to come is a 15 or so volume collection starting with Green Lantern #90 (first post-Neal/Denny issue with Mike Grell) and running up to present day containing all Hal Jordan-centric comics (so skipping Kyle's time as GL). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenners Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Your books look great! Love the Captain Britain volumes! Let me know if you ever want to part with them By the way how do evaluate the value of bound books? Does the value go down dramaticly? Thanks, ComicDoc. I might be tempted to part with those Captain Britain volumes. Make me an offer, Sir It seems that binding comics doesnt make their value go down at all (actually seems to go up). Hey Kenners, How do you figure? In a nutshell, because Collectors realise that they can still read their comics, while those issues are still in a state of protection (hardcovered buckram); and those bound volumes can be highly customised (choice of colours, stamps, lettering, lamination etc etc). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenners Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Your books look great! Love the Captain Britain volumes! Let me know if you ever want to part with them By the way how do evaluate the value of bound books? Does the value go down dramaticly? Thanks, ComicDoc. I might be tempted to part with those Captain Britain volumes. Make me an offer, Sir It seems that binding comics doesnt make their value go down at all (actually seems to go up). Makes sense to a point. I assume that the books you bind are below resale grade (i.e.50p bin pulls). No, not necessarily. I've bound the entire 'Captain America' run from #100 up, 'Tales Of Suspense, 'The Avengers'. I think the lowest value comic cost me a couple of Pounds, whereas 'Captain America' #100 cost me about £60. That's the beauty of binding, you dictate yourself to what monetary level you want to go to. A bound HC run would certainly be more desirable as a reading set than a pile of separate floppies. It would certainly have more eye appeal on a shelf. Totally agree. Then again if a bound set cost more than the official HC, I'd probably opt for the official to guarantee the consistency of the format in the spine (I'm a stickler for ensuring my bookshelves look as tidy as possible). Absolutely. I tend to bind more Modern Age comics these days. As for Silver Age: I'll either buy the Masterwork, Omnibus or OHC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Waylander Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Miraclemet and Kenners, Thanks for the information (thumbs u Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenners Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Your books look great! Love the Captain Britain volumes! Let me know if you ever want to part with them By the way how do evaluate the value of bound books? Does the value go down dramaticly? Thanks, ComicDoc. I might be tempted to part with those Captain Britain volumes. Make me an offer, Sir It seems that binding comics doesnt make their value go down at all (actually seems to go up). Makes sense to a point. I assume that the books you bind are below resale grade (i.e.50p bin pulls).A bound HC run would certainly be more desirable as a reading set than a pile of separate floppies. It would certainly have more eye appeal on a shelf. Then again if a bound set cost more than the official HC, I'd probably opt for the official to guarantee the consistency of the format in the spine (I'm a stickler for ensuring my bookshelves look as tidy as possible). The titles did not seem like 50p pulls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stryfe1000 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Your books look great! Love the Captain Britain volumes! Let me know if you ever want to part with them By the way how do evaluate the value of bound books? Does the value go down dramaticly? Thanks, ComicDoc. I might be tempted to part with those Captain Britain volumes. Make me an offer, Sir It seems that binding comics doesnt make their value go down at all (actually seems to go up). Hey Kenners, How do you figure? In a nutshell, because Collectors realise that they can still read their comics, while those issues are still in a state of protection (hardcovered buckram); and those bound volumes can be highly customised (choice of colours, stamps, lettering, lamination etc etc). Hmmm... The pages may be protected by the binding, but they have also been fundamentally altered from their original state. They are no longer comics in their own right in the same way that a commercially available HC is not a comic book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenners Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Miraclemet and Kenners, Thanks for the information (thumbs u No probs. Its always enjoyable for me to field queries from people new to bound comics Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenners Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Your books look great! Love the Captain Britain volumes! Let me know if you ever want to part with them By the way how do evaluate the value of bound books? Does the value go down dramaticly? Thanks, ComicDoc. I might be tempted to part with those Captain Britain volumes. Make me an offer, Sir It seems that binding comics doesnt make their value go down at all (actually seems to go up). Hey Kenners, How do you figure? In a nutshell, because Collectors realise that they can still read their comics, while those issues are still in a state of protection (hardcovered buckram); and those bound volumes can be highly customised (choice of colours, stamps, lettering, lamination etc etc). Hmmm... The pages may be protected by the binding, but they have also been fundamentally altered from their original state. They are no longer comics in their own right in the same way that a commercially available HC is not a comic book. Yup, this is true. Its a 'horses for courses' situation really. Some people think its absolute sacrilage, others think its the best solution to read your comics in a customised, protected situation (plus its great fun). I'll shut up now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stryfe1000 Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I actually agree in part with both parties. If I wanted to keep a comic for reading but the commercial demand for the book in it's grade would mean I could sell it at some point for a profit, I'd never consider having it bound (Looking at your collection, a fair few of your older books would fall into this category). I'd probably say the same for a lot of my books which hold sentimental value to me. I'd prefer to keep them as-is, regardless of how many times I intend to read them. If I wanted to keep a book for reading in full knowledge I'd struggle to ever sell it again, never mind at profit (Essentially my entire non-mint (And some Mint) collection from the 90's), I think it would be an excellent method of storage and protection (And a h3ll of a lot more aesthetically appealing than rows of long boxes). I guess it comes down to whether you collect to read or collect for the sake of collecting. I do a bit of both but these forums are by their very nature filled with boardies who laugh at the thought of opening one of their floppies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComicDoc Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Your books look great! Love the Captain Britain volumes! Let me know if you ever want to part with them By the way how do evaluate the value of bound books? Does the value go down dramaticly? Thanks, ComicDoc. I might be tempted to part with those Captain Britain volumes. Make me an offer, Sir It seems that binding comics doesnt make their value go down at all (actually seems to go up). PM me with an idea of what you would part with them for also let me know what shipping would be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenners Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I guess it comes down to whether you collect to read or collect for the sake of collecting. I do a bit of both but these forums are by their very nature filled with boardies who laugh at the thought of opening one of their floppies. Very true Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
