mattrat

Okay, im constintly bombarded with info telling me that all my pre 1980's comics are being degraded over time by air and moisture no matter how I try to protect them. Unless you can afford to slab every book which would be stupid I have been thinking about another option. Vacuum sealing, but not the dangerous using heat to seal the end solitary book method. But this........
https://www.spacebag.com/spacebagwithhanging/910465/
Now these bags use an everday vacuum cleaner, and in theory you could place a whole small long box within one and seal the whole damn box! Boom protection from air and moisture or am I crazy! Could this damage the comics inside? Any ideas guys???????????

dadaluholla

It seems like a lot of trouble. I mean, unless you have them in a harsh enviroment (such as somewhere with and high heat and/or moisture), your books are not going to rot away any time soon. I'm sure my silver age stuff will still be around long after I'm dead.

madcougar

I wonder how well this will seal your books if they are already in plastic/mylar bags. It seems like it would be difficult for you to get ALL the air out of them, and if there's air left inside, it kind of defeats the purpose.

Honestly I don't have a clue. It seems like a lot of trouble especially if you've bagged and boarded your books and they are in a relatively dry enviroment.

mattrat

But see... thats just it, its not alot of trouble, these bags can be vacuum sealed over and over. The rub is, if the suction damages the bagged and boarded books. If not than your books are guarenteed to survive anything but a major fire, flooding, excess moisture, exct. I dont reread books constantly, especially my older ones. I have active long boxes and inactive long boxes. The other ones that have my older more valuable stuff I can leave sealed for months....... back to the rub, do you guys think the sealing process can damage the books?

dadaluholla

Are you talking like immediate damage or over time? You could grab a few issues of some crap title like NFL Superpro and test it out I guess.

movieguru

I think it would put a lot of pressure on the books causing them to wrinkle or crease.

Josh-da-man

I remember reading a while back that you do not want to keep your old comics in an airtight container.

Apparently, as the paper breaks down it releases gases that will further damage and ultimately destroy the comics. (I believe this was from an old New England Comics guide to storing comics or something.)

Anyone interested might want to google around and get some verification.

Trevor

I've read similar things, even that totally acid free bags and boards are worse than generic ones with some acid.

I just decided that my comics are for reading, and while I do bag and board them usually, I'm not going to obsess about how I store them or their potential re-sell value. In all likelihood, I'll never sell them, and I only buy what I want to read/collect.

madcougar

You and I have a different definition of "too much trouble." Spending money to buy these things and then putting boxes of comic books into them, and then sucking the air out of them is waaaaaaaaaaay too much trouble in my book. I have my books bagged (and some boarded) in an air conditioned enviroment. I have some books that are more than 30 years old and they still look pretty damn good. I can't imagine that doing what you're suggesting is going to make a huge difference.

Let me rephrase this. I can't imagine doing what you're suggesting is going to make a huge difference IN MY LIFETIME.