Went from bagging comics in cheap bags to paying $0.75 each for archival sleeves after I found mold on a 1985 Uncanny X-Men

For 15 years I used those cheap poly bags you get at the comic shop, like $0.10 each. Then last summer I pulled out my X-Men #266 from a longbox and there was this weird yellow fuzz on the cover. Took it to a shop in Portland and the guy said it was mold from the bags breaking down. Now every comic I care about goes in Mylar with acid-free backing boards. Cost me about $60 to re-bag my key issues. Anyone else switch to better storage after something got ruined?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_paul11d ago

Wait, you had the same thing happen with X-Men #266? That's rough, that's a huge key. I used to be the guy who swore the cheap bags were fine, thought Mylar was a waste of money for stuff sitting in a box. But after I pulled out an old Amazing Spider-Man #300 and saw the spine was actually kind of sticky from the bags breaking down, I switched everything over to Mylites and halfbacks. It did cost me a pretty penny to do my keys but I haven't seen any new problems since.

xena_bailey189d ago

What kind of sticky are we talking about, like tacky residue or full on goo? Did it clean off okay or was the book permanently wrecked?

amy_craig2811d ago

Mold on a 1985 Uncanny X-Men? That sounds rough but I gotta be the skeptic here. I've been using cheap bags for 20 years and never had mold once, and I live in a humid area. The Portland shop guy was probably trying to upsell you on Mylar, @the_paul. Unless you're keeping books in a damp basement or something, the cheap bags hold up fine. I still have comics from the 90s in those same bags and they look perfect. Sometimes the problem is more about where you store them than what bag you use.