Ran into a collector at a flea market who showed me a better way to store comics

I was at a flea market in Columbus last fall digging through longboxes when an older guy noticed my books were just in plastic bags without boards. He pulled out a copy of Amazing Spider-Man #300 from his bag and showed me how he tapes the boards in place so they don't shift. Spent about 15 minutes talking with him about how polypropylene bags break down after 5 to 7 years if you don't swap them out. He even gave me a pack of half-back boards to try, which are thinner but work fine for modern issues. Has anyone else switched over to using tape on the flaps to keep the board snug?

3 comments

3 Comments

samk7710d ago

You ever try mylar bags? Last way longer than poly.

charles64010d agoRising Star

Wait, did your buddy ever try that trick where you flip the whole board around inside the bag? My friend Mike (who collects old Bronze Age stuff) once forgot to tape his flap down and the whole stack slid out of the bottom of the bag onto his basement floor. Bent the corners on a nice copy of Giant-Size X-Men #1, still hurts to think about. He switched to mylar bags after that, says they feel stiffer and hold their shape way better than poly ever did. Also claims the mylar doesn't get that weird cloudy look over time, which I'd believe since I've seen some of his books from the 90s look brand new still. I'm too cheap to switch though, half my collection is in poly and I just live with the tape residue.

barbara_grant410d ago

Wait do you really tape the flaps down? I've been doing this thing where I take the board and slide it in backwards so the flap side is facing the back of the bag. Then I fold the flap over the front and use a tiny piece of blue painter's tape on the side edge to hold it in place. Found out the hard way that regular Scotch tape leaves a sticky residue after a few years when I tried to swap bags on my Daredevil run. That half-back board tip is interesting though, I usually just buy the standard ones from my LCS and cut them down if they're too tall.