The Proper Use of Comic Book Supplies Will Help You Maintain a Top-Notch Collection

If you want to keep your comic book collection in tiptopshape, comic book supplies will become part of yourcollecting life. As soon as a magazine is printed there arenatural environmental forces going to work to try anddestroy the ink and the paper. You have put in a lot oftime, effort and enjoyment in acquiring all your comics.You don't want them to turn back to the dust and elementsfrom which they came do you? So the proper use of comicbook supplies is essential.

Elements such as humidity, temperature, pollutants, humanskin oils and even the chemicals of the printed materialsthemselves, will start to deteriorate and discolor yourcomic books from day one. Comic book supplies and toolsthat have been developed over the years to help us combatthese natural forces are de-acidification paper, polymertype storage bags, stiff backing material, storage boxesand desiccants (dehumidification materials). Not only willthese comic book supplies protect your comics for your ownenjoyment, they will add to reinforce the future value ofeach comic book.

Most all of these comic book supplies can typically belocated down at your local comic book shop. But as I havediscovered lately, there can be a world of difference inpreservation abilities depending on what materials are usedin the manufacture of comic book supplies. Quite typicallywhat you may find downtown will be of sufficient protectivequality to protect your comics for quite a while. Although,polybags, to put your comics into, are quite common andfairly cheap, Mylar bags are definitely the way to go. Theywill protect for 100 years (that may be a little overboard)as opposed to 2 or 3 years for poly.

There has been a lot of elaborate science, particularlychemistry, which has gone into comic book suppliespreservation material manufacturing the last several years.MicroChamber material has been developed that will increasepreservation from de-acidification and environmentalbreakdown for a vastly superior time period as opposed totypical comic book supplies materials available today.Beware though, comic book supplies manufactured with thisnew material can become quite costly. But if you have someserious collector's items, which you feel are worth asignificant amount of cash, isn't the investment worth it?It is also no secret that CGC uses these comic booksupplies materials in every comic book they grade.

I have created a page at my comic book site, whichincorporates links to some rather technical scientificarticles on preservation and using MicroChamber materials.You can read an in-depth discussion at

www.comic-book-collection-made-easy.com/comic-book-supplies.html .

Be forewarned though, You may need a moderate understandingof chemistry and physics to completely follow some of thediscussions. But the articles will open your eyes to whatis available in the comic book industry for comic booksupplies preservation supplies these days.

Now if you have a rather rare back issue that may well havea high dollar value, here is a process worth considering.De-acidification products are usually used to neutralizeacids in the paper prior to storage of most paper productsof a pulp nature. This is not to be taken lightly, as it isconsidered by most to be an extensive form of restoration.The current understanding of the process is that thestaples are removed and the sheets are submerged, filmdeveloper style, in a bath of de-acidification material.Then the entire book is rebuilt with new staples. Thisprocess can cost around $50 per comic book, when done by aprofessional, but will restore and increase the lifeexpectancy of your comic book by many years. This process,in my opinion, should only be considered for alreadydeteriorated comics that may have a considerable futureworth if restored.

One final item to consider, especially if you live in ahigh humidity area is the use of descants as part of yourcomic book supplies arsenal. A desiccant is a chemicalsieve for water, and is available for industry use in smallpackets or in buckets. For our purposes an 8-oz can (thatlooks like you'd keep a grasshopper in) can be simply putinside the box to absorb moisture and indicates when it isfull by changing from crystal colored to pink. These samecans can then be reused by baking them for 3-4 hours in anoven at about 350 F. Each canister can cost around $9-$10from one supplier called GAYLORDMART. 1 canister per shortbox and 2 per long box should be sufficient. Anotherconsideration is the little packets typically found in abox of shoes. These are even more inexpensive, but wouldrequire further research to insure no harm would come toeach comic book.

So as you build your valuable comic book collection, youwill want to put some serious consideration into the comicbook supplies that you will need. Materials and suppliersource will become important variables in your overalldecisions. I will have more interesting topics and sourcesfrom time to time at my site, so come on over and visit.You may even want to bookmark it.

Dave Gieber owns and edits a website builtaround one of his childhood passions. Learn the basicessentials to comic book collecting success. To receiveyour free 5-part mini course visit: Comic Book Supplies

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